Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Rain had begun falling when Evelyn reached the park.
The place looked smaller than she remembered.
The playground had been replaced.
The trees had grown.
The old fountain was gone.
But the bench remained.
The same bench where Daniel's mother had waited twenty-three years ago.
Evelyn stood beneath an umbrella.
Then she heard footsteps.
Heavy footsteps.
She turned.
The man from the bus stepped out from beneath the trees.
He looked different now.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Lost.
He stopped several feet away.
"You know my name?"
Evelyn looked at him.
"I know the name you were given."
"What does that mean?"
"Your name isn't Daniel Reed."
The man's jaw tightened.
"What is it?"
"Daniel."
He stared at her.
"Daniel what?"
"Daniel Reed."
His eyes changed.
For a moment, something flickered behind them.
A memory.
A playground.
A man's hand.
A car door.
A woman's voice screaming.
Then pain.
Daniel grabbed his head.
"No."
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Don't fight it."
"I said no!"
He backed away.
"I don't know you."
"You knew my husband."
Daniel froze.
"Who was he?"
"Michael Whitmore."
Daniel's breathing became uneven.
He whispered,
"The man with the wedding ring."
Evelyn's heart broke.
"Yes."
Daniel looked at her.
"He saved me."
"From what?"
"I don't know."
"You saw something."
Daniel shook his head.
"I was a kid."
"Kids remember things adults forget."
He looked toward the old trees.
"I remember a red door."
Evelyn frowned.
"Where?"
"A building."
"What building?"
"I don't know."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Someone was crying."
"Who?"
"A woman."
"Do you remember her?"
Daniel opened his eyes.
"She said your name."
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
"What did she say?"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"She said, 'Evelyn will come.'"
Rain hit the umbrella.
Neither moved.
Then a car engine sounded behind them.
Daniel turned.
A black sedan approached.
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"Don't run."
"Why?"
"Because whoever is inside wants you to."
The sedan stopped.
The rear door opened.
An elderly man stepped out.
Evelyn's world collapsed.
She knew that face.
Even after twenty-three years.
Even after photographs had faded.
Even after she had stood beside an empty grave.
"Michael."
The man looked at her.
His eyes filled with tears.
"Evelyn."
She couldn't move.
She couldn't speak.
Michael walked toward her.
He looked older.
Thinner.
One side of his face carried a pale scar.
But he was alive.
Evelyn slapped him.
Hard.
Daniel flinched.
Michael didn't react.
She slapped him again.
"You let me bury you."
"I had no choice."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"You could have come home."
Michael's voice broke.
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because Victor Crane had people everywhere."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"Tell me everything."
Michael looked at Daniel.
Then at Evelyn.
"Victor didn't order Daniel's kidnapping."
Evelyn frowned.
"Then who did?"
Michael's eyes filled with regret.
"His own father."
Thomas Reed.
Evelyn went silent.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel's father discovered the corruption."
"Thomas?"
Michael nodded.
"He found evidence that city contracts were being manipulated."
"And Daniel saw something?"
"Daniel saw the murder."
"Whose murder?"
Michael hesitated.
"Victor Crane's business partner."
Evelyn understood.
"So Daniel was taken to silence him."
"Yes."
"Then why was he allowed to live?"
"Because someone changed his identity."
"Who?"
Michael looked at her.
"Me."
Evelyn stared at him.
"You saved him."
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"Victor found out."
Michael looked down.
"He came after both of us."
"So you disappeared."
"I had to."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Michael looked at him.
"Because you were eight."
"I deserved the truth."
"You deserved a childhood."
Daniel's face hardened.
"I deserved my father."
Michael lowered his head.
The silence was brutal.
Then Evelyn noticed something.
A small scar on Daniel's wrist.
She grabbed his hand.
"Where did you get this?"
Daniel looked down.
"I don't know."
Michael did.
His face changed.
"That's not a scar."
"What is it?"
Michael pointed.
"A tracking mark."
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
"Who put it there?"
Michael looked toward the road.
"Victor."
A phone rang.
Nobody moved.
It was Daniel's phone.
He answered.
A voice came through.
"Daniel."
Daniel froze.
The voice continued.
"You've been looking for the truth."
Daniel said nothing.
"You should have stayed on the bus."
The call ended.
Then the park lights went out.
Three black vehicles entered the park.
Michael grabbed Evelyn's arm.
"Run."
They ran.
Behind them, doors slammed.
Men shouted.
A gunshot cracked through the rain.
Daniel pushed Evelyn behind a concrete wall.
Michael pulled out a weapon.
Evelyn stared at him.
"You still carry one?"
Michael looked at her.
"After twenty-three years?"
He chambered the weapon.
May you like
"Yes."
Then he stepped into the darkness.
