Chapter 10 - MY FATHER CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Thomas Bennett looked smaller than my memory.
That was the cruel thing about seeing someone after seventeen years.
Memory preserves people at full strength.
Reality does not.
He lay beneath white hospital sheets.
Gray hair.
Bruised temple.
Oxygen beneath his nose.
One wrist cuffed to the bed.
I stared at the handcuff.
“Why is he restrained?”
A federal marshal answered.
“He was found inside a restricted Cross Meridian research facility.”
Roman’s face darkened.
“He was held there.”
The marshal shrugged.
“Corporate security says he broke in.”
My father’s eyes opened.
He saw Roman first.
Then me.
Everything in his face collapsed.
“Claire.”
One word.
Seventeen years.
I had imagined this moment hundreds of times as a child.
My father returning.
Running toward him.
Throwing my arms around his neck.
Forgiving everything because he was alive.
Instead, I stood still.
“You look old.”
His mouth trembled.
“So do you.”
I almost laughed.
Almost cried.
Then Ava moved in the carrier.
My father heard the tiny sound.
His eyes widened.
Roman lifted the carrier onto the chair beside him.
“This is Ava.”
Thomas stared at his granddaughter.
Tears slid silently into his gray hair.
“She has Anna’s mouth.”
That did it.
I turned away.
My father whispered,
“Claire.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Seventeen years?”
My voice broke.
“You don’t get to make seventeen years disappear with two words.”
“I know.”
“You knew where I lived.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I got married.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was pregnant.”
His silence gave the answer.
Rage overwhelmed me.
“You knew?”
“Claire—”
“You knew I was carrying her and you still stayed hidden?”
“I was trying to dismantle—”
“Stop protecting me!”
The room went silent.
“That’s what everyone keeps calling it.”
“Protection.”
“Nathan lied to protect me.”
“Roman watched me to protect me.”
“You disappeared to protect me.”
I pointed toward Ava.
“Do you know who actually stayed?”
“No one.”
My father closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
The answer took the air out of my anger.
He didn’t defend himself.
“I confused distance with safety.”
He whispered.
“And every year it became harder to admit that I had chosen the wrong one.”
I sat.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Finally, I asked,
“Where were you six days ago?”
“Mercer Research Annex.”
“Why?”
“Original trial archives.”
“Did you find them?”
“Yes.”
Roman stepped closer.
“Where?”
Thomas looked at the federal marshal.
“Not here.”
The marshal sighed.
“I can hear you.”
Thomas almost smiled.
“That’s precisely my concern.”
Later, Angela convinced the authorities Thomas required private attorney consultation.
The room emptied.
Thomas looked at me.
“The original records are hidden inside Cross Meridian headquarters.”
Roman frowned.
“You moved them into the enemy’s building?”
“No.”
“They’ve always been there.”
“What?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Samuel Cross never trusted Graham.”
I remembered the founder.
Graham’s father.
Long dead.
“Samuel helped me create the trust.”
“He also preserved the original research files.”
“Where?”
“Executive archive.”
Roman shook his head.
“Graham controls it.”
“Not anymore.”
Thomas looked toward Ava.
“The trust activation changed building ownership voting rights.”
I realized it.
“I can enter.”
“You can enter anywhere.”
For the first time, the power Ava had triggered felt real.
Then Thomas looked at Roman.
“Leave us alone.”
Roman hesitated.
I nodded.
He stepped outside.
My father waited.
“There is something about Roman you need to understand.”
I almost laughed.
“Apparently everyone has one of those.”
“He has spent seventeen years believing he owes me his life.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Thomas looked toward the door.
“You don’t.”
He told me what happened after the crash.
Roman had carried Thomas from the burning vehicle.
Hidden him in an abandoned farm.
Found medical care through people connected to his father.
Then Roman returned home.
Marco DeLuca had discovered what his son did.
Father and son fought.
Marco hit Roman.
Roman left.
Three days later, Marco went to Evelyn.
He confessed that Thomas survived.
“That’s why we had to disappear completely.”
“What happened to Marco?”
Thomas looked down.
“Evelyn killed him.”
I stopped breathing.
“Roman thinks his father crashed drunk.”
“Because that’s what I told him.”
My anger returned.
“You lied to him too.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if Roman knew Evelyn murdered his father, he would have gone after her.”
“And gotten himself killed.”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You really do love protecting people with lies.”
Thomas accepted that.
Then he said,
“Roman never owed me a debt.”
“I owe him one.”
The door opened suddenly.
Nathan entered.
Roman was behind him.
Furious.
“What is he doing here?”
Nathan ignored him.
He looked at Thomas.
For the first time, I saw Nathan truly frightened.
Thomas stared at the man who had married his daughter.
“Nathaniel.”
Nathan flinched.
“You knew.”
“Before you met Claire.”
Nathan’s fists tightened.
“You could have stopped it.”
Thomas looked at me.
“I tried.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Thomas reached beneath his pillow.
He pulled out a folded copy of a photograph.
Nathan and me.
College scholarship dinner.
But in the background stood another man.
Roman.
Watching.
I turned toward him.
“You were there.”
Roman’s face went pale.
Thomas whispered,
“He was supposed to stop Nathan from meeting you.”
I stared at Roman.
“What happened?”
Roman looked at me.
Then at Nathan.
And finally said,
“You saw him before I could reach you.”
That sounded too simple.
Nathan smiled bitterly.
“Tell her the rest.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Nathan looked at me.
“Roman didn’t stop us because he thought you looked happy.”
Silence.
“He chose not to interfere.”
My eyes went to Roman.
He didn’t deny it.
Nathan continued.
“So before you decide who betrayed you most…”
He looked around the room.
May you like
“…remember that every man standing here made decisions about your life without asking you.”
For once, Nathan was completely right.
