Chapter 3 - THE MAN ALEX THOUGHT WAS DEAD
Alex stared at Lena for nearly a full minute.
"My father is dead."
Lena shook her head.
"That's what we were told."
"Who told us?"
"Mom."
Alex felt the floor shift beneath him.
Their father, Daniel Bennett, had supposedly died from a heart attack six years earlier.
The funeral had been small.
The family had scattered his ashes at Lake Michigan.
Alex had stood beside his mother while she cried.
He had believed every word.
"You're telling me Mom lied?"
"I don't know."
"Then tell me exactly what you know."
Lena wiped her eyes.
"Six years ago, Dad disappeared."
Alex's face hardened.
"Disappeared?"
"His business collapsed."
"That isn't what you told me."
"Because Mom told me not to."
Alex laughed bitterly.
"Apparently everyone in this family decided I was better off not knowing things."
Bianca moved closer.
"There was more."
Alex looked at her.
"What?"
"Your father contacted my father."
"When?"
"After you left."
"Why?"
Bianca hesitated.
"He knew about Noah."
Alex's blood ran cold.
"He knew?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then what did he say?"
Bianca's eyes filled with fear.
"He told my father that if you ever came back, I was not to let you see Noah."
Alex stared.
"Why?"
"Because he believed your life was dangerous."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
"Bianca."
She reached into a drawer and removed an old photograph.
She handed it to him.
Alex looked down.
It showed his father standing beside a black sedan.
Beside him stood a man Alex didn't recognize.
On the back was a date.
Six years ago.
Three months after Alex left.
And underneath the date, four words.
THEY FOUND HIM FIRST.
Alex's stomach tightened.
"Who is that?"
Bianca shook her head.
"I don't know."
Lena looked at the photograph.
"I've seen him."
Alex turned.
"Where?"
"At Dad's funeral."
Silence.
"You saw this man at our father's funeral?"
"I thought he was a family friend."
Alex looked at Bianca.
"Why did you keep this?"
"Because your father gave it to my father."
"Why?"
"I told you. I don't know."
Alex stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed something.
A license plate.
He knew that car.
It belonged to his father.
"Where was this taken?"
"Boston."
Alex looked up.
"Boston?"
Bianca nodded.
"My parents lived there for years."
The connection was immediate.
Noah.
Boston.
His father.
The photograph.
Six years of secrets.
"This isn't over," Alex said.
Bianca shook her head.
"It never was."
That evening, they booked flights.
Lena insisted on coming.
Alex refused.
"This is between Bianca and me."
"I'm your sister."
"And you lied to me."
She flinched.
"I know."
"Then give me one reason I should trust you."
Lena looked at Bianca.
"Because I was wrong once."
Her voice cracked.
"I won't be wrong again."
Alex said nothing.
Finally, he nodded.
The flight left at dawn.
Bianca sat beside him.
Neither slept.
At thirty thousand feet, she finally whispered—
"I loved you."
Alex looked at her.
The words were so quiet he almost thought he imagined them.
"What?"
"I loved you six years ago."
He stared.
"And now?"
She looked out the window.
"Now I'm terrified."
"Of what?"
"That you'll hate me."
"I don't hate you."
"You're angry."
"Yes."
"At me?"
"Partly."
She nodded.
"I deserve that."
Alex looked at her.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"You should have trusted me."
"I know."
"But I don't know what I would have done either."
She turned.
"What do you mean?"
"If you'd told me before I left, I would have stayed."
Bianca's eyes filled.
"That's what I was afraid of."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want you to stay because of a baby."
Alex reached across the space between them.
For the first time in six years, he touched her hand.
"I would have stayed because I loved you."
Bianca looked at him.
Neither spoke again.
When they landed in Boston, a black SUV was waiting outside the terminal.
A man in a dark suit stepped out.
"Mr. Bennett?"
Alex stopped.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Samuel Reed."
"Do I know you?"
"No."
Samuel looked at Bianca.
Then at Alex.
"I've been waiting six years to meet you."
Alex's hand tightened around his suitcase.
"Why?"
Samuel opened the rear door.
"Because your father left instructions."
"What instructions?"
Samuel looked directly at him.
"Never let the Bennett family discover what happened to him."
Alex felt cold.
"Where is my father?"
Samuel's answer changed everything.
"Alive."
Alex stepped forward.
"Take me to him."
Samuel shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because he isn't the only person looking for you."
Alex's expression hardened.
"Who is?"
Samuel looked toward the airport.
A black sedan was parked across the street.
Its windows were tinted.
The engine was running.
Samuel whispered—
"The same people who found your father."
The sedan suddenly pulled away.
Alex watched it disappear.
Then looked at Bianca.
She was crying.
"Now do you understand why I was afraid?"
Alex reached for her hand.
"Yes."
"But you're still coming with me."
May you like
He squeezed her fingers.
"Where else would I go?"
