Chapter 4 - THE MAN I ONCE CALLED FAMILY
“Uncle.”
The word stayed in my mind as we drove away from Union Freight Yard.
Emily sat quietly beside me.
She looked exhausted.
I wanted to ask more.
But she was seven.
She had already carried more fear in one week than a child should carry in a lifetime.
So I waited.
Major Bennett met us at the Army facility.
He had recovered the backpack.
I opened it myself.
Lucas's notebook was inside.
His handwriting filled the first pages.
Math problems.
A drawing of a baseball field.
A list of things he wanted for Christmas.
Then the final pages were different.
The handwriting was hurried.
Dad,
Mom says we have to leave.
Dad,
She says you won't understand.
Dad,
Someone is following us.
The final page had only one sentence.
I heard him call you Uncle.
I stared at it.
I had one person in my life Lucas called Uncle.
My younger brother, Daniel.
Daniel Ross.
Army intelligence.
Thirty-nine.
Formerly one of my closest confidants.
We had served together.
He had been there when Lucas was born.
He had held him in the hospital.
Lucas had called him Uncle Danny.
But Daniel had disappeared from my life months before Sarah took Lucas.
I had assumed he was angry with me.
Now I wondered why.
“Get me Daniel's records.”
Bennett looked at me.
“General…”
“Now.”
He hesitated.
“Sir, Daniel has been off-grid for nearly a year.”
“Since when?”
“Three days before Sarah disappeared.”
My stomach tightened.
“Find him.”
We searched his known addresses.
Nothing.
Then Bennett found something.
A storage unit.
Paid in cash.
Under an old military identification number.
We went there that night.
The unit contained almost nothing.
A chair.
A suitcase.
A cardboard box.
And a wall covered in photographs.
My family.
Sarah.
Lucas.
Me.
I stepped closer.
There were pictures from years ago.
Lucas at five.
Lucas at six.
Lucas at eight.
Me leaving work.
Sarah entering grocery stores.
Our house.
My office.
Someone had been watching us.
I felt anger rise.
Then I saw something that stopped me.
One photograph showed Daniel standing beside Sarah.
They weren't hiding.
They looked worried.
Not romantic.
Not secretive.
Like two people discussing something serious.
Behind them stood a man I recognized.
Marcus Hale.
The security contractor.
I pulled the photograph down.
Bennett examined it.
“Do you know when this was taken?”
“Two years ago.”
“Then Daniel knew Marcus.”
“Yes.”
I opened the cardboard box.
Inside was a child's blue coat.
Lucas's coat.
The one he wore the day he disappeared.
I touched the sleeve.
A small stain remained near the pocket.
I remembered buying it.
Lucas had complained that blue wasn't his favorite color.
He wanted green.
I had told him soldiers wore blue too.
He had rolled his eyes.
I almost smiled.
Then I found something sewn inside the coat.
A tiny envelope.
Inside was a ticket.
Chicago Union Station.
Tomorrow.
Departure time: 6:40 a.m.
Destination: Springfield.
I looked at Bennett.
“Who bought it?”
He checked the barcode.
“Cash.”
“Name?”
“None.”
I turned the ticket over.
There was writing.
A child's handwriting.
Not Lucas's.
Emily's.
I looked at her.
“You wrote this?”
She nodded.
“Lucas told me.”
“Told you what?”
“He said if he couldn't get home, I should give you the ticket.”
My chest tightened.
“Why Springfield?”
“I don't know.”
Bennett's phone rang.
He answered.
Then looked at me.
“We have Daniel.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
We drove through the night.
Daniel was found at a small motel.
He opened the door before we knocked.
When he saw me, his face fell.
“Sebastian.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I asked,
“Where is my son?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You watched my family.”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Sarah asked me to.”
“Why?”
“She knew someone was watching you.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
“Marcus.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“Why would Marcus watch us?”
Daniel looked down.
“Because he believed you were responsible for the death of his brother.”
“What?”
“His brother died during an operation you commanded.”
I remembered the mission.
A convoy.
An intelligence failure.
Three soldiers killed.
One of them had been Marcus's brother.
“It wasn't my decision.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because grief doesn't always care about facts.”
I stared at him.
“Why did Sarah disappear?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She found evidence that Marcus had been using private security contracts to track military families.”
“Why Lucas?”
“Because Marcus believed Lucas knew something.”
“What?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your son saw him.”
“Saw him doing what?”
“Meeting someone.”
“Who?”
Daniel shook his head.
“He never told me.”
I stepped closer.
“You helped Sarah hide.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where they were.”
“For a while.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Sarah believed someone inside the Army was helping Marcus.”
I froze.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Bennett.
Then back at me.
“We never found out.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said,
“Sarah contacted me yesterday.”
My heart stopped.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she say?”
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He handed me a photograph.
Sarah.
Alive.
Standing outside a train station.
Holding a sign.
The date was tomorrow.
The same date on the bracelet.
I stared at it.
“She wants to meet you.”
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
“Tomorrow?”
Daniel nodded.
“At 6:40.”
I looked at the ticket.
Then Emily.
Then Daniel.
And suddenly I understood.
Lucas hadn't been telling me where he was.
He had been telling me where Sarah would be.
But before I could speak, Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Sebastian.”
“What?”
“If Sarah shows up, don't let her take Lucas.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
Daniel's voice cracked.
“Because Sarah isn't running from Marcus anymore.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“She’s running from Lucas.”
