Chapter 5 - THE WATCH THAT STOPPED AT MIDNIGHT
Dominic stared at the watch.
His father's watch.
The same one he had seen every day as a child.
The same silver case.
The same cracked leather strap.
But there was something different.
The hands were frozen at midnight.
Lucas watched him carefully.
“Do you know it?”
Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it belonged to my father.”
Lucas stepped farther into the room.
“He gave it to my mother.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
Evelyn moved toward the boy.
“Lucas.”
He flinched.
She stopped.
“I'm your aunt.”
Lucas looked confused.
“My mother said I had an aunt.”
“You do.”
“Why didn't she ever tell me your name?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Because she was trying to keep you alive.”
Lucas looked at Dominic.
“Is that true?”
Dominic answered honestly.
“I don't know yet.”
That seemed to surprise the boy.
Most adults had lied to him.
Dominic didn't.
Lucas slowly lowered the watch.
Marco entered.
“Boss, we have company.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
Headlights appeared beyond the trees.
Several vehicles.
Too many.
“Caldwell?”
“Probably.”
Dominic looked at Lucas.
“Can you get downstairs without being seen?”
Lucas nodded.
“I know a way.”
They moved quickly.
Lucas led them through a narrow passage behind the kitchen.
The walls opened into an old root cellar.
Dominic stopped.
“Your mother showed you this?”
“Yes.”
“Where does it go?”
“Outside.”
They emerged behind the barn.
The vehicles stopped at the farmhouse.
Men poured out.
Dominic took out his phone.
“Call the police.”
Marco stared.
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“You trust them?”
“No.”
“Then why—”
“Because Caldwell expects us to hide.”
Marco understood.
Dominic sent the farmhouse coordinates.
Then he turned to Lucas.
“Where did your mother go?”
“I don't know.”
“When did you last see her?”
Lucas looked down.
“Three years ago.”
Evelyn's face fell.
“She's alive?”
Lucas hesitated.
“She was.”
Dominic caught the word.
“Was?”
“She stopped coming.”
“Why?”
“She said someone had found her.”
“Who?”
Lucas looked at the watch.
“My grandfather.”
Dominic went still.
“My father?”
Lucas nodded.
“He came once.”
“When?”
“The night Mom disappeared.”
“What did he say?”
Lucas's face tightened.
“He said I wasn't supposed to exist.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Dominic felt anger rise.
But Lucas continued.
“He also said you didn't know.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Know what?”
“That I was your brother.”
Silence.
Evelyn stared at Lucas.
Dominic's expression changed completely.
Lucas looked frightened by his own words.
“My mother said not to tell you until I was safe.”
Dominic took a step back.
“You're saying my father was your grandfather?”
Lucas nodded.
“He said your father was my grandfather.”
Dominic looked toward Evelyn.
“Does Anna have another connection to my family?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then she looked at Lucas.
“Who is your father?”
Lucas hesitated.
“My mother never told me.”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
The truth was becoming more tangled, not less.
A gunshot cracked outside.
The barn door splintered.
Dominic shoved everyone down.
“Move!”
They ran.
Marco returned fire from behind a wooden post.
Dominic pulled Lucas behind a tractor.
Evelyn crawled beside them.
“Are you hurt?”
Lucas shook his head.
Then he reached for Dominic's hand.
It was instinctive.
A child's hand.
Dominic looked down.
For a moment, the warehouse, the violence, Caldwell, and his father's secrets disappeared.
There was only this boy.
And the terrifying possibility that he was family.
Dominic squeezed his hand.
“Stay with me.”
Lucas nodded.
The gunfire stopped.
Too suddenly.
Dominic knew what that meant.
“They're moving.”
He looked at Marco.
“Get the SUV.”
Marco ran.
Dominic turned to Evelyn.
“Take Lucas.”
She nodded.
They reached the SUV.
Then a black sedan came through the trees.
Dominic raised his gun.
The sedan stopped.
A woman stepped out.
She was older.
Gray streaks in her hair.
Evelyn stared.
The world seemed to stop.
“Anna?”
The woman looked at her.
Her eyes filled.
“Evie.”
Evelyn ran.
They collided.
Anna held her sister tightly.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you were dead.”
They cried without shame.
Dominic stood several feet away.
Anna looked at him.
Her expression hardened.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who?”
Anna looked at Lucas.
Then at Dominic.
“You.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“I came because your son is being hunted.”
Anna shook her head.
“Not by Caldwell.”
“What?”
“My son is being hunted because of what he knows.”
She looked toward the farmhouse.
Then whispered—
“Your father didn't want Lucas dead.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Then what did he want?”
Anna looked at him.
“He wanted Lucas hidden.”
“From whom?”
Anna's face changed.
“From the person who ordered my sister's kidnapping.”
Evelyn went still.
“Who?”
Anna looked at Dominic.
“The order came from inside the Ashford family.”
Dominic stared at her.
“My family is dead.”
“Not all of them.”
A black SUV appeared on the road.
Anna's face drained.
“Too late.”
Dominic drew his gun.
“Who is that?”
May you like
Anna whispered—
“Your uncle.”
