Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Nobody spoke.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
The boy couldn't have been more than sixteen.
He had his father's eyes.
And Dominic's jaw.
But there was something else.
The boy wore the same silver bracelet.
The bracelet found on Evelyn.
Dominic looked at Anna.
She nodded.
“That was him.”
“Who?”
“Michael.”
Dominic's voice barely worked.
“Michael Ashford.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“My first son.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You had another child?”
“Before you.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because your father took him.”
Dominic felt the anger returning.
“Why?”
“Because Michael wasn't his biological son.”
The words landed heavily.
Richard looked away.
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
“Then whose son was he?”
She answered.
“Your father's brother.”
Dominic stared at Richard.
Richard's face collapsed.
“I was young.”
“You were my mother's brother?”
“No.”
Richard swallowed.
“I was Michael's father.”
The silence became unbearable.
Evelyn stepped closer to Dominic.
He didn't seem to hear her.
His entire childhood had been built on lies.
His mother had another son.
His uncle was that son's father.
His father had hidden him.
And somehow, Caldwell had used him.
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
“Where is Michael?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Cole spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Cole held another object.
A small wooden box.
He opened it.
Inside was a child's drawing.
A house.
A woman.
Two boys.
And a man standing outside.
Dominic picked it up.
On the back was a date.
Twenty-six years earlier.
His mother's handwriting said:
MICHAEL KNOWS.
Dominic looked at Cole.
“Where is he?”
Cole's expression changed.
“He's been closer than you think.”
“Where?”
Cole looked at Marco.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at Lucas.
“He is the reason Caldwell has been afraid all these years.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Where?”
Cole took out his phone.
A photograph appeared.
A man in his forties.
Dark hair.
Scar across his cheek.
Dominic stared.
Something about the face felt familiar.
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he come forward?”
“Because he believes you were part of the family that abandoned him.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I didn't know he existed.”
“He didn't know that.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“I tried to tell him.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Did you find him?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He wouldn't forgive me.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Can you blame him?”
She nodded.
“No.”
Then a gunshot shattered the air.
Cole dropped the phone.
Dominic pulled Evelyn down.
Anna grabbed Lucas.
Marco returned fire.
A bullet struck the SUV.
Dominic looked toward the tree line.
Caldwell's men.
Again.
But this time there were more.
“They followed us,” Marco said.
Dominic grabbed the wooden box.
“Move!”
They ran toward the old farmhouse.
Inside, they barricaded the doors.
Lucas stood beside Dominic.
“Are they coming?”
“Yes.”
“Are we going to die?”
Dominic crouched.
“No.”
“You promise?”
Dominic looked at him.
“I don't make promises I can't keep.”
Lucas nodded.
Then whispered—
“My mom did.”
Dominic looked up.
“Your mother promised you something?”
“She promised she'd come back.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
Lucas looked down.
“But she left me the watch.”
Dominic understood.
The watch wasn't only evidence.
It was a promise.
A promise from Anna.
A promise from Eleanor.
A promise from everyone who had spent years trying to protect children from adults who had failed them.
Dominic stood.
“We're ending this.”
He looked at Eleanor.
“Where is the original ledger?”
She hesitated.
“Dominic…”
“Where?”
“Your father hid it.”
“Where?”
Eleanor looked at the farmhouse floor.
“In the place he trusted most.”
Dominic looked around.
The walls.
The photographs.
The old furniture.
Then the fireplace.
He walked toward it.
Behind one brick was a hollow space.
He pulled the brick loose.
Inside was a metal box.
Evelyn stared.
Dominic opened it.
The original ledger was inside.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Judges.
Police officers.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
And one final page.
Dominic read it.
His face went white.
“What?”
Evelyn asked.
He turned the page toward her.
At the bottom was a signature.
VINCENT CALDWELL.
Under it was another name.
DOMINIC ASHFORD.
Evelyn gasped.
“That isn't your signature.”
“I know.”
Anna looked closer.
“It was written before you were born.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
The ledger wasn't accusing him.
It was documenting a plan.
A plan to make him the future heir of Caldwell's network.
His father had intended to make him the public face of everything.
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
“You knew.”
“I found out too late.”
Cole stepped closer.
“There is one more page.”
Dominic turned it.
A handwritten note appeared.
IF DOMINIC EVER DISCOVERS THE TRUTH, GIVE HIM THE NAME OF THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL.
Below it was a name.
Dominic stared.
Then looked at Eleanor.
“Who is this?”
She whispered—
“Your father.”
Dominic's phone rang.
This time, it was not an unknown number.
It was Michael.
Dominic answered.
A man's voice said—
“Brother.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Where are you?”
“Where this should have ended twenty-six years ago.”
“Tell me.”
A pause.
Then Michael said—
May you like
“At your father's grave.”
The line went dead.
