HE CHOSE HIS WIFE OVER HIS MOTHER - THEN THE BABY MONITOR EXPOSED THE SECRET SHE WOULD KILL TO BURY

Daniel ran on pure rage.

Evan cut between two boat sheds, kicked over a stack of plastic crates, and vaulted a low chain fence. Daniel hit the fence hard, climbed, and kept going.

"Evan!"

The man did not slow down.

They reached the service road behind the marina. Evan spun suddenly and swung a metal flashlight at Daniel's head.

Daniel ducked. The flashlight clipped his shoulder.

He drove Evan backward into a parked van.

"Why were you at my house?"

Evan slammed an elbow into Daniel's ribs.

"You have no idea what you're protecting."

Daniel hit him once in the jaw.

"Try me."

Evan smiled through blood on his lip.

"Ask your wife why she was in your father's office before she ever met you."

Daniel froze for half a second.

That was enough.

Evan shoved him away and reached inside his jacket.

"Hands!" Ortiz shouted from behind them.

Evan pulled out a phone, not a gun, and smashed it on the pavement.

Ortiz tackled him before he could run.

Within minutes, he was cuffed against the hood of a patrol car while firefighters attacked the blaze swallowing Claire's vehicle.

Daniel stared at him.

"What did you mean about Emily?"

Evan looked past him at the smoke. "You married a woman who built her whole life around getting inside your family."

"Shut up."

"Ask her."

Ortiz pushed Evan into the cruiser.

"He's trying to split you two. Don't give him free rent in your head."

Daniel knew that.

He also knew Emily had hidden the flash drive for three days.

Back at the hotel, he found her sitting on the bed with Mia asleep against her chest. One look at Daniel's face and she knew.

"What happened?"

"Claire's car was firebombed. Evan did it. Ortiz caught him."

Emily went white.

"And he said something before they took him."

She did not ask what.

Daniel noticed.

"He said you were in my father's office before you ever met me."

Emily lowered her eyes.

Daniel's voice dropped. "Tell me he's lying."

Mia made a soft sound in her sleep.

Emily kissed the baby's forehead, placed her carefully in the bassinet, then stood.

"I met your father once," she said.

"When?"

"Almost ten years ago."

Daniel felt as if the floor shifted.

"We met seven years ago."

"I know."

"Why were you in his office?"

Emily walked to her bag, pulled out an old envelope, and handed it to him.

The return address was Hayes Construction.

The handwriting on the front was his father's.

Inside was a single page.

Emily,

You were right to question what happened at Site 14. I should have listened sooner. If I fail to make this public, do not trust Margaret, Evan, or Robert Keller. And whatever you do, do not tell Daniel until you know what happened the night he forgot.

Daniel looked up slowly.

"What is Site 14?"

Emily's eyes filled.

"It's where my father died."

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