Chapter 13 - The Father They Were Afraid Of
David sent one message.
To a number he had not used in years.
I KNOW ABOUT THE SEAL.
The reply came five minutes later.
CARTER SUMMER HOUSE. ALONE.
Marcus saw it.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
Daniel said, “Neither of you goes alone.”
Police staged outside the property.
David entered first.
Marcus followed against every instruction.
Daniel monitored through a wire.
The summer house was dark.
David reached the living room.
No one.
Then an old tape recorder clicked on.
Charles’s voice.
“David.”
David stopped.
The voice continued.
“You were always the difficult one.”
Marcus whispered, “Recorded.”
Then a side door opened.
A man stepped in.
Not Charles.
Richard Sloan’s missing private investigator.
Gun visible.
David raised his hands.
“Where’s Charles?”
The man smiled.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
Marcus stepped out.
The man’s face changed.
“There he is.”
David moved in front of him.
“Touch him and—”
The man lifted the gun.
Laser dot.
Daniel saw it through the monitor.
Police moved.
Too slow.
David slammed Marcus down.
Shot.
Wall splintered.
Officers entered from the rear.
The gunman ran upstairs.
Captured on the landing.
Alive.
In his pocket:
Trust seal.
Fake Ruth identification.
David’s cryptographic token clone.
Daniel arrived.
Marcus stood shaking.
David looked at him.
“I told you not to come.”
Marcus snapped:
“And I’m done letting fathers disappear alone.”
David flinched.
Then the gunman laughed from the floor.
“Father?”
Everyone looked.
He stared at David.
“You still think that’s true?”
Marcus’s face changed.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What are you talking about?”
The gunman said nothing.
Police dragged him away.
David looked at Marcus.
“Ignore him.”
Marcus did not.
Then Daniel found a folder in the gunman’s bag.
MARCUS - PROTECTION.
David’s label.
Inside:
Marcus’s medical records.
Birth records.
Paternity analyses.
Daniel read one.
David Carter excluded as direct biological father.
His breath stopped.
Marcus saw his face.
“What?”
David stepped forward.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew?”
David’s eyes filled.
“Not this.”
Marcus grabbed the report.
He read.
Then stared at David.
“You’re not my father.”
David’s voice broke.
“I thought I was.”
Marcus backed away.
The gunman shouted from outside:
May you like
“Ask Rachel!”
CUT.
