Rain tapped steadily against the windows.
Mara stood in the center of the apartment, staring at Daniel.
“You were there.”
Daniel nodded.
“Twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
“With Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I didn't know how.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“You had twelve years.”
“I know.”
“Then start now.”
Daniel sat down.
Evelyn remained near the table, watching him.
Daniel took a slow breath.
“Arthur discovered that someone inside Bennett Holdings was stealing from several accounts. He believed the money was being used to control people who owed favors to powerful clients.”
Mara listened.
“My father?”
“Not your father.”
“Then who?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your uncle Richard.”
Mara froze.
Her father's younger brother had left the company years ago after a bitter disagreement.
“He died,” she said.
“No.”
Mara stared at him.
“He moved overseas.”
“That was the story.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Richard was the person Arthur suspected.”
Mara's mind raced through childhood memories.
Family dinners.
Arguments behind closed doors.
Her father refusing to discuss his brother.
Her mother crying once in the kitchen.
She had always assumed it was a business dispute.
Daniel continued.
“Arthur gathered evidence. Your father helped him. I was working for Arthur at the time.”
“You were not a security guard.”
“No.”
“What were you?”
“Private protection.”
Mara swallowed.
“Protection for Arthur?”
“Yes.”
“And that night?”
Daniel looked down.
“Arthur asked me to drive him to a meeting.”
“With Richard?”
“We thought so.”
“What happened?”
Daniel's hands tightened.
“When we arrived, there was no Richard. There were two men waiting.”
Evelyn spoke softly.
“Arthur never came home.”
Daniel continued.
“They attacked us. I got Arthur out, but our vehicle was followed.”
“Where did you go?”
“To an abandoned warehouse.”
Mara waited.
“Arthur had been shot.”
She covered her mouth.
“I thought he died.”
“He nearly did.”
“Then how did he survive?”
“Someone found us.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Your father.”
Mara stared.
“My father saved him?”
“Yes.”
The revelation left her almost dizzy.
“Then why did everyone say Arthur died?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Because your father believed someone inside the family would kill him if they knew he survived.”
Mara looked at Evelyn.
“And Arthur?”
“He disappeared voluntarily.”
“Why?”
“To protect the people who helped him.”
Mara turned back to Daniel.
“Then why did you become a security guard?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Because after Arthur disappeared, I realized I was tired of living around secrets.”
“You still had secrets.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't sound like much of a change.”
“It wasn't.”
Mara sat.
For the first time, Daniel looked exhausted.
“I changed my name because people were looking for me. I took an ordinary job. I kept my head down. Then I met you.”
“And you decided not to tell me.”
“I decided I wanted one thing in my life that wasn't connected to Arthur, your father, Richard, or any of that.”
Mara looked at her wedding ring.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
Evelyn suddenly reached for another document.
“This is why none of that matters now.”
She placed it in front of Mara.
It was a recent bank statement.
A series of transfers had been made through an account connected to Richard.
Mara stared at the final transaction.
The recipient was listed only by initials.
D.R.
Daniel leaned over it.
“That isn't mine.”
“I know,” Evelyn said.
“How?”
“Because the account was opened after you disappeared.”
Mara looked up.
“Someone is using Daniel's identity.”
Daniel's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
A message appeared.
*You have until midnight to leave the city.**
Another message followed.
*Take Mara. Come alone.**
Mara read it over his shoulder.
Then a third message appeared.
*If you tell her father, she dies.**
Daniel's face hardened.
Mara reached for his hand.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“We don't run.”
“Mara—”
“No. We've spent twelve years running from a story neither of us understood.”
She picked up the recent bank statement.
“Now we find out who is writing the next chapter.”
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“There is one place we can go.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“You know the place?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know why.”
Mara looked between them.
“Where?”
Evelyn answered.
“The warehouse where Arthur was supposed to have died.”
Daniel stood.
Mara followed.
He looked at her for several seconds.
“You're certain?”
“No.”
She slipped the photograph into her coat pocket.
“But I'm certain I'm done being the last person to know.”
Daniel nodded.
They left the apartment together.
Neither noticed the small camera mounted across the street.
Inside the black sedan, a man watched them disappear around the corner.
He lifted his phone.
“They're heading to the warehouse.”
A pause.
Then a voice answered.
“Good.”
The man looked at the screen.
“Should I stop them?”
The voice on the other end was calm.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Daniel isn't the person we're trying to catch.”
The man frowned.
“Then who?”
The answer came after several seconds.
“Mara.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Warehouse Held More Than a Forgotten Secret, and Mara Realized Someone Had Expected Her to Come Looking
She Married the Man Everyone Dismissed, Then One Phone Call Made Her Family Question Everything They Knew
Part 4 of 20
