Chapter 5: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Marcus kept the phone against his ear.
Outside, the man in the dark suit stood beneath the porch light, one hand resting casually inside his coat pocket.
Marcus stared at him through the glass.
“You said your name was Samuel Cole.””
“Yes.””
“That’s impossible.””
The stranger smiled.
“People have been saying that for a very long time.””
Marcus felt Daniel move behind him.
“Put the phone on speaker.””
Marcus did.
Samuel's voice filled the hallway.
“I assume Daniel is with you.””
Daniel's face hardened.
“How do you know Daniel?””
Samuel laughed softly.
“Because Daniel has spent eleven years making my life inconvenient.””
Daniel stepped closer to the window.
“You're supposed to be in prison.””
“I was.””
“You were supposed to stay there.””
“I did my time.””
Marcus looked between them.
“Who are you?””
Samuel's expression changed.
“You really don't remember me.””
“I have never met you.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
Marcus stared at the man.
There was something familiar about the shape of his eyes.
Not enough to recognize.
Enough to disturb him.
Nia moved down the stairs.
“Dad?””
Marcus turned.
“Stay upstairs.””
“No.””
“Nia, please.””
She stood beside him anyway.
Samuel saw her through the window.
His face softened.
“So that's the girl.””
Marcus stepped in front of Nia.
“Don't look at her.””
Samuel raised both hands.
“I'm not here to hurt her.””
“Then why are you here?””
“To prevent somebody else from hurting her.””
Vanessa had been silent until then.
Now she whispered, “Marcus, we need to leave.””
He turned toward her.
“Why?””
“Because Samuel never comes anywhere alone.””
Three seconds later, headlights appeared behind the black SUV.
Another vehicle rolled onto the street.
Then another.
Marcus's stomach dropped.
“Who are they?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Daniel looked out the window.
“You do know.””
She stared at him.
“Not exactly.””
Daniel pointed to the approaching cars.
“They're trust security.””
Marcus frowned.
“What trust?””
His father's family trust.
The words hung in the air.
Samuel spoke again through the phone.
“Marcus, listen carefully. You have maybe five minutes before they come inside.””
Marcus looked at the front door.
“What do they want?””
“Nia.””
Nia's face went pale.
Marcus's arm moved around her shoulders.
“No one is taking my daughter.””
Samuel's voice became firm.
“I know.””
“Then tell me how to stop them.””
“Bring her outside.””
Marcus stared at the phone.
“No.””
“Then they'll come through the house.””
Daniel shook his head.
“He's lying.””
Samuel laughed.
“Still suspicious. Good.””
Daniel stepped closer to the window.
“If you wanted to help, you would've come alone.””
“I couldn't.””
“Why?””
“Because Robert left instructions.””
Marcus looked at Samuel.
“My father is dead.””
“His instructions aren't.””
Samuel took something from his pocket.
A small black envelope.
He placed it on the hood of the SUV.
“There's a legal order inside.””
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“What kind of order?””
“Temporary guardianship.””
Nia whispered, “What?””
Samuel looked at her through the glass.
“Your grandfather arranged for you to be transferred to a private custodian if certain conditions were met.””
Marcus felt his heart pound.
“Transferred where?””
“To a facility.””
“What facility?””
Samuel hesitated.
“That's the part you won't like.””
“Say it.””
“An offshore trust property.””
Daniel cursed under his breath.
Marcus looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“It means she disappears.””
Nia's fingers dug into Marcus's arm.
“I don't want to go anywhere.””
“You're not going anywhere,” Marcus said.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“You don't understand.””
Marcus turned on her.
“Then explain it.””
“I tried.””
“You tried to explain starvation as discipline.””
Her face crumpled.
“This isn't about the food.””
“No,” Marcus said.
“Apparently it's about everything.””
Samuel knocked once on the glass.
Marcus looked outside.
“Listen to me,” Samuel said.
“Your father's trust doesn't activate automatically. It needs a trigger.””
“What trigger?””
“Proof of paternity fraud.””
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“What?””
“The trust was designed around a specific clause. If Nia was proven not to be biologically yours before her eighteenth birthday, custody could be contested.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“That's why the test was done six months ago.””
Vanessa nodded.
Marcus looked at her.
“Who ordered the test?””
She whispered, “Robert's attorneys.””
“But he's been dead eight years.””
“They had instructions.””
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“Why would my father care whether she was my biological daughter?””
Samuel looked at Nia.
“Because she wasn't just Ethan's daughter.””
Marcus stared.
“What does that mean?””
Samuel didn't answer.
Instead, he pointed toward Daniel.
“Ask him.””
Marcus turned.
Daniel's face had gone gray.
“Daniel?””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
“Ask him.””
Marcus walked toward Daniel.
“What isn't he telling me?””
Daniel looked at Nia.
Then at Marcus.
“I was the one who arranged the test.””
Marcus froze.
“You?””
“I needed to know whether the trust clause was real.””
“Why would you care?””
“Because I knew Robert had lied about Ethan.””
“That doesn't explain anything.””
Daniel swallowed.
“Ethan wasn't killed in an accident.””
Vanessa gasped.
Marcus stared.
“What?””
Daniel looked toward the window.
Samuel closed his eyes.
Marcus grabbed Daniel by the collar.
“Say that again.””
“Ethan didn't die because of a random crash.””
Marcus shoved him against the wall.
“You've known this for eleven years?””
“Yes.””
“You watched me bury my brother.””
“I tried to warn you.””
“You let me believe he was dead because he lost control of his car.””
Daniel's eyes filled with pain.
“He didn't lose control.””
“Then what happened?””
Daniel whispered, “Someone cut his brakes.””
The room went silent.
Nia covered her mouth.
Marcus released Daniel.
“Who?””
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She shook her head furiously.
“No.””
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Who?””
Vanessa backed into the wall.
“I don't know.””
“You were with Ethan.””
“I wasn't with him that night.””
“But you knew about the brakes.””
She began crying.
“I suspected.””
“How?””
Vanessa covered her face.
“Because he called me before he left.””
Marcus stopped.
“He called you?””
“Yes.””
“What did he say?””
“He said he had found something.””
“What?””
“He said your father was moving money.””
Marcus frowned.
“Moving money where?””
“Into a company called Northbridge.””
Daniel spoke from behind him.
“Northbridge wasn't a company.””
Marcus turned.
“What was it?””
“A front.””
“For what?””
Daniel looked toward Samuel.
Samuel answered.
“For buying people.””
Marcus stared at him.
“People?””
“Doctors. Lawyers. Investigators. Judges.””
Marcus's throat tightened.
“My father couldn't control judges.””
“He didn't have to control all of them.””
Samuel glanced at the approaching vehicles.
“He only needed enough.””
The sound of tires crunching over gravel came closer.
Marcus looked through the window.
A fourth vehicle had arrived.
Two men were getting out.
Dark suits.
Earpieces.
One of them carried a folder.
Nia whispered, “Dad…”
Marcus crouched in front of her.
“Listen to me.””
She nodded.
“No matter what happens, you stay beside me.””
“Okay.””
“No one takes you.””
“Okay.””
“And none of this is your fault.””
Nia began crying again.
Marcus brushed a tear from her cheek.
“You hear me?””
“Yes.””
Vanessa watched them.
Then she slowly walked to the kitchen counter.
She opened a drawer.
Marcus noticed.
“What are you doing?””
She pulled out a small brass key.
“Giving you the last thing I should have given you eleven years ago.””
She placed it in his hand.
“What does it open?””
“The safety deposit box.””
“At which bank?””
“First Federal.””
Marcus looked at the key.
“What’s inside?””
Vanessa's eyes met his.
“Your real birth records.””
Marcus stared at her.
“My birth records?””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“Nia's.””
Daniel went still.
Samuel's voice came through the phone.
“Do not open that box without a lawyer.””
Marcus looked at the window.
“Why?””
“Because the moment you do, you trigger the second clause.””
Marcus's stomach turned.
“What second clause?””
Samuel's expression became grim.
“The one that decides who inherits everything.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does that have to do with Nia?””
Samuel looked directly through the window.
“Because Nia isn't the beneficiary.””
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“Then who is?””
Samuel didn't answer.
Instead, every light in the house suddenly went out.
Nia screamed.
The front door handle began to turn.
And from the darkness outside came a man's voice.
“Mr. Cole, step away from the girl.””
Marcus pulled Nia behind him.
Then Vanessa whispered something that made his entire body go cold.
“Marcus…”
He turned.
She was staring at the brass key in his hand.
“That key doesn't open a safety deposit box.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does it open?””
May you like
Vanessa's face had gone completely white.
“The room where your father kept the truth.””
