Chapter 4 - The Brother Nobody Knew ExistedI had never heard the name Daniel Whitaker.

Colonel Whitaker had.

And judging from his expression, he wished he hadn't.

"Who is Daniel?"

He didn't answer.

A man entered the room.

He looked nothing like Colonel Whitaker.

Younger.

Dark-haired.

Sharp-eyed.

But there was something familiar in his face.

He looked at me.

Then at Colonel Whitaker.

"You finally told her?"

Colonel Whitaker stepped forward.

"Daniel, leave."

Daniel smiled.

"You always did hate difficult conversations."

I looked between them.

"Someone explain."

Daniel turned toward me.

"I'm your father's son."

My heart stopped.

"What?"

Colonel Whitaker closed his eyes.

Daniel continued.

"Your half-brother."

I couldn't speak.

He reached into his coat and removed a photograph.

It showed my father standing beside a woman I didn't recognize.

And a little boy.

Daniel.

I stared at the photograph.

"Why didn't I know?"

"Because your father wanted it that way."

Colonel Whitaker's voice was heavy.

"Daniel was involved with people your father couldn't trust."

Daniel laughed.

"That's one way to describe it."

I looked at him.

"Are you dangerous?"

He smiled sadly.

"Not to you."

I didn't know whether to believe him.

Then he handed me another document.

"This is what Russell was really after."

I opened it.

It was a corporate agreement.

Russell had been negotiating to sell controlling interests in Harlan Medical Logistics to an overseas investment group.

But there was one problem.

The company couldn't legally be sold without approval from the Whitaker Trust.

My trust.

"He needed me to sign the divorce agreement because it contained a transfer clause."

Margaret nodded.

"Exactly."

I stared at the document.

The divorce papers weren't simply about taking my money.

Russell wanted my signature to seize the company.

I felt betrayed all over again.

Daniel looked at me.

"He thought you were powerless."

"He did."

"He was wrong."

Daniel reached into his pocket.

"There's something else."

He handed me a flash drive.

"Everything Russell has done is here."

I looked at Colonel Whitaker.

"Why help me?"

Daniel answered before he could.

"Because your father asked me to protect you."

I stared at him.

"When?"

"Three months before he died."

Tears filled my eyes.

"He knew?"

"Your father knew Russell was dangerous."

I shook my head.

"Then why didn't he stop him?"

"Because he wanted you to make your own choices."

Daniel looked toward the incubators.

"Until your children were born."

I touched the glass beside Elise's incubator.

My daughter moved her tiny hand.

I smiled through tears.

Then my phone rang.

Margaret answered.

Her expression changed.

"Callie..."

"What?"

She put the call on speaker.

It was a bank investigator.

"We have a problem."

"What happened?"

"Russell just attempted to withdraw funds from an account associated with the trust."

My heart sank.

"Can he?"

"No."

The investigator paused.

"Because the account has been frozen."

I exhaled.

Then came the next sentence.

"By court order."

I looked at Margaret.

"How?"

She smiled.

"Because someone filed an emergency petition this morning."

I looked at Colonel Whitaker.

He shook his head.

"Not me."

Daniel smiled.

"That was me."

I stared at him.

"You did that?"

"Your father asked me to protect you."

He looked toward the door.

"And now I'm keeping my promise."

For the first time, I realized Russell's carefully constructed world was collapsing.

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But I also knew desperate men could become dangerous.

And Russell had just discovered that his last escape route had disappeared.