Chapter 3 - The Brother I Buried May Have Been Alive
I confronted Hannah before sunrise.
She opened the door wearing the same oversized sweater.
“You look like you haven't slept.”
“I haven't.”
“What happened?”
I handed her the photograph.
Her face went white.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone left it in my bedroom.”
She took a breath.
“That's Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I.”
She stared at me.
“I met him six months ago.”
“Where?”
“At a literacy conference.”
“Name?”
“He called himself Daniel Reed.”
My stomach turned.
“Did he mention me?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That his brother was a businessman who had become a very difficult person.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
Then she told me where he had been living.
A small apartment in Uptown.
We found it empty.
But Daniel had left something behind.
A box.
Inside were photographs.
Me and him as teenagers.
Our mother.
Our father.
And Hannah.
There was also a notebook.
The first page contained one sentence.
Nathan doesn't know why I disappeared.
The second:
Dad didn't die naturally.
I stared.
“What does this mean?”
Hannah shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I kept reading.
Daniel had discovered something years ago.
Our father's logistics company wasn't only moving legal cargo.
There had been hidden shipments.
Weapons.
Money.
People.
He wanted to expose it.
Our father found out.
Then our father died.
Three days later, Daniel disappeared.
Everyone assumed Daniel had been killed.
But apparently he had survived.
He had changed his name.
And he had spent years collecting evidence.
“Why would he come back now?”
I asked.
Hannah pointed toward the final page.
Because they found her.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
She didn't know.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A distorted voice said:
“Bring Hannah to the old Mercer warehouse.”
“Who are you?”
“You'll find your brother there.”
The call ended.
We went.
The warehouse had been abandoned for a decade.
Inside, we found Daniel.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
He looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then he said,
“You always hated surprises.”
I hit him.
Hard.
He staggered backward.
“You were dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had to.”
“You let Mom believe you were dead.”
“I thought it was the only way.”
“Why?”
He looked at Hannah.
“Because they were watching her.”
I turned.
“Who?”
“My old employer.”
“Evan?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not Evan.”
Then he said the name.
Marcus Vale.
A Chicago crime financier who had quietly expanded into Baltimore and Milwaukee.
Someone I had been competing against for years.
Daniel had worked for him.
Not willingly.
He had been forced after discovering the shipments.
Hannah interrupted.
“Why was my name in his files?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because you were the key.”
“To what?”
“An investigation.”
He explained.
Hannah's father had been an accountant for Marcus Vale.
He had kept records of illegal payments.
Before he died, he gave those records to Hannah.
She didn't know.
Her old family Bible contained a hidden memory card.
She had carried it around for years.
My pulse quickened.
“Does Evan know?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Evan knows everything.”
“You worked with Evan too?”
“No.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Evan killed our father.”
The words destroyed the last piece of uncertainty.
My entire business had been built around a lie.
Evan wasn't my friend.
He had been positioning himself inside my organization for twelve years.
He had manipulated my father's death.
He had hidden Daniel.
He had watched Hannah.
And now he wanted the information she unknowingly carried.
A gunshot exploded.
Daniel shoved me down.
Hannah screamed silently.
Three men entered.
I returned fire.
One ran.
Two fell.
Daniel grabbed Hannah.
“Where's the Bible?”
“What?”
“The Bible.”
“At home.”
“We need to move.”
We ran.
But someone was waiting outside.
Evan.
He stood beside a black SUV.
“Hello, Nathan.”
I raised my gun.
“You killed our father.”
Evan smiled.
“You finally figured it out.”
Daniel stepped beside me.
Evan looked at him.
“I thought you were smarter than this.”
Daniel answered,
“I learned from the best.”
Evan laughed.
Then his expression shifted.
“Hannah.”
She froze.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Yes, you do.”
Evan pointed his weapon at her.
“Give me the Bible.”
She shook her head.
“I don't have it.”
He looked at me.
“Then perhaps your brother can explain.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Evan smiled.
“See, Nathan, this is why I needed you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel never told you the most important part.”
He pointed at my brother.
“The night your father died, Daniel wasn't the only witness.”
I turned toward Daniel.
His face had gone pale.
“You were there?”
May you like
Daniel nodded.
“And so was Hannah's father.”
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