Chapter 4 - The Garage Beneath the Snow
The garage was twenty miles outside the city.
Daniel had rented it under another name.
The building was small, weathered, and nearly buried under snow.
Clara had never been there.
Vincent entered first.
Leo covered the rear.
Michael stayed in the SUV because his wound had reopened.
Clara followed.
There was a workbench.
A rusted toolbox.
A children's bicycle.
And on the wall, a photograph of Clara holding newborn Maisie.
Clara stopped.
Daniel had never shown her that picture.
She stepped closer.
Behind the frame was a key.
Not brass.
Silver.
Vincent picked it up.
“What does it open?”
Clara didn't know.
Then she remembered something.
“Daniel used to talk about a bank.”
“What bank?”
“Northstar Credit Union.”
Vincent looked at Leo.
“Does it still exist?”
“No.”
“Find the records.”
Ten minutes later, Leo returned.
“Northstar Credit Union became part of First Harbor Bank.”
Vincent's expression tightened.
“Any private vaults?”
“Yes.”
“One was opened under Daniel's name.”
Clara stared.
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“After he disappeared?”
“Yes.”
They reached First Harbor before dawn.
Vincent used the silver key.
The vault opened.
Inside was a sealed box.
Clara reached for it.
A voice came from behind them.
“Don't.”
They turned.
Daniel Bennett stood in the doorway.
Clara forgot how to breathe.
He looked older.
Thinner.
There was a scar beneath his jaw.
His eyes filled when he saw her.
“Clara.”
She slapped him.
The sound echoed.
Daniel did not defend himself.
She slapped him again.
“You're alive.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Daniel's eyes moved to Maisie.
“I wanted to come home every day.”
Clara's voice broke.
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because Kane told me that if I came home, he would kill you.”
Clara cried.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I couldn't risk it.”
Vincent stepped between them.
“Where's my brother?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Alive.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Where?”
“Here.”
Michael appeared at the end of the corridor.
Daniel stared.
“You found me.”
Michael smiled.
“You always were hard to kill.”
Daniel laughed through tears.
The brothers embraced.
Clara stood frozen.
Maisie was still missing.
Vincent turned to Daniel.
“Kane has her.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Then we have minutes.”
“Where?”
Daniel pointed to a folder.
“Kane keeps people where nobody thinks to search.”
“Where?”
“Under the old Moretti cemetery.”
Clara stared.
“That's impossible.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your family owns land beneath the cemetery.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
The old cemetery was built over a private underground bunker.
Daniel explained that Kane used it as a holding facility.
Michael had been there before escaping.
Frank knew about it.
Vincent called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text appeared.
DON'T TRUST DANIEL.
Vincent stared at the screen.
Clara read it.
“Who sent that?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel whispered,
“Kane.”
They drove back toward Chicago.
Halfway there, their convoy was attacked.
Bullets shattered the rear window.
Vincent accelerated.
Leo returned fire.
Daniel pulled Clara down.
Maisie screamed from the back seat.
“Mommy!”
Clara covered her.
“I'm here.”
Another vehicle rammed them.
They spun across the road.
Vincent regained control.
One attacker climbed onto the hood.
Daniel fired through the windshield.
The man fell.
They escaped into an alley.
When everything went quiet, Vincent pulled over.
Everyone was breathing.
Everyone except one.
Frank was in the third vehicle.
His car had been hit.
They found him two blocks away.
Alive.
Barely.
He handed Vincent a small recorder.
“Kane has the girl.”
Vincent's hands shook.
“How do we get her back?”
Frank looked at him.
“Open Michael's original file.”
Vincent did.
Inside was a document he had never seen.
A map.
The underground bunker.
A date.
Christmas Eve.
And a sentence:
WHEN THE BELL RINGS THREE TIMES, OPEN THE NORTH DOOR.
Vincent looked toward the cemetery.
“Tonight.”
May you like
Frank nodded.
“Tonight.”
