Chapter 8: My Brother's Confession
I turned toward Michael.
He stood beneath the flickering monitor, his face pale, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides.
"Tell me he's lying.""
Michael swallowed.
"Daniel—"
"Tell me Robert is lying about Sophie.""
He looked at Maya.
Then at Eleanor.
Finally, he met my eyes.
"I can't.""
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything except the pounding of my own heart.
"You can't?""
Michael shook his head.
"I never wanted you to find out this way.""
I grabbed the front of his jacket.
"Find out what?""
Eleanor stepped between us.
"Daniel, let him speak.""
I released him.
Michael straightened his collar with trembling fingers.
"Three years ago, before Alicia disappeared, I was helping her investigate Robert's business. We discovered that he had been using the family trust to finance illegal operations. Alicia found records linking him to several missing children.""
"Get to the point.""
Michael closed his eyes.
"One of those records was Sophie.""
I shook my head.
"Sophie is my daughter.""
"Yes.""
"Then why would Robert say you're her father?""
Michael's voice broke.
"Because he believed I was.""
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?""
Michael sat down heavily.
"Before you married Alicia, there was a period when she and I were close. You were working overseas. She was lonely. I was around all the time.""
I remembered those years.
Michael had helped Alicia move into our first house. He had attended every family gathering. He was the person she called when the car broke down or the kitchen sink leaked.
He had been my best man.
My daughter's favorite uncle.
I had trusted him with everything.
"You slept with my wife?""
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
"Once.""
I stepped back.
He continued quickly.
"It happened before you and Alicia were married. We were both drinking. It was a mistake, and it never happened again. I told her it would never happen again.""
I could barely breathe.
"Did she tell me?""
"No.""
"Did she tell you Sophie might be yours?""
"Not at first.""
He pressed both hands against his face.
"When Alicia became pregnant, she was certain you were the father. She had no reason to think otherwise. I didn't question it either.""
"Then why did Robert say—"
"Because Robert found the old medical records.""
Eleanor pulled a document from the folder.
"This is a paternity report Robert obtained after Alicia disappeared. It says Michael is the biological father.""
I stared at the page.
The report carried the name of a private laboratory. The date was three years earlier.
My brother's name appeared beside a percentage so high it made my vision blur.
I looked at Michael.
"Is this real?""
"I don't know.""
Eleanor frowned.
"What do you mean, you don't know?""
"Robert showed me a different report. It said I wasn't the father. He told me the lab had made a mistake, and that Sophie was Daniel's child.""
I stared at him.
"Why would he show you a report?""
"Because he wanted me to help him take Sophie away from Alicia.""
The pieces began falling into place, each one more horrifying than the last.
Robert had used the possibility that Sophie was Michael's child to control my brother.
He had used Vanessa to get close to me.
He had used Alicia's disappearance to make sure nobody could challenge him.
And somehow, he had kept all of us trapped inside the same lie.
I turned toward Eleanor.
"Where is Sophie now?""
"I don't know. The records say she was transferred to a private residence after leaving Haven House.""
"Which residence?""
"The file was altered. The name was removed.""
Michael stood abruptly.
"I know where she is.""
We all turned toward him.
"What?"" I demanded.
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"I've known for two years.""
I felt the room tilt again.
"You knew where my daughter was?""
"I knew where the child might be.""
"And you didn't tell me?""
Michael's eyes filled.
"Robert threatened to kill her if I did.""
I struck the desk with my palm.
"Everyone keeps saying they were protecting my family! Meanwhile, my wife disappeared, my daughter grew up without her mother, and my other child was hidden from me!""
Maya began to cry.
I immediately lowered my voice.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart.""
She clutched my hand.
"Are we going to find my sister?""
I knelt beside her.
"Yes.""
"Even if Uncle Michael is bad?""
I looked at my brother.
He had tears streaming down his face.
"Even then.""
Eleanor opened the paper Michael had given us.
It contained an address outside the city and a name.
*THE WILLOW ESTATE — PRIVATE FAMILY RESIDENCE.*
Beneath it was a handwritten note.
*SOPHIE LIVES HERE. ASK FOR MRS. VALE.*
Eleanor studied the address.
"I know this place. Robert owns it through a company registered under another name.""
I rose.
"Then that's where we're going.""
"No," Eleanor said.
"It's a trap.""
I looked at her.
"How do you know?""
"Because Robert wants you there.""
She pointed toward the monitor, where the corridor camera had begun flickering again.
The gunman outside the red door was gone.
A message appeared on the screen.
*MIDNIGHT IS OVER. YOU HAVE UNTIL DAWN.*
Then another.
*BRING MICHAEL. LEAVE THE GIRL.*
Maya grabbed my leg.
I wrapped my arm around her.
"No one is taking her.""
Michael looked at the screen.
"He wants me because I have something he needs.""
"What?""
Michael hesitated.
Then he pulled a small flash drive from his pocket.
"The original records. The names of every child Robert moved, every payment he made, every person who helped him.""
Eleanor stared at him.
"You had those records all this time?""
Michael nodded.
"I stole them from his office the night Alicia disappeared.""
I felt a cold wave of anger.
"You let us search for three years while you sat on the evidence?""
"I thought I could use it to bargain for Sophie.""
"And did you?""
"No.""
His voice was barely audible.
"Robert found out I had it. He told me if I ever released the files, he'd make sure Daniel was arrested for Alicia's disappearance.""
I stared at him.
"Why would I be arrested?""
Michael looked at the floor.
"Because he planted evidence in your house.""
My blood ran cold.
"What evidence?""
"Alicia's blood was found in the garage. Robert made sure the police would find it. He wanted the investigation to point toward you.""
I remembered the garage.
The broken light.
The stain on the concrete that the police had photographed.
They had told me it was an old oil spill.
My stomach twisted.
"He was going to frame me for my wife's murder?""
Michael nodded.
"And now that Alicia is alive, he'll have to make sure she never reaches the police.""
A heavy thud sounded above us.
Then the building fell silent.
Eleanor looked toward the ceiling.
"They're inside.""
I grabbed Maya and moved toward the corridor.
Michael caught my arm.
"Daniel, there's one more thing.""
I turned.
"What now?""
He stared at me with an expression I had never seen before.
"I wasn't the only person who knew Alicia was alive.""
He took a shaky breath.
"Your mother knew, too.""
I froze.
"My mother died six years ago.""
Michael shook his head.
"No. The woman who raised you died six years ago. But Robert had a reason to keep her death secret.""
He reached into his wallet and pulled out an old photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside a young woman.
Alicia.
On the back was a date from three years earlier.
And a sentence written in my mother's handwriting.
*IF DANIEL EVER LEARNS THE TRUTH, TELL HIM HIS MOTHER IS STILL WAITING.*
Before I could speak, the red door exploded inward.
A gunman stepped through the smoke.
Michael shoved me toward the corridor.
"Go!""
I ran with Maya as gunfire erupted behind us.
But as we reached the stairs, a second man appeared at the landing.
He lowered his weapon.
Then he smiled.
"Hello, Daniel.""
I stopped dead.
The man had my face.
My father's eyes.
And the same scar I had carried above my left eyebrow since childhood.
He looked at Maya and tilted his head.
May you like
"There's my granddaughter.""
Then he raised the gun toward her.
