The Stranger at the Cemetery
Ethan drove to his mother's grave before sunrise.
He needed somewhere quiet to think.
The cemetery was almost empty.
He stood before the headstone.
“I don't know who to believe anymore.”
A voice answered behind him.
“You shouldn't believe anyone.”
Ethan turned.
An elderly man stood several yards away.
Gray coat.
Dark hat.
A walking cane.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled faintly.
“Someone who knew your mother.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“What was her name?”
The man's expression softened.
“Sarah.”
Ethan froze.
Almost no one called her that anymore.
Everyone had known her as Elizabeth.
“Who are you?”
“My name doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
The old man looked toward the grave.
“Your mother was trying to expose Victor Hale.”
“I know.”
“No.”
The man shook his head.
“You know only half the story.”
Ethan's pulse increased.
“What don't I know?”
“Victor didn't disappear.”
“I know.”
“He was protected.”
“By whom?”
The man looked directly at Ethan.
“Your father.”
Ethan felt his stomach drop.
“Why?”
“Because killing Victor would have destroyed Michael's family.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You're lying.”
The old man pulled an envelope from his coat.
He handed it to Ethan.
Inside was a photograph.
Victor Hale.
Older.
Alive.
Standing outside a private hospital.
The photograph had been taken six months earlier.
Ethan stared at it.
“Where is he?”
The old man stepped backward.
“You are getting too close.”
“Tell me where he is.”
The man turned.
Before leaving, he said,
“Ask your father about the night your mother died.”
Ethan stood frozen.
That night?
He had always believed his mother had died peacefully in a hospital.
But suddenly, he wasn't sure.
He opened the envelope again.
There was one more item inside.
A hospital bracelet.
His mother's name.
And a date.
The same date she supposedly died.
But beneath her name was another name.
Victor Hale.
Ethan's hands began to shake.
They had been in the same hospital.
May you like
On the same night.
That couldn't be a coincidence.
