Chapter 10 - The Lie Michael BuiltDaniel could not speak.
Evan waited.
Eight years old.
Terrified.
Already betrayed by too many adults.
Daniel forced himself to answer carefully.
“I don’t know.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Of course you do.”
“No.”
Daniel looked only at Evan.
“We need proof.”
The boy’s face hardened.
“You knew my mom?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I knew a woman named Sarah Collins.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Daniel turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Michael said nothing.
“You knew I had been with her.”
“Yes.”
Daniel crossed the room.
Marcus moved with him.
Daniel stopped inches from his brother.
“You raised my son.”
“We didn’t know at first.”
“You knew eventually.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Michael hesitated.
“Before his first birthday.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Seven years.”
“Danny—”
“Seven years you knew.”
Michael’s eyes filled.
“I couldn’t bring him to you.”
“Why?”
“Because Northstar was watching you.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“You let me bury you.”
“I protected you.”
“You stole my child.”
Evan flinched.
Daniel saw it.
He stopped himself.
This wasn’t the place.
Ryan watched them.
His expression was no longer victorious.
Only tired.
Michael looked at Evan.
“I never wanted to steal you.”
The boy said nothing.
“I loved you.”
Evan’s eyes filled.
“Then why did you lie?”
Michael had no answer that could fix it.
Ryan stepped toward Evan.
“Come with me.”
Daniel moved between them.
“No.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“He’s David’s family.”
“He may be mine.”
Ryan stared.
Daniel continued.
“And even if he isn’t, he’s not property.”
Evan looked at Ryan.
“You told me you were my uncle.”
Ryan’s face softened.
“I thought I was.”
“You locked me in a van.”
“To keep Michael from taking you again.”
“You had a gun.”
Ryan said nothing.
“You scared me.”
Ryan lowered his eyes.
That landed.
One of Ryan’s men suddenly moved.
His hand reached inside his coat.
Marcus shouted.
“Hands!”
The man pulled a phone, not a weapon.
“Police outside.”
Everyone froze.
Ryan turned.
“You brought them?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Marcus looked toward the windows.
Red laser dots appeared briefly on the far wall.
Not police.
Keller, handcuffed in the vehicle outside, had warned them Northstar monitored the facility.
Daniel understood.
“They found us.”
Michael’s face went pale.
“Get Evan down!”
The lights exploded.
Darkness.
Glass shattered.
Everyone dropped.
Daniel crawled toward Evan.
“Evan!”
“Here!”
He found the boy and covered him.
Gunfire cracked somewhere outside.
Marcus shouted coordinates.
Ryan’s men returned fire.
Daniel dragged Evan behind a concrete pillar.
Michael was still tied to the chair.
Daniel looked across the room.
Michael shouted.
“Go!”
Daniel handed Evan to Marcus.
“Take him!”
“No!” Evan screamed.
Daniel ran back.
He cut Michael free.
For the first time in nine years, the brothers stood together.
No hug.
No reunion.
Just two armed men in darkness.
Michael grabbed a dropped handgun.
Daniel stared.
“You still know how to use that?”
Michael almost smiled.
“You still ask stupid questions?”
A door burst open.
Two masked men entered.
Daniel and Michael moved instinctively.
Just like they had as boys.
One covered left.
One right.
Within seconds, the attackers were down and disarmed.
Ryan stared.
“Northstar hit team.”
Michael nodded.
“They want everyone here dead.”
“Why me?” Ryan asked.
“You know too much now.”
A vehicle engine roared outside.
Then silence.
The remaining attackers withdrew.
Marcus returned.
“We need to move.”
Daniel nodded.
Evan stood behind him.
The boy looked at Michael.
Then Daniel.
Then the bloodless chaos around them.
His voice was small.
“I want the truth.”
Daniel crouched.
“You’re going to get it.”
“All of it?”
Daniel looked at Michael.
Michael lowered his eyes.
Daniel answered:
“All of it.”
Michael suddenly said, “Then you need to know who ordered Sarah’s hospital record changed.”
Daniel stood.
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the shattered window.
“Someone inside Northstar.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“No.”
Michael faced Daniel.
“But the order was signed by a name you know.”
Daniel’s pulse changed.
“What name?”
Michael hesitated.
“Chief Robert Hayes.”
Daniel froze.
Their police chief.
The man who had promoted Daniel twice.
The man who knew where Evan was supposed to be under protection.
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And the man who, at that exact moment, had just texted Daniel:
FOUND YOUR NEPHEW YET?
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