Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be DeadDaniel took Evan into the interview room himself.
Not the criminal interrogation room.
A smaller space normally used for witnesses and frightened children.
Officer Lisa Moreno brought a blanket and a bottle of water.
Evan wrapped the blanket around his shoulders.
His bare feet barely touched the floor.
Daniel sat across from him.
He had handled domestic assaults.
Missing children.
Fatal crashes.
Hostage situations.
But nothing in his career had trained him for this.
“Evan.”
The boy looked up.
“You said Michael Reed is your father.”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me what he looks like?”
Evan frowned.
“Tall.”
“How tall?”
“Like you. Maybe taller.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“What color hair?”
“Brown. But he had gray here.”
Evan touched his temple.
Daniel’s throat tightened.
Michael had started graying at twenty-eight.
“Did he have any scars?”
Evan nodded.
“On his left hand.”
Daniel looked down at his own hand.
Michael had cut his palm climbing through a broken window when they were teenagers.
Twenty stitches.
Their mother had nearly killed them both afterward.
Daniel leaned back.
“How old are you?”
“Eight.”
Daniel did the math.
Michael disappeared nine years ago.
That was possible.
Barely.
“Who is your mother?”
Evan’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel paused.
“You don’t know her name?”
“My dad said she died when I was a baby.”
“Where were you living with your father?”
“A house.”
“Do you know the address?”
Evan shook his head.
“Ryan never let me see street signs.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Ryan lived with you?”
“No.”
“When did he take you?”
Evan’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“After Dad disappeared.”
“How long ago?”
“Twenty-three days.”
Daniel stared.
“You’ve been with Ryan for twenty-three days?”
Evan nodded.
“How did you get away?”
“He stopped at a gas station.”
“To get fuel?”
“No.”
Evan swallowed.
“To talk to a man.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What man?”
“I couldn’t hear all of it.”
“What did you hear?”
Evan looked toward the door as if someone might be listening.
“He said they had to find the key before the police found me.”
Daniel’s eyes went to the brass key on the table.
“What happened next?”
“I kicked the back door until it opened.”
“The vehicle door?”
Evan nodded.
“I ran.”
“And you knew where the police station was?”
“I saw your sign.”
Daniel studied him.
“Did your father ever tell you my first name?”
“No.”
“Did he show you a picture of me?”
Evan shook his head.
“He said I’d know you because your badge would say Reed.”
Daniel looked down.
His badge didn’t say Reed.
His metal nameplate did.
That told him something important.
Michael understood police uniforms.
He expected Evan to enter a station and identify Daniel by name.
Meaning Michael had planned this.
For years.
Daniel stood.
“I’ll be right outside.”
Evan panicked immediately.
“No.”
Daniel stopped.
“Don’t leave me.”
The words hit harder than he expected.
Daniel sat back down.
“Okay.”
Lisa appeared at the door.
“Daniel.”
He looked at Evan.
“I’m going to stand where you can see me.”
Evan nodded reluctantly.
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
Lisa lowered her voice.
“We ran Ryan Cole.”
“And?”
“No Ryan Cole matching his description.”
“Fake name.”
“Probably.”
“The gun?”
“Serial number filed off.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Lisa continued.
“And Child Protective Services is sending someone.”
“I want a doctor first.”
“Already called.”
Daniel nodded.
Lisa hesitated.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“We searched him.”
Daniel looked toward the interview room.
Lisa handed him a wallet.
Not Ryan’s.
Inside was a driver’s license.
MICHAEL JAMES REED.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His brother.
Older than Daniel remembered.
But unmistakably Michael.
The license had been issued two years ago.
Daniel’s pulse hammered.
“He’s alive.”
Lisa said nothing.
Daniel turned the card over.
“Where did Ryan get this?”
“We asked.”
“And?”
“He said he’ll only talk to you.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
Lisa grabbed his arm.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“You’re emotionally involved.”
“He has my brother’s identification.”
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
She was right.
He knew she was right.
“Have Detective Harris question him.”
“I already called him.”
Daniel looked again at Michael’s photograph.
Nine years ago, a federal agent had sat at Daniel’s kitchen table and told him Michael had died overseas.
No body.
No funeral.
Just a sealed explanation involving government work Daniel was forbidden to discuss.
Daniel had spent years hating his brother for disappearing.
Then years grieving him.
Now Michael had a son.
A son somebody had kidnapped.
Daniel turned toward Evan.
The boy was watching him through the small window.
Waiting.
Daniel returned to the room.
Evan looked at the license in his hand.
His face lit up.
“That’s him.”
Daniel sat.
“That’s your dad?”
“Yes.”
“When did you see him last?”
Evan looked down.
“Twenty-three days ago.”
“What happened?”
“I woke up because someone was downstairs.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“How many people?”
“I heard Dad arguing with somebody.”
“What did they say?”
Evan squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember.
“One man said…”
He hesitated.
“Said what?”
“He said, ‘You should have stayed dead.’”
Daniel felt cold.
Evan looked up.
“Then I heard my dad say your name.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“What did he say?”
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Evan whispered:
“Daniel can’t know what we did.”
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