Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER WHO HAD BEEN HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
My father had known Ravi's missing brother.
Not from photographs.
Not from rumors.
He had actually brought Kiran into our neighborhood.
And somehow, I'd never known.
"How old was he?" Ravi asked Mrs. Alvarez.
She thought carefully.
"Maybe thirteen or fourteen when I first noticed him. He was quiet. He wore a baseball cap and hardly spoke."
Ravi looked devastated.
"That would have been several years after the kidnapping."
Mrs. Alvarez nodded.
"Michael said the boy was staying with a friend."
I gripped the table.
"Why didn't Dad tell me?"
She looked at me gently.
"Your father was always protective. Maybe he thought you were safer not knowing."
Ravi turned toward Detective Mitchell.
"Can we find Thomas?"
"We're working on it."
Two days later, investigators located a financial account Thomas Bennett had used under another name.
The account showed recurring payments to a small auto repair business in Pennsylvania.
The business was registered to a man named Kevin Brooks.
His date of birth matched Kiran's.
Ravi stared at the records.
"Kevin Brooks?"
Detective Mitchell nodded.
"We haven't confirmed his identity yet."
"Where is he?"
"Outside Philadelphia."
I watched Ravi's hands begin trembling.
He had faced dangerous men without showing fear.
But the possibility of seeing his brother again nearly broke him.
That afternoon, investigators contacted Kevin through his attorney.
He initially refused to discuss his past.
Then Detective Mitchell showed him a childhood photograph.
Kiran stood beside Ravi, grinning while holding a green plastic triceratops.
Kevin began crying.
According to the detective, he asked only one question.
"Is Ravi still alive?"
When I heard that, tears filled my eyes.
Ravi covered his mouth.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, "Tell him yes."
The following morning, Ravi and I traveled to Pennsylvania.
I hadn't intended to go.
But Ravi asked whether I'd accompany him.
"I don't know if I can do this alone," he admitted.
I took his hand.
"You don't have to."
We met Kevin inside a quiet attorney's office.
He was twenty-five, tall, with dark hair and familiar gray eyes.
The moment he saw Ravi, he stopped.
"Ravi?"
Ravi stood motionless.
"Kiran?"
The younger man's face crumpled.
Then the brothers crossed the room.
They embraced so tightly that I began crying.
Seventeen years.
Seventeen birthdays.
Seventeen Christmas mornings.
All gone.
But the brothers were finally together.
After several minutes, Kiran stepped back.
"I thought Gabriel killed you."
Ravi froze.
"What?"
Kiran looked frightened.
"Thomas told me Gabriel wanted both of us dead."
Ravi's expression hardened.
"Why?"
Kiran swallowed.
"Because I saw him take money from our father's office."
"What money?"
"The ransom."
Silence filled the room.
Then Kiran said the words that changed everything.
"Ravi, there were never any kidnappers."
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He looked directly at his older brother.
"Gabriel took me himself."
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