Chapter 3 - The Truth Rafe Was Never Meant to Find
Rafe hadn't spoken to his father in eleven years.
Anthony Calder had built the family's shipping empire through violence, bribery, and the kind of loyalty purchased with fear.
Rafe had inherited the business after Anthony suffered a devastating stroke and withdrew to a guarded estate outside the city.
For years, Rafe believed his father had destroyed nearly everything good in their family.
Now he wondered whether the destruction had reached Sloane long before they met.
By sunrise, Malik had uncovered something strange.
"The coast guard never recovered Daniel Bennett's body," he said.
"I know that."
"His death certificate was issued using an identification submitted by a private investigator. No medical examiner confirmed the remains."
"Who was the investigator?"
Malik hesitated.
"Victor Shaw."
Rafe's expression darkened.
Victor had once handled sensitive assignments for Anthony Calder.
He had vanished from the family's employment eight years earlier.
Exactly when Daniel Bennett supposedly died.
Rafe walked to the windows.
Below him, Manhattan was waking.
Somewhere in the city, his pregnant wife was trying to build a life without him.
His first instinct was to deploy every available resource.
Instead, he picked up his phone and recorded a message.
"Sloane, I know you asked me not to find you. I'm going to respect that. I need you to know I'm sorry. Not because you left, but because I gave you reasons to."
He stopped.
Then added, "I love you. I love our daughter. And I'm going to become someone you can trust, whether you come home or not."
He sent it.
A moment later, Malik's phone rang.
The security chief listened, his face changing.
"Boss, Tessa's flash drive contains records from an old Calder account."
"Whose?"
"Your father's."
Rafe turned.
"What records?"
"Payments to Victor Shaw. Payments to Grant Kesler. And monthly transfers to a medical facility in northern Vermont."
"Who was the patient?"
Malik looked down at the report.
"Daniel Bennett."
Rafe felt the air leave his lungs.
His wife's father had been kept alive somewhere for eight years.
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But the final entry contained a more disturbing detail.
The most recent payment had been authorized using Rafe's own digital signature.
