Chapter 12 - THE FATHER I THOUGHT I'D LOST FOREVER
I didn't go alone.
For once in my life, I refused to let someone else's threat decide my next move.
I sent Nicholas's message to Rebecca, Thomas, Sarah, and the federal investigators.
Then I called Adrian.
"Sebastian has my father."
His voice sharpened.
"Where?"
"He's trying to make me come to him."
"Claire, don't."
"I'm not going alone."
A pause.
Then Adrian said, "Good."
That one word almost made me smile.
Six months earlier, he would have ordered me to stay somewhere safe while he handled everything.
Now he listened.
And he didn't confuse listening with weakness.
The investigators traced the message to an industrial property south of Milwaukee.
A tactical team obtained the necessary authorization and organized a rescue operation.
I waited at a secure command post with Thomas.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Every few minutes, I imagined my father.
Older.
Frightened.
Perhaps not even remembering me.
Then I imagined discovering the photograph was fake.
I didn't know which possibility hurt more.
At 3:17 in the afternoon, Rebecca entered the room.
"They found a man matching Arthur's description."
I stood.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
My knees nearly buckled.
"Can I see him?"
"Soon. He's receiving medical care."
An hour later, I entered a private hospital room.
An older man lay against white pillows.
His hair was almost entirely gray.
There were deep lines around his mouth.
One hand trembled against the blanket.
He looked toward the door.
And his eyes filled with tears.
"Claire?"
I stopped breathing.
No one had said my name that way in sixteen years.
"Daddy?"
He opened his arms.
I crossed the room.
The moment I reached him, every year of pretending I was strong collapsed.
I cried like the thirteen-year-old girl who had watched an empty coffin disappear into the ground.
"I'm here," he whispered.
His voice was older.
Rougher.
But real.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
I held him until my injured ankle began throbbing.
He noticed immediately.
"What happened to you?"
I laughed through tears.
"That's a very long story."
He brushed the hair away from my face.
"I thought I'd never see you again."
"Why didn't you come home?"
Pain crossed his expression.
"After the ambush, Sebastian's people kept me hidden. When I escaped years later, I learned your mother had died and that anyone I contacted could lead them to you."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I tried to get a message through. Every attempt failed."
"Until the locket."
He nodded.
"I prayed you'd find it."
For a long time, we simply held hands.
Then my father looked toward Thomas.
"Where's Adrian?"
I froze.
"Why?"
Arthur swallowed.
"Because there's something he needs to know."
My heart tightened.
"What?"
My father looked directly at me.
"Claire, Adrian wasn't the first person forced to choose between saving two people."
I stared.
"Sixteen years ago, Vittorio Moretti faced the same choice."
May you like
A tear slipped down his cheek.
"And your husband has spent his entire life believing the wrong person died."
