Chapter 4 - THE UNCLE WHO SHOULDN'T EXIST
Thomas Bennett looked enough like my father that I almost fell when he entered the room.
The same dark eyes.
The same sharp cheekbones.
Even the same nervous habit of rubbing his thumb across his knuckles.
But resemblance wasn't proof.
And after everything I'd discovered, I no longer trusted familiar faces.
"Tell me something only my father would know," I demanded.
Thomas looked at the locket around my neck.
"When you were seven, you tried to rescue a stray cat from the storm drain behind your school. You fell in, scraped both knees, and told your father the cat deserved a better hiding place."
My breath caught.
Nobody outside our family knew that story.
My father had carried me home while the kitten slept inside his jacket.
Thomas's eyes softened.
"His name was Arthur. He was my older brother."
I sat down slowly.
"Why didn't he tell me about you?"
"Because I was working undercover on a federal investigation. Being connected to me could have put you in danger."
"And where have you been for sixteen years?"
"Trying to finish what Arthur started."
I stared at him.
"Is he alive?"
Thomas's expression changed.
"I don't know."
The hope that had risen inside me cracked.
"You just told Margaret—"
"I told her there's a possibility. His body was never conclusively identified."
The silence felt unbearable.
Thomas opened a leather folder.
Inside were old police reports, photographs, and financial records.
One picture showed my father entering a warehouse two nights before the ambush.
Another showed Daniel Russo standing outside the same building.
But Daniel had been only seventeen at the time.
"That doesn't make sense," I whispered.
Thomas nodded.
"Daniel's father worked security for Vittorio Moretti. Daniel was recruited into the family's operations young."
"Are you saying Daniel knew about my father's death?"
"I believe he knows more than he's admitted."
Then Thomas placed another photograph on the table.
Adrian and Lily stood outside a private medical clinic.
The timestamp showed they had visited three weeks before the kidnapping.
I stared at Adrian's hand resting against Lily's back.
The same protective gesture he'd once used with me.
My chest tightened.
"What is this?"
"Lily had been receiving specialized treatment there."
"For asthma?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Not exactly."
I looked up.
"Then what?"
"She was being treated for complications related to a recent pregnancy."
The room became painfully quiet.
A thousand terrible possibilities filled my mind.
Adrian had gone with her.
He'd never mentioned it.
I'd spent six years hoping we might eventually have a child.
And now another woman had been pregnant while my husband escorted her to private medical appointments.
Thomas watched my expression.
"Claire, don't jump to conclusions."
I almost laughed.
"Then tell me whose baby it was."
He lowered his eyes.
"The medical records don't identify the father."
Before I could speak, my temporary phone buzzed.
A message from an unfamiliar number.
Claire, I know you're alive.
Then another.
It's Adrian.
May you like
And finally:
Please don't believe what Daniel is telling you. I just discovered Lily's pregnancy was part of the trap.
