Chapter 6 - THE FATHER WHO WASN'T DEAD
My father had been buried five years earlier.
I'd stood beside his coffin in a black suit.
I'd watched the cemetery workers lower him into the ground.
I'd inherited his companies.
His enemies.
His power.
And every terrible secret he'd left behind.
Now Elena was telling me he might still be alive.
I stared at her.
"That's impossible."
She looked at me sadly.
"That's what I said about Michael."
The words silenced me.
That evening, I went to Elena's apartment.
This time, I knocked.
I carried groceries.
Not expensive gifts.
Not an envelope of cash.
Just food.
Milk.
Eggs.
Bread.
Chicken.
Vegetables.
And a large container of soup.
Elena opened the door.
Her eyes widened.
"Daniel?"
"May I come in?"
She hesitated.
Then stepped aside.
The apartment was even smaller than it had looked through the window.
The heater rattled.
The kitchen faucet leaked.
And the old man sat beside the couch with a blanket across his knees.
Rafael Martinez.
He was seventy-one.
His right hand trembled badly.
A cane rested beside his chair.
When he saw me, his expression changed.
"Daniel Carter."
I nodded.
"Mr. Martinez."
He stared.
"You look like your father."
I didn't know whether that was a compliment.
"Can we talk?"
Rafael looked toward Elena.
She nodded.
Then he reached beneath his blanket.
He removed a small black recording device.
"My hands aren't steady anymore," he said.
I took it carefully.
"What's on it?"
"The truth."
Elena sat beside Sofia, who was coloring at the kitchen table.
The little girl looked up at me.
"Are you Mommy's boss?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
She considered that.
"Are you the reason she cries?"
The question struck like a bullet.
Elena closed her eyes.
"Sofia—"
"No," I said quietly.
"Let her ask."
I crouched.
"I've made mistakes."
Sofia studied me.
"Are you going to stop?"
My throat tightened.
"I'm trying."
She nodded as though that settled everything.
Then returned to her drawing.
I stood.
Rafael watched me carefully.
"Maybe you're different from your father after all."
I connected the recording device to a laptop Elena provided.
The first file opened.
A security video.
Nine years old.
A warehouse office.
Michael stood beside Rafael.
My father sat behind a desk.
And Victor Kane stood near the door.
My father was shouting.
"You will not take that evidence to the authorities!"
Michael stepped forward.
"People are dying because of what you're doing."
My father's face twisted with rage.
"You don't understand the consequences."
"I understand enough."
Michael placed a folder on the desk.
"I'm leaving. Elena and I are taking our baby somewhere safe."
My father stood.
"You don't walk away from this family."
Michael looked directly at him.
"Then maybe this isn't a family worth staying in."
The video ended abruptly.
I stared at the frozen screen.
Then Rafael whispered:
"There's another recording."
He opened the second file.
My father stood alone with Victor Kane.
May you like
And the first words he spoke made my blood run cold.
"If Michael won't cooperate, we make sure Daniel believes he's dead."
