Chapter 10 - THE FATHER WHO HAD BEEN DEAD FOR TWENTY-FOUR YEARS
The man calling himself David Cole lived in a nursing facility outside Milwaukee.
He was fifty-eight.
He had memory problems caused by an old head injury.
And according to a fingerprint comparison authorized by investigators, his real name was Daniel Carter.
My father.
I walked into his room with Nathan beside me.
Daniel sat near a window assembling a wooden puzzle.
He looked older than the man in my mother’s photographs.
But the eyes were the same.
My eyes.
“Daniel?”
He turned.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then he looked at my face.
The puzzle piece fell from his hand.
“Hannah?”
My heart broke.
“No.”
His eyes filled with confusion.
I stepped closer.
“I’m Bella.”
He stopped breathing.
“My Bella?”
I began crying.
“Yes.”
My father covered his face.
“I thought you died.”
“What?”
“Vincent told me the car…”
His words collapsed.
I knelt beside him.
“Mom kept me safe.”
“Where is she?”
That question nearly destroyed me.
I took his hand.
“She died last week.”
Daniel cried like a man who had been holding the same grief for twenty-four years.
When Nathan entered his line of sight, Daniel recoiled.
“Drake.”
Nathan stopped.
“I’m Nathan.”
Daniel stared at him.
Then his expression changed.
“Evelyn’s boy.”
Nathan nodded.
Daniel reached for him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I couldn’t save her.”
Nathan sat beside him.
“You tried.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your mother saved us.”
The room went silent.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel struggled to organize his memories.
That night, Evelyn had discovered Vincent’s plan.
She confronted him.
A gunman came for Nathan.
Hannah killed the gunman.
Daniel tried to flee with Hannah and baby Bella.
But Vincent’s men caught him.
Daniel survived because one of Vincent’s associates secretly refused to kill him.
He was hidden under a false identity after suffering severe injuries.
“Who helped you?” Nathan asked.
Daniel looked terrified.
“He’s still alive.”
“Who?”
Daniel whispered a name.
“Vincent.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not Vincent Drake.”
He gripped my hand.
“Vincent’s son.”
Nathan went completely still.
“Vincent doesn’t have a son.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Yes, he does.”
Then he said the name.
May you like
“Luca.”
Nathan’s trusted security chief was Vincent Drake’s secret son.
