Chapter 6 - The Dead Man’s Son
James Bennett did not look like a ghost. He looked like a tired old man who had spent too many years waiting for someone to notice he was alive.
He stood beside Noah’s truck with both hands visible and no weapon in sight. His beard was white, his coat patched at the elbows, and his eyes were the same gray-green as Noah’s.
Noah stopped in the doorway. “You’re dead.”
James glanced at June. “That was the arrangement.”
Sophie felt the ground shift beneath her again. She had expected secrets. She had not expected the dead to walk out of a bakery kitchen.
Noah descended the steps. “You let me believe you died in Tennessee.”
“I let you believe what your mother told you.”
“You never corrected her.”
“I was trying to keep you away from Malcolm.”
Noah’s laugh was harsh. “You did a remarkable job. I stayed away from you too.”
James looked at Sophie. “You have Daniel’s key.”
She closed her fingers around it. “You know what happened to my father.”
“I know what I did.”
June stepped between them. “Not here.”
James nodded toward the alley. “There is a car watching the front.”
They moved to a small park behind the bakery, where bare trees scratched at the sky. James sat on a bench while Noah remained standing.
“I was the first officer at the crash,” James said. “Malcolm had called me before anyone else. He said Daniel had gone over the guardrail.”
“How did he know?” Sophie asked.
“Because he had followed him.”
Noah’s breathing changed.
James continued. “Daniel was alive when I arrived. His truck was damaged, but he was conscious. He told me Malcolm had cut the brake line and that the records were in the house.”
“Why didn’t you save him?” Noah asked.
James lowered his head. “I did not know if I could move him safely. I called for an ambulance. Malcolm arrived before it did.”
“And then?”
“He showed me photographs of you leaving the school with your mother. He said he could make you disappear too. He told me that if I reported what Daniel said, you would be next.”
Noah stared at him. “You believed him?”
“I had already taken money from him. I was guilty before I was afraid.”
The honesty seemed to wound Noah more than an excuse would have.
“What happened to Daniel?” Sophie asked.
“He died before the ambulance reached the hospital.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He said he had trusted the wrong person.”
Sophie thought of the letter. Someone you have always trusted.
James removed a sealed envelope from his coat. “He gave me this.”
Noah looked at the envelope but did not take it.
“Why bring it now?” he asked.
“Because Malcolm knows I am alive. He found me three months ago.”
“And you waited until now?”
“I needed to know where the last file was.”
“You used Sophie.”
James looked at her. “I watched you because I thought Carter would lead Malcolm to the house. I did not send the messages.”
“But you knew someone was threatening me.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“By following us?”
“By making sure you were not alone.”
Sophie took the envelope from his hand. It was addressed to Linda.
“Why not give it to my mother?”
“Because she will destroy it.”
Noah stepped closer. “You do not get to decide what my mother will do.”
James looked at him with regret. “You are right.”
He turned to Sophie. “The file is not just about Malcolm’s money. It contains evidence that someone inside the county helped him falsify the accident report.”
“Who?”
“I never learned the name.”
“Then this is not enough.”
“It may be enough to make him afraid.”
Noah took the envelope at last. “You should come with us.”
James shook his head. “No.”
“You’re coming.”
“I have a safe place.”
“You had twelve years to stay safe. You can spend one night being honest.”
James looked at his son. Something passed between them, too old and complicated to name.
At Noah’s house, James sat at the kitchen table while Sophie called Rachel. Rachel answered immediately.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“With Noah.”
“Is he there?”
“Yes.”
“Sophie, I need to tell you something.”
“Did you tell Carter I was here?”
Silence.
“I told him you were scared,” Rachel said. “I didn’t give him the address.”
“How did he know?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophie closed her eyes. “You should have told me he was asking questions.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
Rachel’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry.”
Sophie ended the call before her anger became something she could not take back.
James opened the envelope. Inside was a handwritten statement from Daniel and a small photograph of Malcolm standing beside a county commissioner. On the back, a date had been written: October 13, 2006.
The commissioner was dead. The statement named him as the person who had altered the crash report.
Noah read the final line aloud.
“If I die, the person who betrays me will be the one who knows where I hid the original survey.”
Sophie looked at James. “Who knew?”
James did not answer.
Noah’s phone rang. The screen showed a number from the Whitmore office.
He answered on speaker.
“Mr. Bennett,” a man said, “your father is not the only person who should be afraid.”
The call ended.
May you like
James rose. “We have to move.”
Before anyone reached the door, the lights went out.
