Chapter 21 - The Man Behind the Name
The gunshot was still ringing in my ears when the emergency lights came back on.
My father was on the floor.
Blood spread beneath his shoulder.
Evelyn was screaming.
And my husband was gone.
For one second, my brain refused to understand what I was seeing.
Then everything happened at once.
“Arthur!”
I dropped beside my father.
His eyes opened.
“Claire…”
“Stay with me.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“It missed the heart.”
“That is not fine.”
He tried to sit up.
I pushed him down.
“Don’t move.”
Morales was shouting orders.
“Seal every exit!”
Two officers ran into the hallway.
Another grabbed Evelyn.
The man who had been standing across from us was gone.
So was the document.
The only thing left behind was a chair tipped onto its side.
I looked toward the doorway.
“Where is Daniel?”
Nobody answered.
I stood.
“Where is my husband?”
Morales turned toward me.
“Claire, stay here.”
“No.”
“He could be the shooter.”
“He was standing beside me.”
“And now he’s gone.”
“He didn't shoot my father.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whoever fired that gun was standing behind him.”
Morales looked at the blood on the floor.
Then at the shell casing near the wall.
“We'll find him.”
I walked toward the hallway.
“I'm coming.”
“Claire.”
“I am not sitting here while someone takes my husband and my father disappears.”
Evelyn grabbed my wrist.
“Listen to me.”
I looked at her.
Her face was pale.
“The man who took Daniel wasn't Blackwell.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He came here for Daniel.”
“Why?”
Evelyn stared at the dark hallway.
“Because Daniel knows who he really is.”
My heart pounded.
I looked at Arthur.
“Dad?”
Arthur closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the fear in them was worse than the pain.
“I should have told you sooner.”
“Told me what?”
“Daniel isn't Daniel.”
I stared.
“I know that.”
“No.”
His voice was barely audible.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Arthur tried to breathe through the pain.
“Your husband has been living under a stolen identity.”
I felt like the floor moved beneath me.
“Whose?”
Arthur looked at Evelyn.
She answered.
“The real Daniel Williams.”
I shook my head.
“The beneficiary.”
“Yes.”
“The missing child.”
“Yes.”
“So my husband…”
“Is not your brother,” Arthur said quickly.
I stared at him.
“Then who is he?”
Arthur's eyes filled with regret.
“His name is Ethan Cross.”
I couldn't breathe.
Ethan.
A man I had never heard of.
A man who apparently had been my husband for years.
A man who had kissed me goodnight.
Who had sat beside me while I cried.
Who had held my hand when Dad's casket went into the ground.
Who had helped me cut off my mother's support.
Who had watched all of this happen.
And he had never told me his real name.
“Why?”
Arthur looked away.
“Because I put him there.”
I stared.
“You what?”
“He was assigned to protect you.”
I laughed once.
It came out broken.
“From whom?”
“Blackwell.”
“Then why did he lie to me?”
“Because Blackwell was watching you.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not just watching.”
“Then what?”
“Using her.”
I turned toward her.
“How?”
She looked at Arthur.
“You tell her.”
Arthur swallowed.
“Ethan was sent into your life because someone believed you had the ledger.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“What?”
“The master ledger was stored inside the trust account under your identity.”
“I never accessed it.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Then what was Ethan doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to lead him to it.”
My stomach turned.
“You used my husband as a spy.”
“I used him to keep you alive.”
“You don't get to decide what my life is for.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I know.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Everyone froze.
The officers raised their weapons.
A man stumbled through the doorway.
Not Ethan.
A security guard.
He was bleeding from his forehead.
“They're gone.”
Morales rushed toward him.
“Who?”
“Two men.”
“Where?”
“East entrance.”
“Car?”
“Black SUV.”
“License plate?”
The guard shook his head.
Then he looked at me.
“One of them told me something.”
“What?”
“He said to tell Claire…”
He swallowed.
“Daniel isn't coming back.”
My mother screamed from the hallway.
I spun around.
She stood there with a phone pressed to her ear.
“What happened?”
She looked at me.
“They called.”
“Who?”
Her face crumpled.
“They have my father.”
I stared.
“Who has him?”
She whispered:
“Blackwell.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Arthur tried to stand.
I caught him.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew they were getting desperate.”
“Why?”
“Because you found the real beneficiary.”
“Daniel Williams.”
Arthur nodded.
“And they believe he is the only person who can activate the final clause.”
“What final clause?”
Arthur stared at me.
“The clause that transfers Blackwell's entire operation to the surviving biological heir.”
I felt sick.
“Then where is Daniel Williams?”
Arthur looked toward the open doorway.
“That's what they've been trying to find for fifteen years.”
Evelyn whispered:
“And now they think they have him.”
I shook my head.
“Why would they think Ethan is Daniel?”
Arthur answered:
“Because I made sure they did.”
I stared at him.
“You used a fake identity to hide the real Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Arthur's voice cracked.
“Because Ethan owed me his life.”
I stepped back.
“What did you do?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Years ago, I saved him from the same people who are hunting you.”
My chest tightened.
Then a police officer rushed into the room.
“Detective!”
Morales turned.
“What?”
“We found the SUV.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the river.”
“Any sign of the suspects?”
The officer shook his head.
“One thing.”
He handed Morales a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a wedding ring.
I knew it instantly.
My ring.
The one Ethan always wore when we were together.
But this ring had something engraved inside.
Not Daniel.
Not Ethan.
May you like
One word.
BLACKWELL.
