Chapter 7: The Son Who Was Supposed to Die
For several seconds, Daniel couldn't move.
The words on the document seemed to shift beneath his eyes.
*PRIMARY TARGET: DANIEL BLACKWOOD.*
*ACCIDENTAL SUBSTITUTE: MICHAEL BLACKWOOD.*
He read them again, hoping exhaustion had made him misunderstand what he was seeing.
It hadn't.
His brother had died in his place.
Somewhere beyond the archive walls, the city continued its ordinary life. Cars moved through wet streets. Office workers complained about the weather. People hurried toward dinner reservations and evening trains.
And Daniel stood beneath an abandoned building, holding proof that someone had planned his murder years ago.
Thomas Bell reached for the document.
Daniel pulled it away.
“Don't touch it.””
“Daniel, you need to listen to me.””
“You knew about this?””
“No.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
Thomas raised both hands.
“I knew there was a plan to eliminate someone in the Blackwood family. I didn't know Michael was never supposed to be the target.””
Daniel slammed the document onto the table.
“Who wrote it?””
“The handwriting isn't mine.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Thomas looked at the signature.
“Your father.””
Daniel stared at him.
“My father planned to kill me?””
“I don't know.””
“Then what do you know?””
Thomas swallowed.
“I know your father had begun making arrangements to transfer control of Blackwood Holdings before his disappearance. I know he believed someone inside the company was stealing from him. And I know Michael told me that the person he feared most wasn't Victor Hale.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Who was it?””
Thomas hesitated.
Then he said, “Margaret Reed.””
Daniel almost laughed.
Margaret had been a stranger to him for years. She had supposedly been dead before he married Vanessa. Yet her name appeared on documents connected to Michael's death, and now Thomas was claiming she had been the person his brother feared.
“Why would Margaret want me dead?””
“Because your father trusted her.””
“That makes no sense.””
“Your father and Margaret knew each other long before you met Vanessa.””
Daniel went still.
“How long?””
“More than twenty years.””
Thomas pulled another folder from the archive box.
Inside were photographs of Daniel's father standing beside Margaret at various events. In one, they were leaving a private restaurant. In another, they stood outside a hospital.
The final photograph showed them holding a newborn baby.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
He recognized the baby blanket.
It was the same white blanket wrapped around Lily in the hospital photograph.
He looked up.
“Is that Lily?””
Thomas shook his head.
“No. Look at the date.””
The photograph had been taken twenty-six years earlier.
Daniel counted backward.
He was twenty-eight now.
Twenty-six years earlier, he had been two.
The baby couldn't have been Michael's daughter.
It couldn't have been Lily.
Then Daniel noticed the handwritten note on the back.
Margaret's son. Keep him away from the Blackwoods.
He turned the photograph over again.
“Margaret had a son?””
Thomas nodded.
“Before she married her husband. She gave the boy up for adoption.””
“Who was the father?””
Thomas's expression darkened.
“Your father.””
Daniel felt as though someone had struck him.
“No.””
“Your father had an affair with Margaret. The child was born before your mother died. Margaret wanted money. Your father wanted silence.””
Daniel gripped the edge of the table.
His father had betrayed his mother.
He had fathered another child.
And he had spent decades concealing it.
“Where is the boy now?””
“I don't know.””
“Then why did Michael fear Margaret?””
“Because Michael discovered that the child had been brought into the company under a different name.””
Thomas pointed to a personnel file.
Daniel opened it.
The employee's photograph showed a man in his early thirties with dark hair, a narrow face, and a familiar expression.
The name beneath it read:
*Victor Hale.*
Daniel stared at the page.
Victor was his half-brother.
The man who had stolen money from the foundation, threatened children, and possibly helped orchestrate Michael's death was the son his father had hidden from the world.
Suddenly, the strange details of the past began to fit together.
Victor had been given access to the company's accounts because his father had wanted to keep him close.
Margaret had protected him because he was her son.
And Michael had discovered the truth.
“Did Victor know?”” Daniel asked.
Thomas nodded.
“He found out when he was twenty-two. Your father arranged a private meeting and offered him a senior position in exchange for his silence.””
“And Victor accepted.””
“At first.””
Daniel looked at the financial records.
“He started stealing because he believed he was entitled to the money.””
“That's what Michael suspected.””
Daniel turned toward the door.
“Where is Victor now?””
“Being questioned by the police.””
“Then he can explain all of this.””
Thomas shook his head.
“Victor won't tell you anything unless he believes he can bargain his way out.””
Daniel picked up his phone.
“Then I'll give him something to bargain for.””
He called the police commander handling the case and requested permission to question Victor under supervision. The commander agreed, provided Daniel did not interfere with the formal investigation.
Before leaving, Daniel took photographs of every document in the archive.
Then he looked at Thomas.
“If you lied to me about any part of this, I will make sure you answer for it.””
Thomas nodded.
“I expect nothing less.””
Daniel headed for the elevator.
He had barely reached the garage when Rebecca called.
“Daniel, where are you?””
“On my way to the police station.””
“Don't go there yet.””
“Why?””
“Because Victor is missing.””
Daniel stopped beside his car.
“What do you mean, missing?””
“He was being transported to a secure interview facility when the police vehicle was forced off the road. One officer was injured. Victor escaped.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Did he have help?””
“We're checking the security footage now.””
“Find out where he went.””
Rebecca hesitated.
“Daniel, there's something else.””
“What?””
“Vanessa is at the estate. She says Margaret called her.””
Daniel's heart began to pound.
“What did Margaret say?””
Rebecca's voice dropped.
“She told Vanessa that if she wanted Lily to survive the night, she needed to bring the child to the old church on Mill Street.””
Daniel looked toward the garage exit.
“Where is Lily?””
“Upstairs with Mrs. Collins.””
“Keep her there. Lock the doors. Double the security.””
“Daniel, Vanessa says Margaret has proof that Michael's death was an accident.””
He closed his eyes.
“Margaret signed the order to destroy the evidence.””
“I know. But Vanessa says her mother has something else. A recording from the night of the crash.””
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Why didn't she tell the police?””
“She says the recording names the person who tampered with Michael's car.””
Daniel looked at the archive building behind him.
He could hear his father's voice from the phone call.
Your brother wasn't the person they intended to kill.
If Michael had died in Daniel's place, then someone had changed the plan at the last moment.
Someone had known Daniel was supposed to be in the car.
And someone had known Michael would take his place.
“Tell Vanessa not to go anywhere,” Daniel said.
“I'm coming home.””
He drove back to the estate, ignoring the rain.
When he arrived, Vanessa was waiting in the foyer.
Her eyes were red, and her hands were trembling.
“Where's Lily?”” she asked.
“Upstairs.””
“Is she safe?””
“For now.””
Vanessa took a step toward him.
“Daniel, please. You have to believe me. My mother is dangerous, but she's not the only one.””
He studied her face.
“Who else?””
Vanessa glanced toward the staircase.
Then she whispered, “Your father.””
Daniel felt the blood drain from his face.
“He called me.””
Vanessa looked up sharply.
“What?””
“He said Michael wasn't supposed to die.””
Her expression collapsed.
“Oh, God.””
Daniel grabbed her arms.
“What do you know?””
Vanessa began crying.
“The night Michael died, he called me from the road. He said someone had changed the plan. He said the person who was supposed to meet you had been replaced.””
“Who?””
“I don't know. He didn't have time to tell me.””
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“Because Margaret threatened Lily.””
Daniel released her.
“You keep saying that. Every time I ask you a question, you give me another reason why you couldn't tell the truth.””
Vanessa looked at him with desperate eyes.
“Then ask me something I can answer.””
Daniel took a breath.
“Did you know Victor was your father's son?””
“No.””
“Did you know he was stealing from the foundation?””
“I suspected it.””
“Did you know he was involved in Michael's death?””
Vanessa hesitated.
Daniel stepped back.
“Answer me.””
“I knew he was involved in the investigation. I didn't know he had arranged the crash.””
“That's not the same as being innocent.””
“I know.””
For the first time, she didn't try to defend herself.
She simply stood there, accepting the weight of what she had done.
Then she reached into her coat and produced a small cassette recorder.
“My mother gave me this four years ago. She said it was the only thing that could save Lily.””
Daniel took it.
“What is it?””
“The recording from the night Michael died.””
“Why didn't you give it to me?””
“Because I was afraid the voice on it would destroy everything.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Whose voice?””
Vanessa looked toward the staircase.
Then she said, “Your mother's.””
Daniel went completely still.
His mother had died when he was twelve.
He remembered her as a gentle woman who read bedtime stories and left handwritten notes in his schoolbag. His father had always spoken of her with reverence, insisting that she had been the only person who truly understood him.
But now Vanessa was telling him that his mother's voice had been recorded on the night Michael died.
Daniel pressed play.
Static filled the foyer.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Older than he remembered, but unmistakable.
“Margaret, you promised me he would be safe.””
Margaret answered, her voice tight.
“I did everything you asked.””
“You said the boy would be removed from the car before Daniel arrived.””
“He was supposed to be.””
“Then why is Michael driving?””
Silence.
Then Margaret whispered, “Because someone changed the order.””
A door slammed.
Footsteps crossed the recording.
And Daniel's mother's voice spoke again.
“If Michael dies, I will tell Daniel everything.””
The recording stopped.
Daniel stared at the cassette recorder.
His mother had died sixteen years earlier.
Michael had died four years ago.
Yet her voice was on a recording from the night of the crash.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel slowly turned toward her.
“Where did your mother get this?””
Vanessa's answer was barely audible.
“She didn't.””
“Then who did?””
Vanessa looked toward the front door.
“Your father.””
Before Daniel could respond, the estate's security alarm sounded.
A guard's voice crackled through the intercom.
“Mr. Blackwood, there's a vehicle approaching the north gate. The driver refuses to identify himself.””
Daniel walked to the monitor.
A black sedan stood beneath the security lights.
The driver's door opened.
An elderly man stepped out, leaning heavily on a cane.
He looked directly into the camera.
Daniel's breath caught.
His father was alive.
May you like
And behind him, standing beside the car with a hand pressed to the small of her back, was a woman Daniel had buried sixteen years earlier.
His mother.
