Chapter 3 - The House He Swore Never to Enter
Daniel arrived in town two days later.
He parked across the street from the Carter house.
The house looked smaller than he remembered.
The porch was older.
The paint was faded.
The windows were dark.
Linda opened the front door before Daniel reached it.
She looked older.
Much older.
Her blonde hair was streaked with gray.
Her shoulders had lost the confidence he remembered.
Daniel stopped several feet away.
Linda looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she whispered:
"You look like him."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"I don't want to hear that."
Linda nodded.
"Come inside."
Daniel hesitated.
He remembered the birthday banner.
The medal.
The door.
The rain.
He stepped inside.
Everything felt smaller.
The hallway.
The living room.
Even the staircase.
Linda led him to Richard's study.
The room had been untouched since his father's death.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
"What am I looking for?"
Linda pointed toward the desk.
"He left a letter."
Daniel looked at her.
"For me?"
"I think so."
Daniel opened the desk.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
His name was written across it.
Daniel Carter.
His father's handwriting.
He stared at it.
Then he opened it.
The letter contained only three sentences.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, then I failed to protect you.
The truth about your sixteenth birthday is hidden where you learned to breathe.
Daniel read the final line twice.
Where you learned to breathe.
The swimming pool.
Linda watched his face.
"Do you understand?"
Daniel slowly nodded.
"Yes."
But before he could say anything else, the study door opened.
A man stood there.
Ethan.
Thirty now.
Expensively dressed.
Confident.
And smiling.
Daniel turned.
Ethan's smile disappeared.
"You came back."
Daniel folded the letter.
"Apparently."
Ethan looked at Linda.
"What did you tell him?"
Linda said nothing.
Ethan stepped closer.
"Daniel, whatever you think you know..."
Daniel interrupted.
"I don't think anything yet."
He looked directly into Ethan's eyes.
"But I'm about to."
Ethan's face changed.
For the first time, Daniel saw fear.
May you like
And he knew his father had been telling the truth.
There was something hidden.
