Chapter 6 - Daniel Bennett Comes Home
Alexander found him in Claire’s old bedroom.
The room had remained untouched for four years.
Her books.
Her perfumes.
The yellow chair where she used to read to Lily.
Daniel stood before the window.
Alexander entered alone.
“Turn around.”
Daniel did.
Twenty-two years separated the boy Alexander remembered from the man before him.
But the eyes were the same.
Green.
Their mother’s eyes.
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Hello, Alex.”
Alexander struck him.
Daniel hit the wall.
He did not fight back.
Alexander grabbed his shirt.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I was twelve.”
“You were alive for twenty-two years.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“You think I had choices?”
Alexander released him.
“Claire said to ask about you.”
“I know.”
“Where is she?”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“Is Lily safe?”
“Answer me.”
“Not until I know Rebecca is gone.”
“She escaped.”
Daniel cursed.
“She wasn’t supposed to reach the house.”
“You know her?”
“Very well.”
Alexander’s fists tightened.
“Did you send her?”
“No.”
“Did you give her Claire’s key?”
Daniel looked genuinely surprised.
“She had the blue key?”
Alexander showed it.
Daniel stared.
“That key was with Claire.”
“Then how did Rebecca get it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Start talking.”
Daniel sat in Claire’s yellow chair.
For the next twenty minutes, he dismantled the Bennett family history.
Blackridge Restoration Center began as a legitimate neurological research project created by their grandfather in 1974.
William Bennett transformed it.
He believed extreme stress could force neurological adaptation.
Most reputable physicians left.
The ones who remained were paid through offshore accounts.
Children became test subjects.
Daniel became one of them.
“You weren’t sick,” Alexander whispered.
“I had epilepsy.”
“That doesn’t explain why Father hid you.”
“He thought my condition embarrassed him.”
Daniel rolled up his sleeve.
Scars covered his forearm.
“They tested seizure thresholds.”
Alexander looked away.
Daniel continued.
“When I was seventeen, Claire found me.”
“Claire was nineteen.”
“She volunteered through a university program.”
Alexander stared.
“You knew Claire before I met her?”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“I introduced you.”
“No.”
“Indirectly.”
Daniel explained.
Claire helped him escape Blackridge.
She arranged documents and temporary housing.
Years later, Daniel saw Alexander speaking at a foundation event.
He asked Claire to approach him.
“Why?”
“Because you were becoming chairman. We needed someone inside.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“So my marriage was an investigation?”
“At first, Claire planned to get close to you.”
Alexander’s face changed.
Daniel immediately added, “She fell in love with you.”
“How convenient.”
“It ruined everything.”
“What?”
“She was supposed to gather evidence and leave. Instead she married you. Then Lily was born.”
Alexander turned away.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Three days before the crash.”
Alexander remembered.
Claire had asked him to cancel a trip to Singapore.
He had refused.
They argued.
His last real conversation with his wife had ended with him saying, We’ll discuss it when I’m back.
He never forgave himself.
Daniel continued.
“William realized she knew too much.”
“So he staged her death.”
“No.”
Alexander turned.
Daniel’s expression darkened.
“I did.”
Silence.
Alexander stepped toward him.
“You?”
“I arranged the replacement vehicle and extraction.”
“You made me believe she was dead.”
“It was the only way to keep her alive.”
“For four years?”
“It was supposed to be four weeks.”
“What happened?”
“Someone betrayed us.”
“Rebecca?”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward Claire’s photograph.
“Rebecca was Claire’s friend.”
Alexander almost laughed.
“Friend?”
“They worked together.”
“That woman tortured my daughter.”
“I didn’t say she stayed loyal.”
“Why did she turn?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stood.
“But two months after Claire disappeared, Rebecca began working for someone else.”
“Who?”
Daniel walked toward the bedroom safe.
He entered six numbers.
The safe opened.
Alexander stared.
“How do you know the code?”
“It’s Daniel’s birthday.”
Inside was a single envelope.
Claire’s handwriting covered the front.
FOR ALEXANDER IF DANIEL FAILS.
Alexander tore it open.
One sheet of paper.
Three lines.
Alex,
If Daniel gives you this, the family has already collapsed.
Do not believe anything about William’s death until you see his body.
Alexander looked up.
“My father was cremated.”
May you like
Daniel nodded.
“No.”
