Chapter 8 - The Call From the Dead
Rachel didn't sleep that night.
She replayed the call over and over.
The voice.
The hesitation.
The way he had said her name.
Her father.
Alive.
Or someone who knew exactly how to sound like him.
Daniel sat across from her in Patricia's living room.
"You heard him."
Rachel nodded.
"Could it have been a recording?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because he called me Rachel."
Daniel frowned.
"That's your name."
"My father never called me Rachel."
Daniel looked confused.
"He always called me Rach."
Rachel stared at him.
"Exactly."
The person on the phone had used the name only one person had used when she was angry with him.
A formal name.
A deliberate distance.
Someone knew her father well.
Or had access to him.
Ethan arrived at dawn.
He carried a laptop.
"I found something."
Daniel stood.
"What?"
Ethan placed the laptop on the table.
"I traced the phone call."
Rachel leaned forward.
"Where?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Not where you think."
"Tell me."
"The number bounced through six locations."
"Can you identify the original?"
"Maybe."
He typed.
A map appeared.
Rachel stared.
The signal ended at a small coastal town two states away.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
"How long?"
"Three days."
Rachel frowned.
"Three days?"
"Yes."
"Why would he call me now?"
Ethan looked at her.
"Because someone probably told him you found the money."
Rachel felt cold.
"What money?"
"The six million."
Daniel stared at Ethan.
"How do you know about that?"
"I saw the records."
"Where?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Rachel looked between them.
"What are you hiding?"
Ethan slowly closed the laptop.
"There's a second file."
Daniel's face tightened.
"What second file?"
"The one your father spent years trying to destroy."
Rachel whispered.
"What is in it?"
Ethan looked at her.
"Proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That the person controlling the money isn't Vanessa."
Rachel stared.
"Who is it?"
Ethan's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His face went pale.
"What?"
He turned the screen toward Daniel.
A photograph had been sent.
It showed Ethan leaving the hotel.
Underneath was a message.
Tell Rachel to stop.
Daniel grabbed the phone.
"Who sent this?"
Ethan shook his head.
Rachel stood.
"Nobody is stopping me."
Daniel looked at her.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find my father."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Rachel's expression hardened.
"You don't get to tell me no."
"If your father is alive, there is a reason he's been hidden."
"I've spent twenty-four years thinking he was dead."
"I know."
"No, Daniel. You don't know."
Her voice broke.
"You don't know what it feels like to lose someone and then discover they might have been alive all this time."
Daniel went silent.
Rachel picked up her coat.
"I am finding him."
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Then back at Rachel.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Rachel stared at him.
"You filed for divorce."
"I know."
"You said our marriage had to end."
"I know."
"Then why are you still here?"
Daniel's answer was barely audible.
"Because I never stopped choosing you."
Rachel didn't respond.
She walked toward the door.
But before she reached it, Patricia spoke.
"Rachel."
Rachel turned.
Patricia's face was pale.
"Your father didn't disappear alone."
Rachel stopped.
May you like
Patricia whispered.
"He took someone with him."
