Chapter 18 - THE DEAD MAN'S RETURN
The man in the doorway stepped into the light.
Thomas Hale.
Older, thinner, and scarred, but unmistakably alive.
Victor backed away. “You were supposed to stay hidden.”
Thomas ignored him and cut Daniel free.
“Can you stand?”
Daniel pushed himself upright, wincing. “Who the hell are you, really?”
“The man who tried to save Claire.”
Margaret began sobbing. “Thomas, please. Don’t do this.”
“You had years to tell the truth,” Thomas replied.
Victor suddenly grabbed Margaret and dragged her in front of him.
“Everyone takes one more step, and she gets hurt.”
Thomas lowered his weapon.
Daniel watched Victor’s grip tighten around Margaret’s neck. For a moment, the room went silent.
Then Margaret drove her heel into Victor’s foot and broke free.
Thomas struck Victor’s arm, sending the weapon skidding across the floor. Daniel tackled Victor before he could retrieve it. They crashed into a wooden bench, and Victor punched Daniel repeatedly until Thomas pulled him away.
Sirens approached.
Victor escaped through a side corridor before the police entered.
Thomas helped Daniel stand, but Detective Harris arrived moments later and immediately ordered Thomas to put his hands up.
“You’re wanted for fraud, conspiracy, and faking your death,” Harris said.
Thomas did not resist.
Daniel stepped between them. “He just saved us.”
“That doesn’t erase what he’s done.”
Thomas looked directly at Daniel.
“Ask your father about the night Claire died. He’ll tell you I was there.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel grabbed Thomas by the coat. “Did you kill my wife?”
“No. But I know who entered her room after I left.”
“Who?”
Thomas glanced at Margaret.
“She did.”
Margaret collapsed into a chair.
“I went to see Claire that night,” she confessed. “She had discovered that Evelyn was alive. She threatened to go to the police, and I tried to stop her.”
“Did you hurt her?” Daniel demanded.
“I grabbed her arm. She pulled away. I left her alive.”
Thomas nodded slowly. “When I returned, someone else was already inside.”
“Who?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Someone Claire trusted.”
Before he could say more, Harris’s phone rang. He listened, then looked at Daniel.
“Your daughter Emma is safe,” he said. “But someone has entered your house.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
On the security footage, a hooded figure stood in Emma’s bedroom, holding the missing photograph of the twins.
May you like
The figure turned toward the camera.
It was wearing Claire’s wedding ring.
