Chapter 11 - THE LAST PLACE DANIEL WAS SEEN
The tracker moved north.
Richard drove for almost two hours.
Police followed at a distance.
Then the signal stopped.
An abandoned hunting property near Mount Hood.
Marcus stared at the map.
“Recognize it?”
I did.
Daniel’s grandfather owned a cabin there.
I hadn’t been there since before Ethan was born.
“That’s where Daniel used to go when he needed to think.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Richard knows that.”
We arrived after midnight.
Police surrounded the property.
Marcus refused to let me approach.
For once, I listened.
Then a light appeared in the cabin.
A man stepped outside.
My breath stopped.
Daniel.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar across the left side of his face.
But alive.
Actually alive.
For five years, I had imagined a thousand versions of his death.
Now he stood twenty yards away.
“Daniel!”
He looked toward my voice.
His face broke.
“Amanda?”
I ran.
Marcus tried to stop me.
Too late.
Daniel caught me in his arms.
For one second, the world disappeared.
Then I pulled back.
“You’re alive.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had a son!”
“I know.”
“You left me alone!”
“I know!”
His voice cracked.
“I know.”
I hit his chest.
Then again.
He let me.
“I buried you without a body.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I told Ethan his father was dead!”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“Ethan.”
I stepped back.
“Why did you stay away?”
He looked toward the cabin.
“Because every time I tried to come back, Vivian found me.”
Marcus approached.
“How?”
“Money.”
Daniel wiped his face.
“Private investigators. Corrupt cops. My grandfather’s old security people.”
“Richard?”
“At first, no.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Richard didn’t know I survived.”
“When did he find out?”
“Three years ago.”
“What did he do?”
“He offered me money to disappear permanently.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
I stared at him.
“You took it?”
“No.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I threatened to come home.”
“What stopped you?”
His face changed.
“He showed me pictures of Ethan.”
My stomach dropped.
“What pictures?”
“School.”
“Parks.”
“Your house.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“He said if I came back, Ethan would disappear next.”
I felt sick.
Before I could speak, gunfire erupted from inside the cabin.
Marcus shoved me to the ground.
“DOWN!”
Daniel turned.
“Richard!”
The cabin door burst open.
May you like
Richard ran into the woods.
And in his hand was a gasoline can.
