Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT BRAD CAME BACK
I drove faster than I ever had in my life.
Not because I cared about Sarah.
Not anymore.
Because Lily was there.
My daughter was inside that house.
And the man who had already hurt her was back.
When I arrived, the front door was open.
Too open.
I grabbed my weapon from my vehicle.
Daniel had warned me not to go alone.
But waiting wasn't an option.
"Lily!"
No answer.
My heart stopped.
I ran inside.
The living room was destroyed.
Furniture overturned.
Pictures broken.
Glass everywhere.
Then I heard something upstairs.
A voice.
Brad.
"You ruined everything."
I climbed the stairs slowly.
Every step felt heavier.
Then I saw them.
Sarah was standing against the wall.
Brad was holding her arm.
And Lily was hiding behind the bed.
"Buster."
I whispered.
The German Shepherd was standing between Lily and Brad.
Growling.
Protecting her.
Again.
Brad looked at me.
For the first time...
He looked afraid.
"Michael."
I stared at him.
"You have five seconds."
He laughed nervously.
"You think you're the hero?"
I stepped forward.
"No."
I looked at Lily.
"I'm her father."
Brad's face changed.
"You were never supposed to come back."
There it was.
The truth.
Not an accident.
Not a misunderstanding.
A plan.
"Who hired you?"
He smiled.
"You already know."
I looked at Sarah.
She looked away.
Brad laughed.
"Your family is more broken than you realize."
I stepped closer.
"Tell me."
He shook his head.
"You think this ends with me?"
A sudden noise came from downstairs.
Someone else entered the house.
Brad smiled.
"Too late."
My heart sank.
Another person.
Another player.
I moved toward Lily.
"Stay behind me."
She grabbed my hand.
"Daddy..."
"I'm here."
Then I saw the person walking into the hallway.
And everything inside me froze.
My mother.
Evelyn.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Michael..."
I couldn't believe it.
She had come here.
With him.
Brad looked at her.
"You should have stayed out of this."
My mother looked terrified.
"Brad, stop."
Brad laughed.
"You don't get to stop anything."
I stared at him.
"What is going on?"
Nobody answered.
Then Brad said:
"Your mother wasn't the one who started this."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What?"
He smiled.
"She was just the easiest person to manipulate."
My eyes narrowed.
"Then who?"
Brad looked toward the hallway.
Toward the darkness.
And said:
"The person who wanted you gone from the beginning."
Footsteps echoed.
Slowly.
Someone walked into the room.
Someone I never expected.
Someone I trusted.
Someone who had been helping me my entire life.
My father.
Richard Parker.
I couldn't speak.
My father looked at me.
May you like
And said:
"I'm sorry, son."
