Chương 8
Claire’s eyes moved toward the house.
“Your father thought you would react like him.”
“What does that mean?”
“He thought you would try to fix something before understanding it.”
Daniel looked away.
The worst part was that he could imagine his father saying it.
Could imagine the disappointed look.
The quiet judgment.
The belief that Daniel was always moving too quickly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Claire’s face tightened.
“Because I thought he was being paranoid.”
“And now?”
She looked at the phone.
“Now I’m not sure.”
A sound came from the house.
A door opening.
Both of them turned.
Eli stood at the entrance to the garage.
He looked smaller than before.
“Dad?”
Daniel immediately put the photograph down.
“Hey.”
“Who was Grandpa talking about?”
Daniel and Claire looked at each other.
Neither wanted to answer.
That alone told Eli something.
“You don’t know either.”
Daniel crouched.
“Buddy.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
The sentence stopped him.
Eli rubbed his eyes.
“Everyone knows things except me.”
Daniel felt the weight of that.
A child should not feel like the least informed person in a family.
He should not feel like the person adults moved around because they were afraid of what he might hear.
“Come here.”
Eli hesitated.
Then he walked over.
Daniel wrapped an arm around him.
The boy leaned in but stayed tense.
“What did Grandpa tell you?” Daniel asked.
Eli was quiet.
“He told me not to answer the door.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“When?”
“Before he died.”
Eli continued.
“He told me if a man came asking about the house, I should get Mom.”
Daniel’s hand went still.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
Eli looked confused.
“Because Grandpa said not to.”
Daniel felt a wave of guilt.
Not because Eli had hidden something.
Because he understood why.
Adults had spent years teaching this child that information was dangerous.
“Did Grandpa tell you anything else?”
Eli shook his head.
“Only that Dad would know when it was time.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
His father had left instructions for everyone except him.
Or maybe he had left instructions for him without trusting him enough to explain.
The distinction hurt.
“Where did you hear that?” Daniel asked.
“In the basement.”
The word landed differently now.
“Your grandfather’s basement?”
Eli nodded.
“We went there once.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
Her face had gone pale.
“You went there with him?”
She nodded slowly.
“Before you and I got married.”
Daniel stared.
“That house didn’t have a basement.”
Claire looked at him.
“Not your house.”
A silence followed.
Daniel understood before he wanted to.
His childhood home.
His father’s old place.
The one sold after the funeral.
The one Daniel had not entered in years.
“What was in the basement?”
Claire looked at Eli.
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“I was outside.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then how do you know about it?”
“Because your father told me.”
“What did he tell you?”
Claire looked exhausted.
“That there was something down there he never wanted you to find alone.”
Daniel felt his phone buzz again.
Nobody moved.
The sound seemed too loud in the garage.
He looked at the screen.
Another message.
This time, no photograph.
Just an address.
His old childhood home.
And a time.
Tomorrow.
8:00 a.m.
Daniel stared at it.
“He wants me to go there.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Don’t.”
The speed of her answer caught him.
“Why?”
“Because that’s what he wants.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Again.
But this time, Daniel heard something underneath it.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You know enough to be afraid.”
Claire looked at him.
“Yes.”
The honesty was worse than a denial.
“Then tell me.”
“I don’t know who he is.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
She looked toward Eli.
“Because whoever he is, he knows exactly where to hurt us.”
Daniel looked at his son.
At the boy standing between two adults who had spent months keeping secrets for reasons they called protection.
Then he looked back at the message.
The address.
The time.
The place where his father had kept something hidden.
A place Daniel had spent years avoiding.
“I’m going.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“I need answers.”
“You need Eli safe.”
The words stopped him.
Because she was right.
And because he hated that she was right.
“What do you suggest?”
Claire looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
For once, Daniel did not get angry.
He just nodded.
Because neither of them had answers.
They only had choices.
And every choice seemed to lead somewhere they could not come back from.
The next morning arrived without anyone sleeping much.
Daniel sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee that had gone cold, watching the gray light spread across the backyard.
Eli was asleep on the couch.
He had refused to go upstairs.
Not because he was afraid of the room.
Because he was afraid of being alone.
Daniel understood that.
He wished he did not.
Claire sat across from him, staring at a spot on the table.
They had spent the night arguing in whispers.
Not about blame.
Not anymore.
About what to do.
Every option carried risk.
Leaving the house meant running from whoever had sent the messages.
Going to the old house meant walking directly into whatever had been waiting there.
Calling the police meant explaining a situation that sounded impossible without evidence.
“We should call someone,” Claire said.
Daniel looked up.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
“That answer again.”
She accepted it.
“I know.”
The small admission made the silence easier.
They were both exhausted.
They were both afraid.
Neither of them was pretending anymore.
Daniel looked at Eli sleeping under a blanket.
“I spent six months thinking the hardest thing was missing him.”
Claire followed his gaze.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She looked at him.
“I do.”
May you like
Daniel shook his head.
“I thought if I worked enough, saved enough, fixed enough things, I could come back and everything would still be there.”
