Chương 7
When he finally stepped outside, the cold air hit his face.
He put his hands in his jacket pockets and followed the path toward the river.
The last time he had been there, Ethan was angry.
Not scared.
Not desperate.
Angry.
That memory had always bothered Daniel because he wanted Ethan’s last moments to fit the version of events everyone expected.
A younger brother in trouble.
An older brother trying to help.
A tragedy nobody could prevent.
But the truth was uglier.
They had been two stubborn men standing on opposite sides of the same problem.
Ethan had wanted to expose something.
Daniel had wanted him to stop.
At the time, Daniel thought stopping him was protecting him.
Now he wondered if it was only protecting himself.
The place where they had argued was near a fallen tree beside the water.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
The tree had been cut down after a storm, but the stump remained.
He stood there and looked at the ground.
Nothing moved.
Nothing revealed itself.
That was the part he hated about memories.
They felt like evidence, but they were only feelings.
A sound behind him made him turn.
“Still come here when you don’t know what else to do?”
Daniel saw Marcus Hale standing several feet away.
For a moment, Daniel could not speak.
Marcus had been Ethan’s closest friend.
He had also been the first person to tell police that Daniel and Ethan had been arguing that night.
Marcus looked older now.
His hair had more gray.
His face carried the tired expression of someone who had spent years defending a decision he was no longer sure about.
“You followed me,” Daniel said.
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“Then how are you here?”
“Because you’re predictable.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Almost.
“You always hated that about me.”
“I hated a lot of things about you.”
The honesty surprised Daniel.
Marcus looked toward the river.
“I hated that Ethan trusted you more than anyone.”
Daniel felt his jaw tighten.
“He was my brother.”
“Exactly.”
The word sat between them.
Marcus walked closer but stopped before reaching the tree.
“You got the letter.”
Daniel did not answer.
Marcus looked at him.
“That’s why you came.”
“How do you know about the letter?”
The silence that followed was small but important.
Daniel noticed it.
Three years ago, he might have ignored it.
Now every hesitation felt like a clue.
“I heard about it,” Marcus said.
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That’s a terrible lie.”
Marcus looked away.
“You haven’t changed.”
“No.”
Daniel took the envelope from his pocket.
“You have.”
Marcus looked at the paper but did not reach for it.
“Where did you get that?”
“Someone mailed it.”
“Who?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
For the first time, Daniel saw something beneath the anger.
Fear.
Not the fear of being accused.
The fear of something returning.
“You need to leave this alone,” Marcus said.
Daniel laughed once.
It was not a happy sound.
“You said that three years ago.”
“Because I was right.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You were scared.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can’t.”
The answer came too quickly.
Both men noticed.
Marcus looked frustrated with himself.
Daniel felt something shift.
Not relief.
Not victory.
Something heavier.
“Why can’t you?”
Marcus looked toward the river again.
A boat moved slowly in the distance, leaving a line of disturbed water behind it.
“Because I made a promise.”
“To Ethan?”
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
“To who?”
Before Marcus could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen and immediately turned it face down.
Daniel noticed.
“Who was that?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“That’s another bad lie.”
Marcus stepped back.
“You should go home.”
Daniel followed him with his eyes.
“You know something.”
Marcus did not deny it.
That was worse.
“I know enough to tell you that finding the truth is not the same thing as fixing what happened.”
Then he walked away.
Daniel stayed by the river until his fingers went numb.
He wanted to chase him.
He wanted to demand answers.
He wanted to grab Marcus by the shoulder and force the past open.
Instead, he stood there because some part of him understood what Marcus had just done.
He had not threatened him.
He had warned him.
Those were different things.
When Daniel returned home, Claire was sitting on the couch with her laptop open.
She looked up immediately.
“You found something.”
Daniel placed his keys on the table.
“Maybe.”
“That means yes.”
He sat down across from her.
“Marcus was there.”
Claire frowned.
“Marcus Hale?”
“Yes.”
“The same Marcus who told everyone you were fighting with Ethan?”
“Yes.”
She closed the laptop.
“What did he say?”
“Not enough.”
Claire waited.
Daniel hated that she had learned patience because of him.
“He knew about the letter.”
Her expression changed.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Daniel.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the window.
“He’s hiding something.”
Claire was quiet.
Then she said, “And what are you going to do?”
Daniel looked at the envelope on the table.
A few months earlier, he would have said he was going to find the truth.
He would have said it with confidence.
Now he knew the truth was not a thing waiting somewhere.
It was a door.
And opening it meant accepting whatever was standing on the other side.
“I’m going to find out why Ethan was afraid that night.”
Claire studied him.
“You think he was afraid?”
“I think I spent three years remembering him as angry because it was easier.”
She looked down.
Daniel noticed her fingers moving against the edge of the laptop.
A habit she had when she was trying not to say something.
“What?”
She hesitated.
“I didn’t want to tell you this today.”
Daniel felt the room change.
“What?”
May you like
Claire reached for her phone.
She opened a message and handed it to him.
