Chapter 3 — My Father’s Secret Returned With One Terrifying Warning
Chapter 3 — My Father’s Secret Returned With One Terrifying Warning
“My father.”
The words barely left Lauren’s mouth.
I stared at her.
For eight years, I had believed my father was dead.
I had attended his funeral.
I had watched the casket disappear beneath the ground.
I had stood beside my mother while people told us how sorry they were.
And now my wife was telling me the man who had supposedly died eight years ago had just sent me a text.
“You’re lying.”
Lauren shook her head.
“I wish I were.”
Jason stood behind her.
“Daniel, you need to listen to her.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
“How long?”
Jason lowered his eyes.
“Six months.”
I felt something inside me snap.
“Six months?”
“I found out six months ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Your father made me promise.”
I laughed.
It came out colder than I expected.
“My father has been dead for eight years, Jason.”
“I know what you think.”
“No. You don’t get to say that.”
I pointed at the phone.
“That message came from his number?”
Lauren nodded.
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
She swallowed.
“The number belongs to a private phone. Your father has been using it.”
My hands went numb.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said you knew.”
“I knew where he was six months ago.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the house.
“Inside.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your father came to our house.”
“When?”
“About three months ago.”
I stared at her.
Three months.
While I had been sleeping in the same house.
While I had been going to work.
While she had been telling me everything was normal.
My father had apparently been close enough to knock on my own front door.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“He told me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he said someone was watching you.”
Jason interrupted.
“He wasn’t only worried about Daniel.”
Lauren looked at him.
Jason continued.
“He was worried about me too.”
Melissa crossed her arms.
“So that’s why you two were meeting secretly?”
Lauren looked at her.
“No.”
Melissa’s voice sharpened.
“Then explain the hotel.”
Lauren closed her eyes.
“We went there because your husband had something.”
Jason looked away.
Melissa stared at him.
“What did you have?”
Jason reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
It was blue.
My heart dropped.
“The envelope.”
Jason nodded.
“I took it from Room 614.”
I stepped closer.
“Where did you get it?”
“Your father gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“He told me to keep it hidden until he contacted me.”
I looked at Lauren.
“And she knew?”
“Yes.”
I turned back to Jason.
“Then why did you tell me you were just following her?”
“Because I was.”
“Why?”
“Because she went to meet someone without telling you.”
Lauren’s eyes flashed.
“You weren’t supposed to follow me.”
“And you weren’t supposed to lie to Daniel.”
The two of them stared at each other.
For the first time, I understood something.
Whatever had happened between them, there was another secret underneath it.
Something neither one wanted to explain.
I reached for the envelope.
Jason handed it to me.
My name was written across the front.
Not printed.
Written by hand.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
My father’s.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Only three sentences.
Daniel, if you’re reading this, I’m alive.
My breath stopped.
The second line was worse.
Your mother never knew the truth.
And the third sentence made me look up at Lauren.
Do not trust the woman you married.
Nobody spoke.
I slowly lowered the letter.
Lauren looked like she had been slapped.
“Daniel…”
“You knew about this.”
“No.”
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he warned me not to trust you.”
“I didn’t know he wrote that.”
“Did you know what was in the envelope?”
“No.”
I stared at her.
“Then why were you so desperate to get it?”
She started crying.
“Because I thought it contained proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That your father’s death wasn’t an accident.”
Silence.
Jason finally spoke.
“It wasn’t.”
I turned toward him.
“What?”
He looked at Melissa.
Then at me.
“Your father didn’t die.”
I shook my head.
“That’s what everyone keeps saying.”
“No.”
Jason’s voice dropped.
“He was supposed to die.”
The words hit differently.
I sat down.
“What does that mean?”
Jason pulled another document from his pocket.
“A hospital report.”
He placed it on the table.
I looked at the date.
Eight years earlier.
The night my father supposedly died.
The report stated that a man had been admitted under my father’s name.
But the identification number didn’t match.
I looked closer.
The patient had been declared dead at 2:17 a.m.
But another document showed something strange.
At 4:03 a.m., the same patient had been transferred.
Alive.
I looked up.
“That can’t be real.”
Jason nodded.
“That’s why your father disappeared.”
“Who changed the records?”
“We don’t know.”
“Who knew?”
Jason hesitated.
“Your mother.”
I stood immediately.
“My mother?”
“She found out afterward.”
“Then why did she tell me he was dead?”
Jason’s expression changed.
“Because someone threatened her.”
“With what?”
He didn’t answer.
Melissa suddenly looked toward the street.
“Wait.”
Everyone turned.
A black SUV had stopped across from the house.
The engine was running.
Nobody got out.
I stared at it.
Lauren whispered,
“That’s the same car.”
“What car?”
“The one that was outside Room 614.”
My stomach tightened.
The SUV remained motionless for several seconds.
Then the driver’s window lowered.
I couldn’t see the person’s face.
But I could see one thing clearly.
A hand resting on the steering wheel.
And on that hand was a silver ring.
My father’s ring.
I took one step toward the driveway.
Lauren grabbed my arm.
“Don’t.”
I pulled away.
“You’ve been telling me not to do things all night.”
“Because you don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
She shook her head.
“You’re not ready.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My wife cheated on me, my best friend lied to me, my dead father is apparently alive, and someone is watching my house.”
I pointed toward the SUV.
“I think I’m past ready.”
Suddenly the SUV accelerated.
It disappeared around the corner.
I ran toward my car.
Jason followed.
“Daniel, wait.”
I turned.
He was holding something.
A photograph.
“I found this in Room 614.”
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
The picture showed my father standing outside a hospital.
Beside him was a woman.
My mother.
And between them was a little boy.
Me.
But I was only six years old in the photograph.
On the back, there was a date.
The date was impossible.
It was taken two years after my father supposedly died.
Then I noticed something else.
Someone had written a message beneath the date.
Seven words.
Your father didn’t leave you. Someone took him.
I looked at Lauren.
She was crying silently.
And for the first time that night, I realized the hotel room, the affair, and the mysterious envelope might all have been pieces of the same secret.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a man’s voice whispered,
“Daniel, don’t go home tonight.”
I recognized that voice.
It was my father.
Before I could respond, he said one final sentence.
“They know you have the photograph.”
The call ended.
And across the street, hidden behind a parked truck, I saw someone watching our house.