Chapter 5 - Daniel Was Never Daniel
Sophia finally told Roman everything that afternoon.
She had met Daniel ten months earlier at a small bookstore café in Milwaukee.
He had been wearing a charcoal coat and reading a battered copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Sophia had teased him about the dramatic choice.
He had replied that some men needed stories about people returning from the dead.
At the time, she had laughed.
Now the memory made her sick.
“He told me he repaired antique watches.”
Roman almost smiled.
“Vincent couldn’t repair a toaster.”
Sophia looked at him.
“That actually explains a lot.”
For a moment, the tension softened.
Then Sophia continued.
Daniel had been careful.
He paid cash.
He rarely took photographs.
He never invited her to his apartment.
Whenever she asked about his family, he changed the subject.
Yet with her, he seemed gentle.
Lonely.
Almost grateful for ordinary things.
They had spent five months together.
Then he vanished.
No goodbye.
No argument.
Nothing.
Three weeks later, Sophia learned she was pregnant.
“I tried every number he had ever called me from.”
“All disconnected.”
Roman listened without interruption.
“Then when I was eight months pregnant, I received an envelope.”
“The one you carried into my building?”
“No.”
Sophia looked toward Gabriel.
“A different one.”
Roman waited.
“It contained twenty thousand dollars in cash and a key.”
“What kind of key?”
“A safe-deposit key.”
“Where?”
“First Lake Bank.”
Roman knew the bank.
It was one of the few institutions not connected to Callaway interests.
“Did you open it?”
Sophia nodded.
“Inside was the paternity report, photographs of you, and a letter.”
“From Vincent?”
“I thought it was Daniel.”
“What did it say?”
Sophia recited the words from memory.
If anything happens after Gabriel is born, go to Roman Callaway.
Do not contact the police until Roman sees the report.
Do not trust anyone who mentions Jonah Vale.
Roman stared at her.
Vincent had prepared for this.
He had known exactly what might happen after Gabriel’s birth.
Sophia continued.
“The envelope I dropped in your apartment appeared in my hospital room.”
“That one contained the surveillance photographs.”
Roman leaned forward.
“Someone added them later.”
“Yes.”
Which meant there were two separate players.
Vincent had sent Sophia toward Roman.
Someone else had discovered the plan and used the same method to terrify her.
Roman’s phone rang.
Mason again.
“We found something in the Kessler Building.”
“What?”
“A camera.”
“The memory card was wiped, but not completely.”
“I recovered seventeen seconds.”
Roman opened the video link.
The grainy recording showed a room overlooking Roman’s tower.
A man entered.
Dark hair.
Broad shoulders.
Scar beneath his chin.
Sophia made a sound beside him.
“Daniel.”
Roman stopped breathing.
Vincent walked toward the camera.
He looked older than Roman remembered.
Thinner.
But unmistakably alive.
Vincent adjusted something near the lens.
Then turned toward someone outside the frame.
The audio was damaged.
Only five words survived.
“She cannot know Roman knows.”
Sophia looked at Roman.
“You knew what?”
“I have no idea.”
The recording continued.
A second person entered.
Only an arm was visible.
A distinctive silver cuff link caught the light.
Roman recognized it immediately.
His father had given identical cuff links to three men on the twentieth anniversary of Callaway Consolidated.
Roman.
Vincent.
And Silas.
The camera cut out.
Sophia looked at Roman.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Roman stood.
“I don’t know yet.”
She glared at him.
“No more half-truths.”
“I slept on concrete for four nights because every person around me had a secret.”
“You want me to trust you?”
“Then stop acting like one of them.”
Roman absorbed the accusation.
Then he made a decision.
“There is one place my father kept records Silas never controlled.”
“Where?”
“The original Callaway warehouse.”
Sophia lifted Gabriel.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You were attacked less than three hours ago.”
“And every place you hide me gets discovered.”
Roman had no answer.
Sophia wrapped Gabriel in a blanket.
“If the truth concerns my son, I’m done waiting in another room while men decide what I’m allowed to know.”
Roman looked at her for several seconds.
Then nodded.
They left before sunset.
Neither of them knew that Davis remained behind.
And the moment Roman’s car disappeared, Davis walked into the kitchen.
He removed a second phone from beneath the sink.
May you like
Then he typed one message.
THEY’RE GOING TO THE WAREHOUSE.
