Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
I stopped breathing.
My father’s name sounded wrong coming from Luka’s mouth.
Thomas Carter.
Nobody had spoken his full name to me in years.
Not since the police investigation.
Not since the search teams stopped coming.
Not since my mother finally packed his clothes into boxes because looking at them hurt too much.
“You’re lying.”
Luka didn’t flinch.
“I wish I were.”
“My father died.”
“No body was ever recovered.”
“They found his car.”
“Yes.”
“Covered in blood.”
“Yes.”
I tightened my arms around my daughter.
“His blood.”
“Some of it.”
The answer hit me like ice water.
“What does that mean?”
Before Luka could respond, shouting erupted outside.
A man’s voice.
Familiar.
Angry.
Adrian.
“You have no authority to keep me here.”
I looked toward the door.
Luka stepped between me and the hallway.
Seconds later, Adrian appeared.
Vanessa was gone.
His expensive coat was open.
His usually perfect hair was disordered.
For the first time since I had known him, Adrian Vale looked nervous.
Then his eyes landed on Luka.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
That sentence changed everything.
I looked from Adrian to Luka.
“You know him?”
Neither man answered.
My voice rose.
“Adrian.”
My husband’s face tightened.
“He’s trouble.”
Luka almost smiled.
“That isn’t an answer.”
Adrian ignored him.
He pointed at my daughter.
“Elena, give me the baby.”
Every instinct inside me screamed.
I turned away.
“No.”
“I’m her father.”
Luka’s voice was quiet.
“Then maybe you should have stayed.”
Adrian stepped forward.
Luka moved once.
That was all.
But Adrian stopped immediately.
I noticed it.
Fear.
My husband was afraid of him.
“Why are you here, Adrian?”
I asked.
“I came back for my family.”
“You left with Vanessa.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding doesn’t put its hand inside your coat.”
His eyes hardened.
“This isn’t the time.”
“No.”
I looked toward the computer.
“This is exactly the time.”
Adrian followed my gaze.
He saw the red code.
M-17.
The blood left his face.
Luka noticed.
So did I.
“You know what that means.”
Adrian recovered quickly.
“No.”
“You looked terrified.”
“Elena, you just gave birth.”
He softened his voice.
“You’re exhausted.”
There it was again.
The same trick.
Make me doubt myself.
Make me seem irrational.
Make every question sound like evidence that I was unstable.
It had worked for years.
Not anymore.
“Get out.”
His expression changed.
“Elena.”
“Get out.”
“I’m your husband.”
“You remembered that quickly.”
He took another step.
Luka blocked him.
Adrian glared.
“This has nothing to do with you, Moretti.”
Luka’s reply was almost gentle.
“It became my business eleven years ago.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Adrian looked at him differently then.
Not confused.
Recognizing.
“You were there.”
Luka’s eyes became cold.
“Yes.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
Neither answered.
I screamed the question.
“WHERE?”
Luka finally turned toward me.
“The night your father disappeared.”
A terrible pressure filled my chest.
Adrian looked toward the door.
He wanted to leave.
Luka noticed.
“You should probably stay.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena is about to hear what Thomas discovered.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
May you like
Luka continued.
“And if I’m right, you already know enough to understand why your father spent eleven years trying to bury it.”
