Chapter 4 - SOMEONE HAD A SECOND KEY
Daniel killed the engine.
His hand went instinctively toward his sidearm.
Walter grabbed his wrist.
"Don't draw unless you have a target."
Daniel glared.
"Stop grabbing me."
"Then stop doing things that'll get you shot."
They searched the parking lot.
No one.
Daniel's truck used remote start.
His spare fob had been inside his gym bag.
The bag was gone.
So was the old photograph Walter had left on the passenger seat.
Daniel swore.
Walter did not.
He looked almost relieved.
"Now we know."
"Know what?"
"Someone isn't trying to kill me."
"How is that comforting?"
"They want something."
The photograph.
Or the letter.
Daniel called police.
Walter objected.
Daniel ignored him.
That became their first real argument.
Walter believed local law enforcement could not be trusted because the operation forty-four years earlier had ended with falsified reports.
Daniel told him it was not 1982.
Walter replied, "People don't become honest because calendars change."
The police took statements.
Richard claimed the elderly stranger had paid him five hundred dollars to notify a phone number if Walter met anyone named Bennett.
"Why agree?"
Richard looked ashamed.
"My restaurant is three months behind on rent."
Emily stared at him.
"So you sold a customer's movements?"
"I thought it was a family dispute."
Walter laughed once.
Richard snapped, "You think being poor makes every bad decision noble?"
Walter's expression changed.
"No."
That answer silenced him.
Richard had made a choice.
So had Walter, many years ago.
Before leaving, the detective handed Walter a photocopy of the recovered warning.
There was a phone number.
Daniel called it.
Disconnected.
Emily searched the number online.
It had belonged to a Veterans outreach nonprofit that closed seven years earlier.
Its last registered director was Michael Bennett.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"My father?"
Walter looked toward the rain.
"No."
Daniel's voice sharpened.
"It says his name."
"I mean your father isn't afraid of me because of something Tommy told him."
"How do you know?"
Walter turned.
"Because Tommy never came home."
Daniel looked at him.
Walter continued.
May you like
"Whoever raised Michael did."
