Chapter 5 - MICHAEL'S HOUSE
Daniel disobeyed his father.
He drove Walter to Indiana.
Walter objected for almost the entire trip.
Then fell asleep near Gary.
Daniel looked at him at a red light.
Without the cap and hard stare, Walter looked painfully old.
Not mysterious.
Not dangerous.
Just old.
Michael Bennett lived in a modest brick house outside South Bend.
When he opened the door and saw Walter, he punched him.
Walter fell against the porch rail.
Daniel shouted, "Dad!"
Michael tried again.
Daniel stepped between them.
Walter touched his bleeding lip.
He did not hit back.
Michael was sixty years old.
He was crying.
"You said you'd never come near us."
Walter stared.
"I've never met you."
"You're a liar."
Michael disappeared inside and returned with an old cassette recorder.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Thomas Bennett's voice.
Walter recognized it immediately.
"If Walter Hayes ever comes looking for us, don't believe a word he says."
Walter's knees nearly gave way.
Daniel looked between them.
The tape continued.
"He left men behind. Good men. He'll tell you he had no choice."
Walter whispered, "That's Tommy."
Michael's face twisted.
"I know my father's voice."
Walter sat on the porch step.
The tape was dated eight months after Thomas's supposed death.
Michael said, "Still want to tell me he never came home?"
Walter did not answer.
Then the recording reached its final seconds.
A door closed in the background.
Someone spoke away from the microphone.
Thomas answered:
"Yes, Captain Voss."
Walter stood so quickly the cassette player fell.
Michael stared.
Daniel stared.
Walter whispered:
"Tommy never called Voss captain after October nineteenth."
"Why?"
Walter looked sick.
May you like
"Because that was the night we found out Voss wasn't a captain."
