Chapter 2 - THE BOY WHO SAID HE TRIED TO STOP THEM
Daniel did not go to Saint Agnes.
That surprised Marcus.
“You have the address.”
“I also have a detective on Lily’s case.”
“So?”
“So I’m not contaminating a witness before police talk to him.”
Marcus laughed softly over the phone.
“Grace really did finish raising you.”
Daniel said nothing.
That still hurt.
Grace had been dead nine years.
Ovarian cancer.
Fourteen months from diagnosis to funeral.
There were days Daniel still reached for his phone when he saw something ridiculous because Grace had always been the first person he wanted to tell.
She had been the only person who knew exactly who he had been before Lily.
Or so he believed.
At six fourteen in the morning, Detective Price returned.
Daniel stood before he reached the door.
“Ethan Cole.”
Price stopped.
“What about him?”
“He was treated at Saint Agnes.”
“How do you know?”
“A private investigator.”
“You hired someone?”
“Yes.”
“Already?”
“My daughter is unconscious.”
Price looked tired enough not to argue.
“Cole left before our officer got there.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“When?”
“Forty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“We're working on it.”
“His father?”
“Counsel says Ethan is resting at a private location.”
Daniel laughed once.
“Of course.”
Price watched him.
“We found something else.”
“What?”
“Traffic-camera footage puts a Cole family SUV near Westbridge at eleven twelve.”
“Who was driving?”
“Can't see.”
“Brandon Hale?”
“His mother’s office says he was at a fundraising dinner until ten forty.”
“That puts him near campus by eleven.”
“Yes.”
“Tyler Whitmore?”
“Lives on campus.”
Daniel nodded.
Price looked at him.
“You've done this before.”
“What?”
“Questions in the right order.”
Daniel glanced toward Lily.
“I told you. Business.”
Price did not believe that anymore.
Before he could press, Daniel’s ordinary phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text.
I WAS THERE.
Daniel showed Price.
Another message arrived.
I DIDN’T HIT HER.
Then:
SHE TOLD ME IF SOMETHING HAPPENED, I SHOULD FIND YOU.
Price took out his phone.
“Don’t answer.”
Daniel looked at him.
“We can trace—”
The next message came.
DON’T LET MY FATHER KNOW I CONTACTED YOU.
Price stared.
Daniel typed only:
ARE YOU ETHAN?
Three dots.
YES.
Price said, “Ask where he is.”
Daniel typed.
WHERE ARE YOU?
No answer.
Then:
SHE KNEW THIS COULD HAPPEN.
Daniel felt cold.
WHAT DID SHE KNOW?
The reply appeared slowly.
WHAT YOUR NAME USED TO BE.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Price looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel stared at the screen.
The next message arrived.
LILY KNEW WHO THE GHOST WAS BEFORE SHE EVER MET ME.
Daniel sat down.
For nineteen years he had rehearsed the day he might tell Lily.
Not every day.
That would have been unbearable.
But enough.
He imagined a quiet kitchen.
Maybe after college.
Maybe when she was married.
Maybe never.
He told himself there was always a better time.
When she was older.
When Grace was healthier.
After graduation.
After the business expansion.
After Lily stopped seeing him as the father who could still fix everything.
There had always been an after.
Now his daughter lay upstairs with her jaw wired shut because she had apparently discovered the truth without him.
Price stood in front of him.
“Daniel.”
He looked up.
“Who is The Ghost?”
Daniel’s first instinct was denial.
His second was calculation.
His third was Grace’s voice.
If Lily ever learns from someone else, you don't get to call it protection anymore.
He heard the sentence as clearly as if she had spoken from the chair beside him.
Daniel rubbed his face.
“A man I used to know.”
Price’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s garbage.”
“Yes.”
“At least you know.”
The phone vibrated again.
A location pin.
Parking garage beneath a medical office complex in Catonsville.
Then:
COME WITH THE DETECTIVE. NOT YOUR OTHER PEOPLE.
Daniel showed Price.
“You're coming,” Daniel said.
Price almost smiled.
“Glad we agree on something.”
They left Dr. Lang’s unit only after Daniel arranged for Grace’s sister, Susan, to sit with Lily.
A uniformed officer remained outside her room.
Price drove.
Daniel sat in the passenger seat and hated not controlling the route.
That too was familiar.
The parking garage smelled of exhaust and wet concrete.
Ethan Cole sat inside a dark blue Jeep on level three.
He stepped out when Price approached.
Twenty.
Maybe twenty-one.
Expensive coat.
Split lower lip.
Left wrist in a temporary brace.
Fear hollowing his face.
Daniel had expected arrogance.
He found a frightened boy.
Ethan looked at him.
“You’re her father.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“Not stopping it sooner.”
Daniel felt The Ghost rise like an old reflex.
Not in words.
In temperature.
He pushed it down.
“Start at the beginning.”
Price showed his badge.
“This conversation is being documented.”
Ethan nodded.
“I want a lawyer.”
“Then we stop,” Price said.
“No.”
Ethan looked between them.
“I mean I have one coming. But I need him to know something first.”
Daniel waited.
Ethan swallowed.
“Lily asked me to meet her behind Foster.”
“Why?”
“She had documents.”
“What documents?”
“About our families.”
“Whose?”
“Mine. Brandon’s. Tyler’s.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“From when?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Price looked at Daniel.
Ethan continued.
“She said our fathers didn't become rich the way everybody thinks.”
Daniel felt the old harbor return.
Diesel.
Salt.
Containers.
Cash inside steel walls.
“What did she show you?”
“Ledgers.”
Daniel stared.
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“She said they came from her mother.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Grace?”
“I don't know. She said her mom left something for her.”
Price asked, “Who attacked Lily?”
Ethan looked down.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Say their names.”
Ethan’s breath shook.
“Brandon and Tyler.”
Price’s expression hardened.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I tried to pull Tyler off.”
“Your wrist.”
Ethan nodded.
“He hit me with a flashlight.”
Daniel’s hands curled.
He opened them again.
“Why didn't you call 911?”
“I did.”
Price looked up.
“When?”
“Eleven twenty-three.”
“That call isn't in the first dispatch report.”
Ethan stared.
“I called.”
“Anonymous?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Brandon kept saying his mother would fix it.”
Daniel looked at Price.
The detective’s face had changed.
Ethan continued.
“Tyler took Lily’s phone.”
“Why?”
“She recorded something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is the phone?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
Ethan flinched.
Daniel stopped himself.
“I am not going to hurt you.”
Ethan looked unconvinced.
Daniel almost hated that.
Ethan reached inside his coat slowly.
Price’s hand moved toward his holster.
“Easy.”
Ethan pulled out a tiny plastic memory-card case.
“Lily gave me this before they came.”
Daniel stared.
“She said if things went bad, I should give it to you.”
Price held out an evidence envelope.
Ethan placed the card inside.
“What's on it?”
“Copies.”
“Of what?”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“Your old life.”
Daniel’s face went still.
Ethan continued.
“And something about Lily’s mother.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I didn't open everything.”
“What about Grace?”
Ethan shook his head.
“All I saw was a ledger page.”
Price sealed the card.
Ethan swallowed.
“Her name was on it.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“What did it say?”
Ethan looked directly at him.
“G. Walker.”
A pause.
“Duplicate retained.”
Daniel stared.
Grace had told him she burned everything.
May you like
Then Ethan added:
“Lily said her mother kept proof because she never trusted you to tell the truth yourself.”
