Chapter 7
Michael didn’t go alone.
He wanted to.
I refused.
So did Jason.
Aaron had instructed him to meet at an abandoned diner twenty miles outside town.
No police.
No attorney.
No wife.
No brother.
Michael agreed on the phone.
Then immediately called Detective Alvarez, the officer handling the bank fraud report.
Alvarez listened to everything.
“You’re not walking into an isolated location alone.”
Michael looked at me.
“Agreed.”
The detective arranged for plainclothes officers nearby.
Jason and I were told to stay home.
We did not.
We followed separately and parked nearly half a mile away.
I knew it was foolish.
I also knew I wasn’t going to sit at home while a secret brother who had blackmailed Diane for years summoned my husband.
The diner had been closed for nearly a decade.
Broken sign.
Dusty windows.
Weeds through the parking lot.
Michael arrived first.
Five minutes later, a black sedan pulled in.
A man stepped out.
Thirty-six made sense.
He was tall.
Dark hair.
Sharp jaw.
And even from a distance, I could see something that made my skin crawl.
He looked like Diane.
Not exactly.
But enough.
Michael must have seen it too.
He stood frozen near the diner entrance.
Aaron walked toward him.
“So.”
Michael said nothing.
Aaron smiled.
“Mom’s favorite son.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not interested in fighting with you.”
“That’s disappointing.”
“You took her phone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“Her.”
Michael stared at him.
“You’ve been blackmailing her.”
Aaron laughed.
“That’s what she told you?”
“She gave you hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“Not enough.”
“That sounds like blackmail.”
Aaron stepped closer.
“You grew up in her house.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“I’m learning that wasn’t the prize you think it was.”
Aaron studied him.
“Still defending her?”
“No.”
That surprised Aaron.
Michael continued.
“She framed my five-year-old daughter for theft yesterday.”
Aaron smiled slightly.
“That sounds like Diane.”
Michael’s face tightened.
“You don’t get to smile about my daughter.”
Aaron raised both hands.
“Fair.”
“Why did you call me?”
Aaron reached into his jacket.
Michael tensed.
Aaron pulled out a flash drive.
“This.”
“What’s on it?”
“Your father’s insurance policy.”
“We know about that.”
“Not the one she collected.”
Michael frowned.
Aaron smiled.
“There were two.”
Michael stared.
“Explain.”
“Robert Bennett took out a second policy six months before he died.”
“How much?”
“One million dollars.”
Michael went silent.
“Who was the beneficiary?”
Aaron pointed at him.
“You.”
Michael’s face emptied.
“And Jason.”
“Equal shares?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
Aaron laughed.
“You know the answer.”
“Mom?”
“Diane filed a claim.”
“How? If we were beneficiaries?”
“She submitted documents saying both of you had died.”
Michael stared at him.
For once, even Aaron seemed disturbed saying it.
“She told an insurance company her sons were dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Fraudulent death certificates.”
Michael whispered, “That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible if people don’t check carefully enough.”
“Where did the money go?”
Aaron looked at him.
“Frank.”
Michael’s breath caught.
“Frank Dawson?”
“Yes.”
“My father’s business partner.”
“My father.”
The words landed between them.
Michael studied Aaron.
“You know for certain?”
“DNA.”
That word again.
Michael frowned.
“You took the test Diane ordered?”
Aaron laughed.
“She didn’t order it for your kids.”
Michael went still.
“What?”
“She ordered it for me.”
Back at home, I had assumed Diane wanted to disqualify Ethan or Lily from the trust.
We had been wrong.
Michael stared.
“Why test you?”
“Because she wanted proof I’m Frank’s son.”
“Why now?”
Aaron’s smile disappeared.
“Because Frank is alive.”
Michael’s face changed.
“What?”
“Very much alive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“I know he’s alive because he contacted her.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
Michael took a step closer.
“Why?”
“To demand money.”
The pattern repeated.
Money.
Secrets.
Threats.
Michael asked, “Why would Frank need proof you’re his son?”
“He doesn’t.”
“Then why the test?”
“Legal leverage.”
“For what?”
Aaron looked toward the diner windows.
“Property.”
“The land?”
“Yes.”
Michael cursed quietly.
Aaron continued.
“Frank claims half the land belongs to him.”
“Dad put it into a trust.”
“He says Robert used business money to purchase it.”
“Is that true?”
“I don’t know.”
“And Diane thinks proving you’re Frank’s son helps?”
“She thinks if I’m legally established as his son, she can negotiate through me.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You all treat people like paperwork.”
Aaron’s expression hardened.
“You grew up with a mother.”
“You think that automatically means I had what you didn’t?”
“Yes.”
Michael stared at him.
“You have no idea.”
Aaron stepped forward.
“No. You have no idea.”
His voice rose.
“I spent my childhood with a woman who called herself my aunt and told everyone my mother was dead.”
Michael fell silent.
“I was thirteen when I found a letter.”
“What letter?”
“From Diane.”
Aaron looked toward the ground.
“She wrote to Frank’s sister every year.”
Michael stared.
“She knew where you were?”
“Always.”
That hurt even me.
“She didn’t give you away and lose you.”
“No.”
“She chose not to bring you home.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Aaron laughed without humor.
“Because I was evidence.”
Michael’s face tightened.
“Of the affair.”
“Of everything.”
Aaron stepped closer.
“When Robert started asking questions, Diane sent me farther away.”
“Where?”
“Boarding school.”
“Paid with Dad’s money?”
“Probably.”
Michael looked sick.
Aaron continued.
“Frank visited sometimes.”
“You knew he was your father?”
“Not until I was nineteen.”
“What happened then?”
“He disappeared from my life.”
“The same time Dad died?”
“Three weeks later.”
Michael stared at him.
“And now you say Frank is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did everyone think he disappeared?”
“Because he wanted them to.”
“Why?”
Aaron shook his head.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
Michael looked at the flash drive.
“What else is on that?”
“Copies of messages from Diane’s phone.”
“Between her and Frank?”
“Some.”
“You copied them before calling me?”
“Yes.”
“Why give them to me?”
Aaron’s expression hardened.
“Because she stopped paying.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“So this is revenge.”
“Partly.”
“At least you admit it.”
Aaron looked at him.
“And partly because Frank threatened me.”
Michael frowned.
“Why?”
“He thinks I have Robert’s evidence.”
“Do you?”
Aaron said nothing.
Michael’s eyes narrowed.
“You do.”
Aaron smiled faintly.
“I have some.”
“What?”
“A box Robert sent before he died.”
Michael stepped closer.
“To who?”
“My guardian.”
“Frank’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Dad send evidence to the sister of the man sleeping with his wife?”
Aaron laughed.
“Because Robert didn’t know she was Frank’s sister.”
Michael froze.
“What?”
“She used her married name.”
Aaron continued.
“Robert hired a private storage service to send a package to someone connected to a church organization.”
Michael stared.
“Your guardian worked there?”
“Yes.”
“She received it by mistake?”
“No.”
Aaron shook his head.
“Robert intended it for her.”
“Why?”
“Because he thought she was helping children relocated from dangerous homes.”
Michael looked confused.
Aaron continued.
“He knew Diane had a hidden child somewhere.”
“He was trying to find you.”
“Yes.”
That changed Aaron’s face.
For the first time, anger disappeared.
“He found me before he died.”
Michael whispered, “Dad knew where you were?”
“Apparently.”
“Did he know you were Frank’s son?”
“Yes.”
“And still sent something to protect you?”
Aaron looked away.
“He wrote that none of this was my fault.”
Michael’s eyes filled.
Aaron swallowed.
“I hated him for years.”
“You never knew him.”
“I hated what I thought he represented.”
“Then you found the box.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After my guardian died six years ago.”
“That’s when you contacted Diane.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
Aaron looked directly at him.
“Financial records.”
“What else?”
“Photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Diane and Frank.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“What else?”
“A lab report.”
“The arsenic test?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Aaron hesitated.
“A second test.”
Michael stared.
“Second test of what?”
“Your father’s blood.”
The air seemed to change.
Michael whispered, “He had blood tested?”
“Yes.”
“What did it show?”
“Chronic arsenic exposure.”
Michael shut his eyes.
Aaron continued.
“There was also a handwritten diary.”
Michael looked at him.
“Dad’s?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Can I read it?”
“Maybe.”
Michael’s anger returned.
“Maybe?”
“I didn’t come here to make you feel better.”
“This is my father.”
“And my father may have killed him.”
Michael froze.
Aaron continued.
“The diary says Robert suspected Diane.”
“We know.”
“But near the end, he changed his mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“He thought Frank was doing it.”
Michael stared.
“Why?”
“Because Diane stopped preparing the drinks.”
“What?”
Aaron pulled out his phone.
He opened photographs of diary pages.
Michael read.
Robert wrote that after confronting Diane, she became afraid.
She stopped making the supplements.
But his symptoms continued.
Then worsened.
Robert began watching Frank.
He discovered Frank visiting the house when Diane was away.
Entering through the garage.
Accessing Robert’s medication cabinet.
Michael looked up.
“So Dad suspected Frank.”
“Yes.”
“Did Diane know?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Frank know you have this?”
“He knows I have something.”
“Why threaten you now?”
“Because the land is about to be sold.”
Michael frowned.
“What sale?”
Aaron smiled grimly.
“That’s another thing your mother forgot to mention.”
He showed Michael an email.
A development company had offered twelve million dollars for Robert’s old property.
Michael stared.
“Twelve million?”
“Yes.”
“And Frank wants half.”
“Yes.”
“Diane wants all of it.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Aaron laughed.
“I want the truth.”
Michael studied him.
“No, you don’t.”
Aaron’s smile faded.
“You want money too.”
“Of course I do.”
“How much?”
“Enough to stop being everyone’s dirty secret.”
Michael shook his head.
“Money won’t do that.”
Aaron’s eyes hardened.
“Easy for the legitimate son to say.”
Michael’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
A text from me.
Police approaching.
He looked up at Aaron.
“We need to take this to authorities.”
Aaron’s expression changed.
“You brought police?”
“They’re nearby.”
“You lied.”
“So did everyone else.”
Aaron stepped backward.
“Bad decision.”
“Why?”
Aaron looked toward the road.
“Because Frank has people watching.”
Michael turned.
A dark SUV appeared at the far end of the highway.
Aaron swore.
“That’s him.”
Michael looked at him.
“Frank?”
“No.”
Aaron grabbed Michael’s arm.
“One of his men.”
Michael pulled away.
“Then stay.”
Aaron laughed.
“You still think this is a family argument.”
The SUV accelerated toward the diner.
Aaron ran toward his car.
Michael shouted, “Wait!”
Aaron stopped long enough to throw him the flash drive.
“If something happens to me, look for a storage unit under Robert’s birthday.”
Then he got in his sedan.
The SUV entered the parking lot.
At the same moment, two unmarked police vehicles appeared from the opposite direction.
The SUV swerved.
Tires screamed.
It clipped a concrete barrier and sped back toward the highway.
Police followed.
Aaron disappeared in the opposite direction.
Michael stood alone in the dust.
I ran toward him.
He turned.
“You weren’t supposed to be here.”
“Neither was your secret brother.”
Despite everything, he almost smiled.
Then Detective Alvarez hurried over.
“Did he give you anything?”
Michael held up the flash drive.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Twenty years of reasons my mother didn’t want us asking questions.”
Alvarez looked toward the highway.
“Who was in the SUV?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Michael’s phone rang again.
This time the number was Diane’s.
He answered.
“Mom?”
No response.
Then a man’s voice spoke.
Older.
Calm.
“Hello, Michael.”
Michael’s face went white.
The man continued.
“You probably don’t remember me.”
May you like
Michael whispered one name.
“Frank.”
