Chapter 12: The Mechanic's Son
Dad put Evan on speaker.
“Your father was a mechanic?””
“Yes.””
“Did he work on Andrew Bennett's car?””
Evan didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “Where did you hear that name?””
“Melissa.””
Another silence.
“My dad told me never to get involved with that family.””
Tyler stared at the phone.
“What family?””
Evan exhaled.
“Carter.””
Dad gripped the edge of the table.
“Start from the beginning.””
“My father owned a repair shop outside Columbus. Small place. He worked on Andrew Bennett's sedan about three weeks before the crash.””
“What did he do?””
“Brakes. Oil. Tires.””
“And after the crash?””
“He became obsessed with it.””
“Why?””
“Because the police report said brake failure.””
Dad leaned forward.
“And?””
“My dad said those brakes were fine when they left his shop.””
Tyler sat down slowly.
“Did he think someone damaged them?””
“Yes.””
The word landed hard.
Evan continued.
“A few days after the funeral, Dad checked his shop cameras.””
“Did he find something?””
“He found a man entering the lot after midnight.””
“Marcus?””
“I don't know. The footage was bad.””
“What happened to it?””
“My dad copied it.””
Dad stood.
“Do you still have the copy?””
“I might.””
“Where?””
“My father's storage unit.””
“Your father is dead?””
“Two years ago. Heart attack.””
Dad looked at the officer.
“We need that footage.””
Evan hesitated.
“There's more.””
“What?””
“Dad tried to give it to Melissa.””
Tyler's eyes widened.
“When?””
“After Andrew's funeral.””
“And?””
“She refused to meet him.””
Dad closed his eyes.
Of course.
Evan continued.
“Then someone broke into the shop.””
“What was stolen?””
“Nothing valuable.””
“Then what?””
“Dad's computer.””
The officer beside Dad wrote everything down.
Dad asked, “Did your father ever identify the man?””
“He wrote a name in a notebook.””
“What name?””
“I don't remember.””
“Find it.””
“I'll go to the unit.””
“No,” the officer interrupted.
“Don't go alone.””
Evan went silent.
The officer identified himself and arranged for another unit to meet him.
Then Dad's phone buzzed.
A location notification.
Melissa.
Her phone's location had briefly appeared.
Dad showed the officer.
An industrial area south of the city.
Then it vanished.
“Can you track that?”” Dad asked.
“We'll send it immediately.””
Tyler stood.
“I want to go.””
“No,” Dad said.
“She's my mother.””
“Exactly why you're staying here.””
“You're not my dad.””
The words came out fast.
Tyler immediately regretted them.
Dad's face changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
Tyler looked away.
“I'm sorry.””
Dad nodded once.
“Biology doesn't change what I signed up for when I married your mother.””
Tyler's eyes filled.
“I stole from you.””
“Yes.””
“I sold your father's watch.””
“Yes.””
“I lied.””
“Yes.””
Tyler swallowed.
“Why do you still care what happens to me?””
Dad looked directly at him.
“Because consequences and abandonment aren't the same thing.””
Tyler started crying.
Dad put a hand on his shoulder.
“You're going to make this right.””
“How?””
“One thing at a time.””
My phone vibrated.
An email.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the sender.
*MARCUS CARTER*
My hands went cold.
“Dad.””
He turned.
Marcus had emailed me.
The subject line contained only two words:
*YOUR LAPTOP*
Dad came beside me.
“Don't open anything.””
The officer nodded.
“Forward it to us first.””
The email contained no attachment.
Just text.
*Your brother wasn't supposed to sell the computer. Melissa was supposed to deliver it to me.*
I read it twice.
“What?””
Dad's face hardened.
Another sentence:
*Ask her why she loaded my files onto it.*
Dad looked toward my laptop.
I suddenly remembered something.
Three days before Tyler stole it, Melissa had asked to borrow my computer.
She said hers was updating.
I'd given her the password.
My stomach dropped.
“She used it.””
Dad looked at me.
“When?””
“Three nights before Tyler sold it.””
Tyler stared at me.
“I didn't know.””
Marcus sent another email.
*She copied evidence from my computer because she planned to trade it for protection.*
Dad whispered, “That's why she needed the laptop.””
Another message appeared.
*I want what's mine.*
The officer immediately photographed the screen.
Then Marcus sent one final line.
*Check the hidden partition. Password: ANDREW2009.*
Evan had mentioned nothing about a hidden partition.
Dad looked at the officer.
“Can we open it?””
“Not until we preserve the device.””
A detective arrived less than twenty minutes later.
He photographed the laptop, documented its condition, then allowed a forensic technician to examine it while we watched.
The password worked.
A hidden encrypted partition opened.
Folders filled the screen.
Bank records.
Messages.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Dad stared.
Melissa had been collecting evidence for months.
One folder was titled:
*IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO DANIEL*
Inside was a video.
Melissa sat alone in her car.
She looked exhausted.
Scared.
She spoke directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, I failed.””
Tyler covered his mouth.
Melissa continued.
“Marcus Carter killed Andrew Bennett.””
Nobody moved.
“I couldn't prove it then. I think I can now.””
Dad's eyes stayed locked on the screen.
“He has been threatening Daniel. He wants the insurance money because I owe him more than I can ever repay.””
She wiped tears from her face.
“But Daniel's policy isn't the real reason.””
Dad frowned.
Melissa looked over her shoulder in the recording.
Then leaned toward the camera.
“Marcus needs Daniel dead because Daniel unknowingly owns something Marcus has been trying to get for fifteen years.””
Dad whispered, “What?””
Melissa answered from the recording.
“Andrew left Daniel a piece of property.””
Tyler stared at Dad.
Dad shook his head.
“I never knew Andrew.””
Melissa continued.
“You did. You just knew him by another name.””
Dad stopped breathing.
On the screen, Melissa held up an old photograph.
Two young men stood outside a garage.
One was Andrew Bennett.
The other was Dad.
Except Dad looked barely twenty.
He stared at the image.
“No.””
I looked at him.
“You knew him?””
Dad stepped closer to the screen.
“I knew him as Andy.””
Melissa's recorded voice continued.
“Daniel, Andrew wasn't just someone you worked with when you were young.””
She held up a legal document.
“He named you in a trust three days before he died.””
Dad's face went white.
May you like
Then the video ended with six words.
“Marcus has been looking for it ever since.””
