Chapter 9: The Man Who Never Died
Dad didn’t sleep.
Neither did I.
The image stayed in my head.
A man who was supposed to be dead standing outside our house.
A man Dad had buried years ago.
The next morning, Detective Harris returned.
Dad showed him the footage.
The detective watched silently.
Then he replayed it.
Again.
And again.
Finally, he looked up.
“This man is definitely alive.””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
“Michael.””
“I saw him in a coffin.””
Detective Harris leaned back.
“Then someone wanted you to believe he was dead.””
That sentence changed everything.
Dad sat down.
For years, he thought he had lost a friend.
Now he had to consider something worse.
That friend had been watching him.
Watching us.
Detective Harris looked at the screen.
“When was this recorded?””
“Last night.””
“Before or after Vanessa disappeared?””
Dad checked.
“After.””
The detective frowned.
“That means they were together.””
I looked at Dad.
“Why would Vanessa run away if she was with him?””
Nobody answered.
Because we all knew.
She wasn’t running away.
She was meeting him.
Detective Harris asked for a copy of the footage.
Then he left.
Dad stayed quiet for a long time.
Finally, he said:
“I made a mistake.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“I thought Vanessa was the person controlling everything.””
“But she wasn’t?””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at the security camera.
“She was working for someone.””
Later that afternoon, we received another message.
This time, it wasn’t from an unknown number.
It was from Vanessa.
Dad opened it.
Only one sentence appeared.
*“Michael, you need to know the truth about Ethan’s mother.””*
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
My mother.
Standing beside Vanessa.
I stared.
I had never seen them together.
Dad looked confused.
“When was this taken?””
There was a date underneath.
A date from two months before my mother died.
Then Vanessa sent one more message.
*“Your wife wasn’t investigating me. She was investigating him.””*
Dad’s face changed.
“Him?””
A final message appeared.
*“Ask your old partner why he really disappeared.””*
The room went silent.
I looked at Dad.
“Your partner knew Mom?””
Dad didn’t answer.
He picked up his phone.
Then he opened an old contact list.
His finger stopped on a name.
Mark Wilson.
A number Dad had never deleted.
I watched as he pressed call.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then someone answered.
A voice came through.
A voice Dad recognized instantly.
“Michael.””
Dad froze.
The voice continued:
“I was wondering when you’d finally figure it out.””
My heart raced.
Dad slowly stood up.
“Mark?””
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
“Yes.””
A pause.
May you like
Then the man who was supposed to be dead said:
“You have no idea what your wife discovered before she died.””
