Chapter 10: The Father Who Came Back From the Dead
“That's James Carter.””
Emily's words barely escaped her mouth before the man in the charcoal suit raised his gun.
“Everybody stay where you are.””
Noah clung to his mother, staring at the man who had spent his entire life being described as his father.
“Daddy?””
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Ethan Ward.
“You were supposed to keep the boy hidden.””
Ethan's expression hardened.
“I did. For seven years.””
“And you failed.””
“I kept him alive.””
James laughed without humor.
“You kept him alive so you could use him as leverage.””
I positioned myself between the table and Emily.
“Put the gun down, James.””
His eyes moved toward me.
“Officer Bennett. You have no idea how long I've wanted to meet you.””
“Funny. I was about to say the same thing.””
He glanced at my badge.
“Eleven years on the force, isn't it? Two commendations. One disciplinary warning for questioning a superior's order.””
My stomach tightened.
He had researched me.
“That's a lot of work for someone who's supposedly dead,” I said.
James's smile vanished.
“You think you know what happened to me?””
“I know someone shot you, someone covered it up, and someone has spent years trying to get a ledger back.””
“You know nothing.””
He pointed the gun toward Emily.
“Tell him.””
Emily shook her head.
“Please, James. Noah doesn't need to hear this.””
“He needs to hear everything.””
Noah looked up at her.
“Mommy, why is Daddy pointing a gun at us?””
Emily pulled him closer.
“Because the man standing there isn't the father you remember.””
James's jaw tightened.
“I was his father before you turned him against me.””
“You disappeared,” Emily said.
“You left us to believe you were dead.””
“I had to.””
“You could have called.””
“And brought them straight to your door?””
“You let me bury an empty coffin!””
Her voice broke, and the room fell silent.
For the first time, James looked uncertain.
Then he recovered, lowering his gun just enough to gesture toward the table.
“Give me the ledger.””
I kept my hands visible.
“You already know this is a copy.””
“I know you have the original.””
“Where do you think it is?””
He smiled.
“David Shaw has it. He'll bring it here once he realizes the boy's life depends on it.””
I glanced at Ethan.
He looked furious, but there was something else in his expression.
Fear.
“James,” Ethan said, “this wasn't the agreement.””
James turned toward him.
“Your agreement expired when you failed to deliver the child.””
“You told me you'd expose Bell.””
“I told you I'd give you a chance to help yourself.””
“You said the witnesses would be protected.””
James's face hardened.
“Witnesses are useful only while they're alive.””
He fired into the ceiling.
Noah screamed.
Emily dropped over him, shielding his body with hers.
I lunged for the nearest chair and knocked it sideways, forcing James to step back. Collins moved simultaneously, reaching for his weapon.
But James was faster.
He swung his gun toward her.
“Don't.””
Collins froze.
James smiled.
“Patricia, you should have stayed quiet about Rebecca.””
Collins's face changed.
“You killed my sister.””
“I didn't kill Rebecca.””
“You signed the order.””
“I signed a report.””
“You knew what it meant!””
James shrugged.
“Your sister was a threat. She made a choice.””
Collins's hands trembled.
“You murdered her.””
“No,” he replied.
“I arranged for someone else to do it.””
Ethan surged forward.
James struck him across the face with the pistol, sending him crashing against the table.
I seized the opportunity.
I grabbed James's gun wrist and drove it upward. The weapon discharged, shattering a ceiling light. He slammed his elbow into my ribs, and pain exploded through my side.
We crashed against the wall.
He was stronger than I expected, and he fought with the desperate precision of someone who had spent years learning how to survive violent encounters.
“Give me the ledger!”” he shouted.
I drove my shoulder into his chest.
“Not happening.””
He struck me again.
My vision blurred.
Then a small voice cut through the chaos.
“Daddy, stop!””
James froze.
Noah had stepped out from behind the table.
Emily reached for him, but he moved beyond her grasp.
“Please,” Noah whispered.
“I did what you told me. I kept the key safe.””
James stared at him.
For one terrible second, I thought he might lower the gun.
Instead, he pointed it at the boy.
“Then tell me where the real ledger is.””
Noah began crying.
“I don't know!””
James took a step forward.
“You're lying.””
“I don't know!””
Emily screamed.
I threw myself between them.
The gun fired.
A sharp pain ripped through my left shoulder, and I hit the floor.
“BENNETT!”” Collins shouted.
James staggered backward as Ethan tackled him from the side. Their bodies slammed into the metal table, sending the decoy ledger skidding across the floor.
Collins rushed toward me.
“Stay still. Let me see.””
Blood soaked through my uniform.
“It's a through-and-through,” I gasped.
“Don't talk.””
Across the room, Ethan and James struggled for control of the weapon.
James drove his knee into Ethan's stomach, then scrambled toward the door.
Before he could reach it, the loudspeaker crackled again.
“Mr. Carter, your services are no longer required.””
James stopped.
A second voice followed.
Calm. Older. Familiar.
Deputy Chief Harris.
“You have failed to recover the ledger, and you have exposed the operation. Stand down.””
James looked up at the speaker.
“You promised me immunity!””
“You were promised nothing.””
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted somewhere beyond the door.
Emily screamed, pulling Noah beneath the table.
Collins dragged me behind a steel cabinet as bullets struck the wall.
Then, through the darkness, I heard a familiar voice.
“Police! Drop your weapons!””
David Shaw had arrived with the federal marshals.
Flashlights swept across the room.
Someone shouted.
A body hit the floor.
When the emergency lights flickered back on, James Carter was gone.
Ethan lay unconscious beside the table.
Collins was helping Emily and Noah toward the exit.
I pressed my hand against my bleeding shoulder.
Then I noticed something lying beside my boot.
A small photograph.
It showed James standing with a woman outside a courthouse.
On the back, in handwriting I recognized from Rebecca's files, were the words:
*The real James Carter died seven years ago.*
I looked toward the open doorway.
May you like
If that was true, who had just tried to kill us?
And where was the real father of the boy who had called him Daddy?
