Chapter 2: The Necklace From a Dead Man
Nobody moved.
Bear stared at Laura.
"What's your name?""
"Laura Bennett.""
"How long have you had that necklace?""
Laura looked down at Emily.
"Since before she was born.""
Bear felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"That's impossible.""
Laura shook her head.
"I wish it were.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"Laura, enough. You're making this situation worse.""
Duke moved between him and the family.
"Take another step and we'll have a different conversation.""
Daniel stopped.
He looked at Duke, then at Bear.
"You men don't understand what you're getting involved in.""
Bear's eyes remained fixed on the compass.
"You're right. So explain it.""
Daniel gave a small, humorless laugh.
"Michael was a troubled man. Whatever story you've heard about him, it has nothing to do with this little girl.""
Bear's jaw tightened.
"Don't talk about my brother.""
"Your brother was involved in things you wouldn't want to associate yourself with.""
Bear took one step forward.
"My brother died fourteen years ago.""
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"Then perhaps you should leave the dead buried.""
Emily began crying again.
"Mommy, I told you he'd say that.""
Laura pulled her daughter closer.
Bear noticed the way Daniel's eyes moved toward Emily's necklace.
Not toward her face.
Toward the compass.
And suddenly, Bear understood something.
The man hadn't come for a frightened little girl.
He had come for something she was carrying.
"Laura," Bear said, "I need you to tell me why my brother's necklace is around your daughter's neck.""
Laura looked toward the diner windows.
The black SUV remained outside.
Its engine was still running.
"I can't explain everything here.""
"Then explain enough.""
She took a shaky breath.
"Fourteen years ago, I was twenty-three. I worked at a small medical clinic outside Dayton. One night, a man came in with a gunshot wound.""
Bear's fingers curled.
"What man?""
"Michael.""
The name seemed to hang in the air.
Bear sat down slowly.
Laura continued.
"He was bleeding badly. He kept asking for someone named Thomas. When I told him I didn't know anyone by that name, he grabbed my wrist and told me something.""
"What?""
"He said, 'If they tell my family I'm dead, don't believe them.''"
Bear stared at her.
The diner seemed to tilt around him.
"My family was shown a death certificate.""
Laura nodded.
"I know.""
"There was a funeral.""
"I know.""
"I buried an empty casket?""
Laura closed her eyes.
"I think so.""
Bear looked toward the floor.
For fourteen years, he had carried the memory of his younger brother's funeral like a stone in his chest.
He remembered the rain that day.
His mother crying so hard she couldn't stand.
The closed casket.
The sheriff telling them identification had been difficult because of the fire.
And now this woman was telling him Michael had been alive after that supposed accident.
"Why didn't you come to us?"" Bear asked.
Laura's eyes filled.
"Because Michael told me not to.""
"Why?""
"Because the people who wanted him dead knew where you lived.""
Bear went still.
Laura lowered her voice.
"He said someone inside the family had betrayed him.""
Bear looked at her sharply.
"Who?""
"I never knew.""
Daniel cleared his throat.
"This is enough.""
Duke turned.
"Nobody asked you.""
Daniel checked his watch.
"Laura, you have ten seconds to bring Emily outside.""
Bear laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
"Or what?""
Daniel looked toward the SUV.
The driver's door opened.
A second man stepped out.
He wore a dark baseball cap and kept one hand inside his jacket.
Diesel moved closer to the window.
"Bear. We have company.""
Bear nodded toward the waitress.
"Call the police.""
The waitress, an older woman named Ruth, was already reaching for the phone.
Daniel lifted his hands.
"There's no need for that. I'm simply trying to return a child to her mother.""
Laura snapped.
"You tried to take her from school yesterday!""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Because you stopped answering your phone.""
"You told me Michael was dead.""
"He is dead.""
"Then why do you need his daughter?""
That sentence hit the room like a dropped glass.
Bear slowly turned toward Emily.
"His daughter?""
Laura nodded.
"Emily is Michael's child.""
Bear couldn't breathe.
He looked at the little girl.
Her blonde hair.
Her pale blue eyes.
The tiny dimple in her left cheek.
Michael had the same dimple.
Bear had spent years looking at photographs of his brother, wondering what his children might have looked like if he'd lived long enough to have them.
Now one was standing in front of him.
A ten-year-old girl who had run into a diner begging a stranger to pretend to be her father.
"How old is she?"" Bear whispered.
"Ten.""
"Michael knew?""
Laura nodded.
"He knew before she was born.""
Bear covered his mouth.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he looked at Laura.
"Where is he?""
She hesitated.
"That's the part I've been afraid to tell you.""
Daniel took a step toward the door.
Duke immediately blocked him.
"You're not going anywhere.""
Daniel sighed.
"You don't understand the situation.""
Bear stood.
"Then help me understand.""
Laura reached into her purse and pulled out a folded photograph.
The edges were worn.
She handed it to Bear.
It showed a younger Michael sitting on a wooden porch, holding a newborn baby.
His face was thinner than Bear remembered, but the smile was unmistakable.
On the back, in familiar handwriting, were six words:
For my daughter. If I don't return.
Bear's hands began shaking.
He turned the photograph over again.
"Laura...""
She nodded.
"He gave me that the night he disappeared.""
"Disappeared where?""
"At the hospital.""
Bear looked up.
"What hospital?""
"St. Vincent's. Fourteen years ago, the night he was brought in.""
Daniel suddenly raised his voice.
"Laura, don't.""
She ignored him.
"Two men came to the clinic the next morning. They said Michael had died. They showed me paperwork. They said if I contacted his family, Emily would never be safe.""
Bear's eyes narrowed.
"Who were they?""
Laura looked at Daniel.
"He was one of them.""
Daniel didn't deny it.
Instead, he reached into his coat.
Duke grabbed his wrist.
"Slowly.""
Daniel pulled out a small black envelope.
He placed it on the nearest table.
"Your brother left something behind. Something that should have been destroyed years ago.""
Bear stared at it.
"What is it?""
"An answer to a question your family has been asking for fourteen years.""
Laura grabbed Emily's hand.
"Don't open it.""
Bear looked at her.
"Why?""
"Because if Michael is still alive, opening that envelope will tell the wrong people that we've found him.""
Before Bear could respond, his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice came through, weak and distorted.
"Bear?""
Bear nearly dropped the phone.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it in childhood arguments, Christmas mornings, and late-night calls from highway rest stops.
He had believed he would never hear it again.
"Michael?""
There was a long pause.
Then the voice whispered:
"Don't trust the man in the diner.""
The call ended.
Bear looked up.
May you like
Daniel was smiling.
And Laura was already crying.
