Chapter 6: The Brother Behind the Door
For three seconds, Bear couldn't move.
Duke stood outside the storage unit.
His leather vest was soaked from the rain, and his expression was unreadable.
Bear slowly lowered his phone.
"Michael?""
His brother's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Ben? Are you there?""
Bear stared at Duke.
Then he answered.
"Yeah.""
"Get out of there. Now.""
Bear looked at the locked door.
"Little late for that.""
A shadow moved behind Duke.
Someone else was standing in the hallway.
Bear couldn't see the face.
But he recognized the shoes.
Polished black leather.
The same shoes Daniel had worn inside the diner.
Bear's stomach tightened.
He turned toward Eleanor.
"Get behind the cabinet.""
She shook her head.
"Benjamin, no.""
"Mom. Now.""
The old woman moved toward the filing cabinet.
Bear grabbed the metal chair and positioned himself near the door.
Outside, Duke finally spoke.
"Bear, open the door.""
Bear's jaw tightened.
"Give me a reason.""
Duke looked directly through the window.
"Because I don't want you getting hurt.""
"Then unlock it.""
Duke glanced over his shoulder.
The shadow behind him shifted.
"Can't.""
Bear stepped closer.
"Why?""
Duke swallowed.
"Because I didn't come here alone.""
Bear felt his blood turn cold.
The phone was still pressed to his ear.
Michael heard everything.
"Ben," he whispered, "get away from that door.""
Bear looked at Duke.
"Who is it?""
Duke closed his eyes.
"Your father's lawyer.""
Bear blinked.
"Our father's dead.""
"His lawyer isn't.""
A voice came from outside.
"Benjamin, my name is Richard Hale. We need to discuss your family's property.""
Bear almost laughed.
"You're locking me in a storage unit, and you want to discuss property?""
Richard stepped into view.
He was in his seventies, with silver hair and a long brown coat.
Bear remembered him from family Christmas dinners.
He had been the man who handled their father's will.
The man who had stood beside Bear at the funeral.
The man who had assured the family that every legal matter was being handled properly.
"Your father trusted me," Richard said.
Bear stared at him.
"Apparently, he had terrible judgment.""
Richard didn't smile.
"Your father left instructions concerning the contents of this locker. Those instructions were very clear.""
"What instructions?""
"Everything inside was to be destroyed if Michael ever attempted to contact the family.""
Bear looked at the boxes.
"Why?""
"Because the information could ruin several lives.""
"Good.""
Richard's face hardened.
"You're making a mistake.""
"No. I think my father made one fourteen years ago.""
Duke looked uncomfortable.
Bear noticed his hands were trembling.
"Duke.""
His friend looked up.
"Yeah?""
"How long have you been talking to these people?""
Duke looked away.
Richard answered for him.
"Since your brother returned.""
Bear felt something twist in his chest.
"Duke?""
His friend finally met his eyes.
"They came to me three weeks ago.""
"Why?""
"Because they said Michael was alive.""
"And you believed them?""
Duke nodded.
"They showed me photographs.""
Bear shook his head.
"So you knew.""
"I knew he was alive. I didn't know where he was.""
"And you didn't tell me?""
Duke's voice broke.
"I was trying to protect you.""
Bear laughed bitterly.
"Everybody in this family seems to think lying is a form of protection.""
Richard interrupted.
"Enough. Hand over the documents, and this can end peacefully.""
Bear looked at him.
"What happens to Emily?""
Richard paused.
That was all Bear needed.
He knew.
The man intended to take the evidence, eliminate the witnesses, and make the little girl disappear.
Bear raised his voice.
"Emily is ten years old. She's not a bargaining chip.""
Richard's expression remained flat.
"She's Michael's weakness.""
Bear stepped toward the door.
"She's a child.""
"She's the only person who can identify the man who gave Michael the evidence.""
Bear went still.
"What man?""
Richard smiled.
"Ask your brother.""
Bear looked down at his phone.
"Michael?""
There was no answer.
"Michael, are you there?""
Static.
Then a voice.
Not Michael's.
Daniel.
"Hello, Benjamin.""
Bear stared at the phone.
"Where's my brother?""
"Somewhere he should have stayed.""
Bear tightened his grip.
"Put him on.""
Daniel chuckled.
"Your brother has always been difficult. Just like you.""
"What do you want?""
"The original ledger.""
Bear glanced at the filing cabinet.
"Why?""
"Because it contains the names of everyone involved in your father's operation.""
"And?""
"And some of those people are still alive. Some are powerful. Some have families. Some have positions that make them difficult to challenge.""
Bear looked at Richard.
Then at Duke.
"You're protecting them.""
Daniel sighed.
"I'm protecting the people who kept your family comfortable for decades.""
"My father was a criminal.""
"Your father was a businessman.""
"He threatened his own sons.""
"Your father understood loyalty.""
Bear looked toward the little room where Eleanor was hiding.
"No. He understood fear.""
A sudden crash sounded outside.
Duke turned.
Richard spun around.
Someone had smashed through the hallway window.
A man in a motorcycle helmet came rushing toward them.
Duke stumbled backward.
The newcomer grabbed the keys from Richard's hand and threw them through the storage unit's narrow window.
Bear caught them.
"Who the hell—"
"Unlock it!"" the stranger shouted.
Bear recognized the voice.
Michael.
The door opened.
And there he stood.
Fourteen years older.
A scar running down his neck.
His hair almost completely gray.
But alive.
Bear stared at him.
For one long moment, neither brother moved.
Then Michael stepped forward.
"Hey, big brother.""
Bear punched him.
Not hard enough to hurt him badly.
Hard enough to make him stumble.
Michael touched his jaw.
"Fair.""
Bear grabbed him by the shoulders.
Then pulled him into a hug so fierce that Michael nearly lost his balance.
"You're alive," Bear whispered.
Michael closed his eyes.
"Yeah.""
"You're really alive.""
"Yeah, Ben.""
Bear stepped back.
Then he punched him again, this time in the shoulder.
"Fourteen years!""
"I know.""
"Fourteen years, you son of a—"
"I know.""
Bear pulled him close again.
For several seconds, the two brothers stood in the storage unit, holding on to each other while Eleanor cried quietly behind the filing cabinet.
Then Michael's expression changed.
He looked toward the hallway.
"Where's Duke?""
Bear turned.
Duke was gone.
Richard was gone too.
Only Daniel remained on the floor, struggling to get up.
Michael rushed toward the door.
"Stop!""
Bear caught his arm.
"What?""
"They took the ledger.""
Bear looked at the open filing cabinet.
The original documents were gone.
Michael nodded grimly.
"That's what they wanted.""
"Then why did they leave Daniel?""
Michael looked down at the man.
"Because he's not the one giving the orders.""
Bear frowned.
"Who is?""
Michael pulled a photograph from his jacket.
It showed a group of men standing beside a black SUV.
One was Daniel.
Another was Richard.
The third was Duke.
And the fourth was a man Bear recognized immediately.
His father's former business partner.
A man who had attended his father's funeral, offered condolences, and helped Bear run the company afterward.
Franklin Shaw.
Bear stared at the photograph.
"Shaw?""
Michael nodded.
"He was the one who arranged the fake accident.""
Bear felt his stomach turn.
"Why?""
Michael looked at him.
"Because your father wasn't the mastermind.""
A silence followed.
Then Michael delivered the words that made Bear's blood run cold.
"Franklin killed our father.""
Bear stared at his brother.
"What?""
"Your father discovered the operation had grown beyond his control. He wanted out. Franklin wouldn't let him leave.""
Bear shook his head.
"That's impossible. Dad died of a heart attack.""
Michael reached into his jacket and removed a folded document.
"That's what the death certificate says.""
He handed it to Bear.
It was a laboratory report.
The date was nine years earlier.
The cause of death listed on the document was poisoning.
Bear looked up.
"Who gave you this?""
Michael hesitated.
Then he looked toward the storage unit entrance.
"Your mother.""
Bear turned toward Eleanor.
She slowly emerged from behind the cabinet.
Her face was wet with tears.
"Benjamin, I wanted to tell you.""
Bear looked between them.
"Tell me what?""
Eleanor took a trembling breath.
"Your father didn't die in his sleep.""
She reached into her coat and removed a small photograph.
It showed a younger Franklin Shaw standing beside a hospital bed.
Their father was lying unconscious beneath white sheets.
And standing on the other side of the bed was Duke.
Bear stared at the photograph.
His oldest friend had been there.
Nine years ago.
The night his father died.
Michael stepped closer.
"There's something else, Ben.""
Bear couldn't take his eyes off the photograph.
"What?""
Michael pointed toward the back.
Someone had written a sentence in red ink.
*THE MAN WHO POISONED YOUR FATHER IS STILL CLOSE ENOUGH TO HUG YOU.*
May you like
Bear slowly looked up.
And for the first time in forty years, he wondered whether the man he trusted most in the world had ever been his friend at all.
