Chapter 3: The Sixteenth Shadow
Nobody moved.
Hank zoomed in on the photograph.
Fifteen men stood around Marcus's motorcycle. Their leather jackets were unmistakable. Their faces were visible. Even the flowers beside the guardrail appeared exactly as they did in front of them.
But behind the group, near the pine trees, stood another shadow.
A tall figure.
Broad shoulders.
A head tilted slightly to one side.
It looked like someone wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Frank Miller stepped closer.
"That's impossible.""
Damon took the phone.
"Who took this?""
Hank shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Caleb stared at the shadow.
Then he noticed something.
The figure's left arm was raised.
Its hand appeared to be pointing toward the metal box.
Caleb looked at the trees.
"Someone is watching us.""
Victor immediately pulled his helmet on.
"Everybody get back to the bikes.""
Damon grabbed Caleb.
"You're coming with me.""
Hank held up his hand.
"Nobody leaves alone.""
Damon turned.
"You don't give me orders anymore.""
"Whether you like me or not, somebody just threatened your family.""
For a moment, the two brothers' friends stared at each other.
Then Caleb spoke.
"My dad said something else.""
Everyone turned.
Caleb reached into his jacket and removed a small folded envelope.
"I didn't want to show you because I wasn't sure who to trust.""
Damon looked at him.
"You've had another note this whole time?""
Caleb nodded.
"He gave it to me the night before the crash. He told me not to open it unless something happened to him.""
"Why didn't you show us?""
"Because I thought he was just being paranoid.""
Caleb unfolded the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
His father's handwriting covered both sides.
Caleb,
If you're reading this, I wasn't able to finish what I started.
The people who took the money are not working alone. They have been using the club's history to hide what happened to our family.
Find the woman in the photograph.
She knows why Daniel disappeared.
And whatever happens, never let Hank give you the silver ring.
Caleb stopped reading.
Damon frowned.
"What silver ring?""
Hank's hand instinctively moved toward his right pocket.
It was a small movement.
Almost invisible.
But Caleb saw it.
"What are you hiding?""
Hank slowly withdrew his hand.
Nothing was in it.
"Nothing.""
Caleb looked at him.
"My dad specifically mentioned you.""
Hank's expression tightened.
"Your father was frightened. He didn't know who to trust.""
"Then why did he warn me about you?""
Hank looked away.
Victor stepped between them.
"Let him finish.""
Caleb continued reading.
There is one more thing you need to understand. The accident wasn't supposed to happen on that road.
I was supposed to meet someone at 10:30 p.m.
Someone who claimed to have proof that Daniel was alive.
But somebody changed the meeting location.
I never found out who.
Caleb lowered the letter.
Damon's eyes narrowed.
"Changed it to where?""
Caleb looked at the final line.
"Black Ridge Pass.""
Nobody spoke.
Black Ridge Pass was the same mountain road where Marcus had died.
Hank closed his eyes.
"Jesus Christ.""
Damon grabbed him by the jacket.
"You knew about this!""
"Let go of me.""
"Who changed the location?""
"I don't know!""
"You were the president! You controlled the club's communications!""
Hank pushed Damon away.
"Marcus was the one who arranged the meeting!""
Victor interrupted.
"No. He didn't.""
Everyone turned.
Victor reached into his jacket and pulled out his own phone.
"I have the original message.""
He opened a conversation and showed them.
A text from Marcus.
10:30. Black Ridge. Come alone. I found him.
Damon stared at the screen.
"Who sent that to you?""
"Marcus.""
"Then why are you saying he didn't arrange it?""
Victor scrolled down.
"Because I received this message at 9:47 p.m.""
He showed them another text.
Change of location. Old service road. Don't bring anyone.
Damon frowned.
"Who sent that one?""
Victor turned the phone around.
The sender's name was Hank Sullivan.
Hank's face drained of color.
"That's not my number.""
Victor stared at him.
"It came from your phone.""
"My phone was stolen that night.""
"When?""
"At the clubhouse. Around eight.""
Victor's voice dropped.
"And you never reported it?""
Hank looked toward the road.
"I got it back the next morning.""
Damon released his jacket.
For the first time, he didn't look angry.
He looked terrified.
"Somebody used your phone to send Marcus to that road.""
Hank nodded slowly.
"Yes.""
Caleb looked at the photograph.
"Then the person who killed my dad was probably one of us.""
Nobody answered.
The wind moved through the trees again.
Then a loud metallic click came from behind them.
Frank turned.
"Did anybody hear that?""
A motorcycle helmet had fallen from the back of a parked bike.
But there was nobody near it.
Frank approached cautiously and picked it up.
Something had been taped inside.
A small envelope.
He peeled it away.
His hands began to shake.
"Guys...""
Hank walked over.
"What is it?""
Frank handed him the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed the old Iron Saints clubhouse, twenty-seven years earlier.
Four young men stood in front of the building.
Hank.
Marcus.
Victor.
And Daniel.
But there was something different about this picture.
Daniel was wearing a silver ring.
The same ring Caleb's father had warned him about.
On the back, someone had written:
THE FOURTH BROTHER NEVER LEFT.
Damon studied the photograph.
"Daniel was wearing Hank's ring?""
Hank shook his head.
"That wasn't my ring.""
"Then whose was it?""
Hank looked at Victor.
Victor said nothing.
Caleb suddenly noticed a detail in the photograph.
Daniel was holding a newspaper.
The headline was partially visible.
*LOCAL WOMAN KILLED IN WAREHOUSE FIRE.*
Beneath the headline was a photograph of the mysterious dark-haired woman from the metal box.
Caleb turned toward Hank.
"Who is she?""
Hank looked at the image for a long time.
Then he answered.
"Her name was Elizabeth.""
"Who was she to my father?""
Hank's voice cracked.
"She was Marcus's wife.""
Damon stepped backward.
"That's impossible. Marcus never had a wife before my mother.""
"He did.""
"You're lying.""
Hank shook his head.
"Elizabeth disappeared the night Daniel died. We believed she was killed in the warehouse fire.""
Caleb stared at the photograph.
"My dad never told me he had another family.""
"Because he didn't know the whole truth.""
Damon looked confused.
"Then what was she doing in a picture with Daniel?""
Hank hesitated.
"Because Elizabeth wasn't married to Marcus.""
He pointed at the newspaper.
"She was married to Daniel.""
The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
Caleb looked down at his father's letter.
The final paragraph had been folded inward.
He opened it.
There was one sentence he hadn't read.
If Elizabeth is alive, she can tell you why Daniel had to disappear.
Caleb's phone suddenly rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He answered.
"Hello?""
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a woman's voice spoke.
"Caleb?""
"Who is this?""
"My name is Elizabeth Reed.""
Caleb's knees nearly buckled.
"You're... you're my uncle's wife?""
A pause.
Then she whispered:
"No, sweetheart. I'm your father's wife.""
Caleb stared at the others.
Damon reached for the phone.
"Let me talk to her.""
But the woman continued.
"Your father told me you'd find the box. He also told me not to contact you unless Hank was there.""
Hank stepped closer.
"I'm here, Elizabeth.""
The woman went silent.
Then she said something that made Hank grip the nearest motorcycle.
"Good. Because I need you to tell these men what you did to Daniel.""
Hank's face became ashen.
Damon took the phone.
"What did he do?""
Elizabeth began to cry.
"Your brother didn't die in that warehouse fire.""
Caleb covered his mouth.
"Then where is he?""
Her answer came in a whisper.
"He's been living under another man's name for twenty-seven years.""
Damon stared at Hank.
"Whose name?""
Elizabeth took a shaky breath.
"Marcus Reed.""
Nobody moved.
Caleb's eyes filled with tears.
"That doesn't make sense. My father was Marcus.""
"I know," Elizabeth whispered.
"But the man who raised you wasn't the man who was supposed to come home from that warehouse.""
Then the call disconnected.
And on Hank's phone, another message appeared.
*UNKNOWN NUMBER:*
Now you know why Marcus had to die.
A second message followed.
Ask Hank which brother he buried in 1999.
Hank looked at the fifteen men surrounding him.
Then, for the first time in his life, he removed his Iron Saints president's patch.
He placed it on the ground.
May you like
And said:
"There's something I should have told you all twenty-seven years ago.""
