Chapter 6: The Second Prisoner
Cole froze.
The voice had come from inside the basement.
It was low, weak, and unmistakably human.
Daniel stepped away from the inspection window.
He looked over his shoulder.
His face showed something Cole had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for whoever was standing behind him.
Cole grabbed the metal door.
"Daniel! Who's in there with you?""
Daniel shook his head.
He raised one finger to his lips.
Then he pointed toward Mason.
Cole understood.
He didn't want the boy hearing whatever came next.
Jace pulled Cole away from the door.
"Police are coming. We need to keep this place secure.""
Cole looked at his phone.
There were three missed calls from an unknown number and one message from the local sheriff's office confirming that officers were on their way.
He called them back.
"Listen carefully. We found a concealed basement beneath an auto garage outside town. There are at least two people inside. One is a man who's been missing for fourteen years.""
The dispatcher asked for the address.
Cole gave it.
Then he added:
"We also have a thirteen-year-old boy who has been held here against his will.""
Mason sat on an overturned bucket.
His hands were shaking.
Jace crouched beside him.
"Hey, buddy.""
Mason didn't look up.
"Is my dad really alive?""
"Yes.""
"Are you sure?""
Jace glanced toward Cole.
"I've never seen a man more certain of anything.""
Mason wiped his eyes.
"Mom used to tell me he was coming back.""
Jace remained quiet.
"People said she was crazy. They said he abandoned us.""
Mason looked at the photograph in Cole's hand.
"She never believed them.""
Cole approached and knelt in front of him.
"Your mother knew.""
Mason nodded.
"She told me if I ever saw a man with a silver ring shaped like a wolf, I should find him.""
Cole looked down at his own hand.
A silver wolf ring sat on his right finger.
His father had given it to him on his eighteenth birthday.
Mason noticed it.
"That's it.""
Cole stared at the ring.
"Your mother told you about this?""
"She said the man wearing it would know what happened to my dad.""
Cole felt a lump rise in his throat.
Rachel had known.
She had known Daniel was alive.
She had known Cole might be the only person capable of finding him.
And she had somehow managed to leave Mason a trail.
A trail that led directly to the Iron Wolves.
Before Cole could speak, a sudden metallic scraping came from below.
Jace stood.
"That wasn't the door.""
Cole turned toward the staircase.
The sound came again.
Something was moving inside the basement.
He switched on his flashlight.
The beam swept across the walls, the floor, and the narrow gap beneath the metal door.
A shadow passed behind the inspection window.
Then a hand appeared.
Not Daniel's.
Someone else's.
The fingers were pale and trembling.
Cole stepped closer.
"Who's there?""
The voice returned.
"Please...""
It was a woman's voice.
Mason stood up so quickly that the bucket fell over.
Cole turned.
"Do you know that voice?""
Mason looked horrified.
"No.""
The woman spoke again.
"Don't let them take the boy.""
Cole's stomach tightened.
"Who are you?""
A long silence followed.
Then the answer came.
"My name is Rachel.""
Mason stopped breathing.
His mother's name.
The woman behind the door repeated it.
"Rachel Bennett.""
Mason ran toward the window.
"That's my mom's name!""
Cole caught him before he reached the metal door.
"Easy, son.""
The woman pressed her face against the glass.
Her features were mostly hidden in shadow, but Cole could see dark hair and a small scar near her forehead.
She looked frightened.
And strangely familiar.
"Where is Mason?"" she whispered.
Mason pushed against Cole's arm.
"I'm here!""
The woman stared.
For one terrible second, she didn't move.
Then she began crying.
"Oh, sweetheart...""
Mason's legs nearly gave out.
Cole held him upright.
"How is this possible?"" Jace whispered.
Cole didn't know.
Rachel Bennett had been buried eleven months earlier.
Mason had attended her funeral.
Cole had seen the death certificate inside the toolbox.
But the woman behind the door was calling the boy her son.
Then Daniel appeared beside her.
He looked directly at Cole and mouthed three words.
Not your mother.
Cole stared.
The woman reached for the inspection window.
"Please, Cole. Open the door.""
Cole stepped backward.
He knew Rachel's name.
He knew Mason.
He knew about the necklace.
But that didn't mean she was who she claimed to be.
The sound of sirens finally approached from the highway.
A sheriff's vehicle pulled into the station, followed by a second patrol car.
Two deputies hurried toward the garage.
The first was a broad-shouldered woman in her forties named Deputy Sarah Collins.
"Who called this in?""
Cole raised his hand.
"That would be me.""
"Where's the child?""
"Right here.""
Sarah immediately crouched beside Mason.
"Hi, sweetheart. I'm Sarah. Are you hurt?""
Mason shook his head.
"Is my dad going to get out?""
Sarah glanced at Cole.
"We'll work on that.""
The second deputy, a younger man named Harris, began photographing the hidden staircase.
Sarah examined the toolbox and the papers.
Then she looked at the open envelope.
"Who found these?""
Cole answered.
"The boy's mother left them.""
Sarah read the first few lines.
Her expression changed.
"Do you know what this is?""
Cole shook his head.
Sarah pointed to a photograph attached to the final page.
It showed three people standing outside the old garage.
Raymond Bennett.
Frank Dillard.
And a third man.
A much younger Sheriff Collins.
Cole stared at the picture.
Sarah's father.
The deputy slowly lowered the paper.
"That's my father.""
Nobody spoke.
Sarah turned toward the basement.
Then she looked at Cole.
"My father died five years ago.""
Cole nodded.
"Mine too.""
Sarah's hands began trembling.
She turned the photograph over.
There was another handwritten message.
If anyone from the Bennett family finds this, ask Sarah Collins what her father was doing at the garage on the night Daniel disappeared.
Sarah stared at the words.
Then she looked toward the open garage entrance.
A patrol car was parked outside.
Its driver's door stood open.
The radio crackled.
A voice came through.
"Deputy Collins, report to the front immediately.""
Sarah reached for her radio.
"Who's calling?""
The voice answered.
"Your captain.""
Sarah pressed the button.
"What's the situation?""
A pause.
Then the voice said:
"Get away from the Bennett boy.""
Sarah's face went pale.
"Why?""
The reply came slowly.
"Because we just found out the man you're looking for has been dead for fourteen years.""
Cole looked toward the basement door.
Daniel was still standing behind the glass.
Still alive.
Still watching them.
Then the radio crackled again.
"Deputy Collins, do not let Cole Bennett leave that property.""
Sarah looked at Cole.
And whispered:
"There's something I haven't told you.""
She reached inside her uniform pocket and pulled out a small photograph.
It showed a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Fourteen years earlier.
May you like
And beneath it were four words.
*THE OTHER BENNETT CHILD.*
