Chapter 14: The Truth About Cole's Father
The gunfire stopped almost as suddenly as it had started.
Detective Mitchell shouted into her radio while the officers moved toward the trees.
Marcus kept Cole behind the railing.
“Stay down.””
Cole looked toward Peter.
The old driver was lying on the wooden floor, clutching his shoulder.
“Peter!””
“Don't move!”” Marcus ordered.
But Cole was already crawling toward him.
Peter's jacket was darkening with blood.
“Who shot you?”” Cole demanded.
Peter struggled to speak.
“I don't know.””
“Did you see them?””
Peter shook his head.
Detective Mitchell reached them.
“Medic! We need an ambulance!””
She pressed a cloth against Peter's wound.
“Stay with me, Mr. Lawson.””
Peter looked at Cole.
“The truth.””
“What?””
“Your father.””
Cole leaned closer.
“Tell me.””
Peter swallowed.
“His name was Daniel Reed.””
Ethan, standing beside the doorway, froze.
“What did you say?””
Peter looked at him.
“Daniel Reed. William Reed's younger brother.””
Ethan's face drained of color.
“My uncle?””
Peter nodded weakly.
“Elizabeth and Daniel were in love before she married James Bennett.””
Cole stared.
“No.””
Peter continued.
“Daniel wanted to marry her. But Margaret refused to accept him. She considered him irresponsible and insisted Elizabeth marry James, a man from another wealthy family.””
Ethan shook his head.
“My father never told me any of this.””
“William knew,” Peter whispered.
“He helped Daniel and Elizabeth keep the relationship secret.””
Cole looked at the photograph again.
The little boy beside Thomas.
His grandfather had known.
“Why did nobody tell me?””
Peter closed his eyes.
“Because Daniel died before you were born.””
Cole felt the words strike him harder than the gunfire.
“How?””
“A construction accident.””
Ethan stepped forward.
“My uncle died in a construction accident when I was six.””
Peter nodded.
“Richard arranged it.””
Silence.
Detective Mitchell looked sharply at him.
“Are you saying Richard Harrington murdered Daniel Reed?””
Peter's eyes opened.
“I have proof.””
He reached weakly toward the leather case.
Detective Mitchell retrieved the notebook.
Inside were handwritten records, photographs, and a folded engineering report.
Peter pointed toward the report.
“Daniel discovered that Richard was diverting money from a construction project. He threatened to report him. A week later, the scaffolding collapsed.””
Ethan stared at the document.
“My father always said it was an accident.””
Peter shook his head.
“William knew it wasn't. But he couldn't prove it.””
Ethan looked sick.
He had grown up believing his uncle's death was a tragic workplace accident.
Now he was discovering that the same man who had helped protect Elizabeth might have been murdered for doing the right thing.
Cole sat back on his heels.
“So my father was Daniel Reed?””
Peter nodded.
“Yes.””
Cole looked toward Ethan.
For the first time, neither man knew what to say.
Then Ethan slowly sat beside him.
“My uncle was a good man,” he said quietly.
“My father used to talk about him all the time.””
Cole stared at the ground.
“I never knew he existed.””
Ethan placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Neither of us knew the whole story.””
At the hospital, Peter was taken into emergency surgery.
Detective Mitchell secured the notebook and the cassette, then arranged for both to be examined by forensic specialists.
Cole sat in the waiting room.
Marcus stood beside the vending machines, holding two cups of coffee.
Ethan paced near the windows.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Marcus placed a coffee in front of Cole.
“Drink.””
Cole looked at it.
“I don't want anything.””
“Drink anyway.””
Cole took a small sip.
“My father was murdered. My mother was murdered. And the man who raised me spent twenty-three years protecting me from people I didn't even know existed.””
Marcus sat down.
“That's a lot to carry.””
Cole laughed bitterly.
“I don't even know who I am anymore.””
Marcus looked at him.
“You're Cole.””
“That isn't enough.””
“It is.””
Cole shook his head.
“Everyone keeps telling me about blood. Family names. Inheritance. People I never met.””
Marcus leaned forward.
“Listen to me. Your mother chose you. Patricia chose you every morning of your life.
She fed you, raised you, and loved you. Nothing on those documents changes that.””
Cole's eyes filled.
Marcus continued.
“And Daniel Reed might have been your biological father. But he doesn't get to erase the man who raised you, either.””
Cole looked down.
“James Bennett.””
Marcus nodded.
“He was your dad, too.””
Cole covered his face.
For the first time since the revelations began, he cried without trying to hide it.
Two hours later, Detective Mitchell returned.
“We have a preliminary update.””
Cole stood.
“Is Peter alive?””
“Yes. The surgery was successful.””
Cole exhaled.
“And the recording?””
“We've recovered it. Our audio specialist is working on a copy.””
Ethan approached.
“Did you find anything else?””
The detective held up a document.
“The notebook contains records connecting Richard Harrington to several suspicious payments, including payments made shortly before Daniel Reed's death.””
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“Can you prove the construction accident was deliberate?””
“Not yet. But we're reopening the investigation.””
Cole looked at the detective.
“Who shot Peter?””
“We don't know. But the vehicle involved was registered to a company connected to Andrew Harrington.””
Cole closed his eyes.
“Of course.””
Detective Mitchell hesitated.
“There is another development.””
“What?””
“Andrew contacted us.””
Ethan frowned.
“Where is he?””
“He wants to surrender.””
Cole stared.
“Why now?””
The detective handed him a small envelope.
“He asked us to give you this.””
Inside was a photograph of a little girl sitting on a swing.
On the back was a message.
I'm sorry I let them make me afraid. My daughter deserves a better family than the one we were given.
Cole looked up.
“Andrew has a daughter?””
“Yes. Six years old.””
The detective continued.
“He says Richard threatened to use his daughter to keep him quiet. He claims he has evidence that could connect Richard to both Elizabeth's death and Daniel's accident.””
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“Where is he?””
“At the station.””
Cole nodded slowly.
“Then I want to hear what he has to say.””
The following morning, Andrew sat across from Cole in an interview room.
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was wrinkled, his eyes were red, and his hands trembled as he held a paper cup of water.
Cole remained standing.
“Why did you do it?””
Andrew looked up.
“I was twenty years old.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“I know.””
“You followed my mother. You stole her evidence. You helped Richard cover up what happened.””
Andrew nodded.
“I did.””
Cole's jaw tightened.
“Did you see her after the crash?””
Andrew closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
“Was she alive?””
“Yes.””
Cole gripped the back of a chair.
“Did she ask you for help?””
Andrew's voice broke.
“She asked me to call Thomas.””
Cole stared at him.
“And you didn't?””
Andrew shook his head.
“Richard said if I called anyone, he would tell the police about the financial records I had helped him hide.””
Cole laughed bitterly.
“So you let her die to protect yourself.””
Andrew began crying.
“Yes.””
For several seconds, Cole couldn't speak.
Then Andrew reached into his pocket and produced a small flash drive.
“This contains the original documents Richard gave me. There's also a video.””
“What video?””
Andrew looked at the detective.
“It's from the security camera at the warehouse.””
Cole felt his stomach tighten.
“What does it show?””
Andrew lowered his head.
“It shows Richard arriving after the accident.””
“And?””
Andrew looked directly at Cole.
“It shows him taking something from Elizabeth's car.””
“What?””
Andrew whispered:
“Her wedding ring.””
Cole frowned.
“Why would he take that?””
Andrew looked away.
“Because he knew there was something hidden inside it.””
That afternoon, the forensic team finished restoring the original recording.
Detective Mitchell invited Cole, Ethan, Marcus, and Daniel Foster to a private interview room.
A technician placed the cassette into a digital playback device.
The recording began with static.
Then Elizabeth's voice emerged.
“Richard, I know about the transfers.””
A man's voice answered.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“I have the invoices.””
“You stole company documents.””
“I copied them because you were stealing from Thomas.””
A second male voice interrupted.
Andrew.
“Elizabeth, just give us the papers.””
“No. I'm taking them to Thomas.””
Richard laughed.
“Thomas won't believe you.””
“He will when he sees the numbers.””
A chair scraped.
Then Elizabeth said something that made Cole grip the edge of the table.
“I also know what happened to Daniel.””
Ethan stopped breathing.
Richard's voice became cold.
“You need to forget that name.””
“I won't.””
“Daniel is dead.””
“And you killed him.””
Silence.
Then Richard spoke.
“Your mother should have taught you when to stop asking questions.””
The recording ended.
Cole sat motionless.
Ethan looked toward the technician.
“Can you play that again?””
The technician nodded.
But before he could restart the recording, another voice emerged from the final seconds.
A voice nobody had noticed before.
It was quieter.
Almost a whisper.
And it belonged to Thomas Harrington.
“If anything happens to Elizabeth, the person responsible is not Richard.””
Cole looked up.
The room went cold.
May you like
Thomas continued:
“It's someone sitting beside me right now.””
