Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO KNEW ELLIE'S NAME
The next morning, Ellie asked me for pancakes.
Not protection.
Not answers.
Pancakes.
She sat at the kitchen island wearing pink pajamas and mismatched socks while Mrs. Callahan placed a plate in front of her.
"Mr. Sebastian doesn't know how to smile," Ellie announced.
Maya nearly choked on her coffee.
I looked at the child.
"That's not true."
"Show me."
I considered it.
Theo, standing near the doorway, turned his face away to hide a grin.
I gave Ellie what was apparently my best smile.
She studied it.
"That looks funny."
Maya laughed.
It was the first time I'd heard her laugh since the shooting.
For a few seconds, the house felt almost normal.
Then a security alarm sounded.
Everyone froze.
Theo touched his earpiece.
"Perimeter breach."
I stood.
Maya immediately grabbed Ellie.
"Take her upstairs."
"No."
She looked at me.
"I'm not leaving her alone."
"You're not alone."
"Neither is she."
A second alarm sounded.
Theo moved toward the security room.
I walked to the front window.
Nothing.
Snow.
Trees.
Empty driveway.
Then I saw it.
A small red mitten hanging from the iron gate.
Ellie looked through the window.
"That's mine."
Maya's face went white.
"How?"
Ellie ran toward the door.
I caught her before she reached it.
"Don't."
She pointed.
"I lost it yesterday."
"Someone found it."
"Maybe."
I looked at Theo.
"Bring it in."
He retrieved the mitten with gloves.
Inside it was a folded piece of paper.
Three words.
WE KNOW HER.
Maya started shaking.
I folded the note.
"Take Ellie to the library."
She didn't move.
"Sebastian."
"I said library."
"Who are they?"
I looked at her.
"People who just made a mistake."
She understood what I meant.
Theo followed me into the security room.
"Boss, there's a vehicle two miles out."
"License?"
"Stolen."
"How many?"
"Four."
"Police?"
"Not yet."
"Call them."
Theo stared.
I rarely involved law enforcement.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I want Marlowe to know we're not playing by his rules anymore."
The vehicle disappeared before police arrived.
But they left something behind.
A photograph.
It showed Nora Bennett standing outside a courthouse eleven years earlier.
Beside her stood a man I'd never seen.
Theo enlarged it.
The man wore a gray suit.
A silver ring.
A small crescent moon engraved on it.
My mother's ring.
I stared.
"Find him."
Theo ran the image through every database we controlled.
Twenty minutes later, he found a match.
Elliot Crane.
Former attorney.
Former financial adviser to my father.
Missing since 2016.
I remembered him.
He had been the man who told me my mother died from an accident.
The man who handled the funeral paperwork.
The man who gave my father control of the estate.
The man who disappeared six months later.
"Find out where he went."
Theo shook his head.
"Already did."
I looked at him.
"Where?"
"He's in Chicago."
My pulse quickened.
"How?"
"Living under another name."
"What name?"
Theo looked at the screen.
"Michael Bennett."
I didn't speak.
Maya entered the room.
She had heard enough.
"That's impossible."
Theo looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Michael Bennett was my sister's husband."
The room went silent.
I turned slowly.
"Ellie's father."
Maya nodded.
"He died before Nora."
"No," I said.
Maya's eyes widened.
"You told me he died."
"He did."
"How?"
"Car accident."
I stared at her.
"Same accident?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Michael disappeared first."
My mind raced.
Nora had been pregnant.
Michael disappeared.
Nora died.
Ellie was born afterward.
The box had my mother's photograph.
And the man wearing my mother's ring was now living under Michael Bennett's name.
"Where is he?"
Theo gave me an address.
I grabbed my coat.
Maya stepped in front of me.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"He's my brother-in-law."
"That's exactly why you stay here."
"I need answers."
"So do I."
She didn't move.
I lowered my voice.
"If this man is who I think he is, he may have been hiding from Calvin for eleven years."
"And if he's Michael?"
"Then he has a lot to explain."
Maya looked toward Ellie.
"Don't hurt him."
I met her eyes.
"I won't."
She didn't believe me.
Neither did I.
We found the house in an ordinary neighborhood on the north side.
Small porch.
Blue door.
A child's swing in the yard.
Theo checked the perimeter.
"Empty."
I knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
A television played somewhere inside.
Then a man's voice.
"Who is it?"
I answered.
"Sebastian Rourke."
Silence.
The television went off.
Locks clicked.
The door opened three inches.
A man's eye appeared.
Then the door slammed.
Theo moved.
I kicked it open.
The man ran through the kitchen.
We chased him into the backyard.
He climbed the fence.
I caught his coat.
He turned.
I saw his face.
Older.
Thinner.
But I knew him.
"Elliot."
His eyes widened.
"Sebastian."
"You stole my mother's ring."
He backed away.
"No."
"You're wearing it."
He looked at his hand.
Then at me.
"I didn't steal it."
"Where did you get it?"
"My father gave it to me."
"Your father?"
He swallowed.
"Your father."
I froze.
"What?"
"He gave me the ring the night your mother died."
I grabbed his collar.
"Why?"
"Because he told me to run."
"Run from whom?"
Elliot looked toward the street.
His voice dropped.
"From Calvin."
I released him.
"Then why did you become Michael Bennett?"
His expression broke.
"Because Michael Bennett was already dead."
I stared.
"Who was Ellie’s father?"
Elliot closed his eyes.
"Your father."
The world seemed to tilt.
"No."
He nodded.
"Nora knew."
"You're lying."
"She wasn't supposed to survive long enough to tell you."
I stepped closer.
"Tell me everything."
Before he could answer, a gunshot cracked across the yard.
Elliot fell.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Theo shouted.
I dragged him behind the fence.
A second shot struck the brick wall.
The shooter was already gone.
Elliot grabbed my sleeve.
"Listen."
His breathing was shallow.
"The bakery isn't the secret."
"What is?"
He looked toward me.
"Ellie is."
Then his eyes closed.
And for the first time, I wondered whether the little girl who returned my wallet was not merely connected to the secret.
She might be the reason the secret had survived.
After Elliot was taken to the hospital, I remained outside his room for nearly an hour.
Maya arrived before the doctors finished treating him.
She looked at me.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
"Can I see him?"
"Not yet."
She sat beside me.
"I knew him."
I turned.
"How?"
"Nora trusted him."
"Did she trust him more than me?"
"She trusted him with information."
"That's not an answer."
Maya sighed.
"Sebastian, Nora was afraid of your family."
"Of my father?"
"Of what your father had become."
I stared at the floor.
"I need to know everything."
"You do."
"But?"
"But some truths don't make life easier."
"I stopped expecting easy."
A nurse stepped out.
"He's awake."
I entered alone.
Elliot looked at me.
"You came."
"You knew I would."
"Your mother knew."
I pulled a chair closer.
"Tell me about the ring."
He closed his eyes.
"Your father gave it to me after your mother died."
"Why?"
"He said it was the only proof that could expose Calvin."
"What proof?"
"Your mother had recorded a meeting."
"With Calvin?"
"With your father."
I stared.
"About what?"
"The child."
I felt my pulse spike.
"Ellie."
"Yes."
"Why would they discuss her?"
"Because your father believed Calvin would use the child to control you."
I stood.
"My father knew Ellie existed."
"Yes."
"And he hid her."
"To save her."
"From Calvin."
"And from you."
I turned.
"From me?"
Elliot nodded.
"You were becoming dangerous."
I laughed bitterly.
"I was already dangerous."
"Exactly."
He reached toward the drawer.
"There is another piece."
He handed me a hospital bracelet.
It had one name.
Baby Bennett.
And underneath it was a handwritten number.
117.
The same number as the key.
"Where did you get this?"
"From your mother's study."
"How?"
"She gave it to me."
I looked at the bracelet.
"What is room 117?"
"Not a room."
He smiled weakly.
"A vault."
My blood ran cold.
"Where?"
"Your family's old warehouse."
"The one Theo mentioned."
"Yes."
"What's inside?"
"The proof."
"Proof of what?"
"Who ordered the accident."
I leaned closer.
"Who?"
Elliot's eyes moved toward the window.
He whispered,
"Ask your cousin."
"Adrian?"
He nodded.
Before I could ask more, the heart monitor changed.
Doctors rushed in.
I stepped outside.
Maya stood.
"What happened?"
"He gave me a number."
"117?"
I looked at her.
She froze.
"Nora told me never to let you open it."
"Why?"
"Because she said the truth inside would destroy your family."
I looked toward the hospital room.
"My family is already destroyed."
Maya took my hand.
"Not all of it."
I looked down at our hands.
Neither of us moved.
Then Ellie appeared at the end of the hallway with Mrs. Callahan.
She ran toward us.
"Uncle Sebastian!"
I crouched.
She hugged me.
Maya watched.
For one moment, I forgot the warehouse.
The ledger.
Calvin.
The ring.
Everything.
I only felt the small arms around my neck.
May you like
And I understood something terrifying.
I finally had something to lose.
