Chapter 19 - DANIEL CROSS
Wells opened the door.
Daniel Cross stood in the hallway.
He was older than the photograph, but unmistakably the same man.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
Cold eyes.
Rowan stared at him.
"You."
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, his expression showed genuine fear.
"You're Rowan."
"You know who I am."
"I've known who you were since the day you were born."
The sentence made Rowan's blood run cold.
"You were there."
Daniel didn't answer.
"You were there when Rebecca disappeared."
"I was."
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing."
"Then why were you there?"
Daniel looked toward Josie.
"She shouldn't have told you."
Rowan stepped closer.
"You don't get to decide what I deserve to know."
Daniel sighed.
"Your mother made terrible choices."
"Stop blaming her."
"She wasn't alone."
Rowan froze.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel looked at Wells.
"You should leave."
Wells laughed bitterly.
"Absolutely not."
Daniel turned back to Rowan.
"Your mother was protecting someone."
"Who?"
"Your father."
Rowan shook her head.
"My father was trying to protect Rebecca."
"He was trying to protect both of you."
"Then why did he let her disappear?"
"Because he believed he had no choice."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Her voice broke.
"No one ever has an answer."
Daniel's expression softened.
"I do."
Rowan stared at him.
"Then tell me."
Daniel looked toward the blue bedroom.
"Rebecca wasn't taken."
Rowan frowned.
"What?"
"She was hidden."
"By whom?"
"Your father."
Rowan's heart began pounding.
"Where?"
Daniel shook his head.
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because the people who were looking for her are still alive."
Silence.
Wells stepped forward.
"Who?"
Daniel looked at him.
"You don't understand the kind of people you're dealing with."
"Then explain."
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Your family wasn't being destroyed from the inside."
He looked at Rowan.
"It was being controlled from the outside."
Rowan felt a chill run through her.
"By whom?"
Daniel reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
It showed Rowan's father standing beside a powerful-looking man.
Rowan recognized the second man immediately.
She had seen him before.
In her mother's old business records.
Victor Hale.
A wealthy attorney.
A man who had supposedly retired twenty years ago.
May you like
Daniel whispered:
"He started everything."
