Chapter 5 - The Man at the Door
Claire did not take orders well when fear was pretending to be authority.
She walked toward the door.
Robert grabbed her wrist.
“Claire.”
She looked down at his hand.
He released her.
The bell rang again.
Claire checked through the side window.
Walter Price stood on the porch.
Seventy years old. Silver hair. Camel-colored coat. The kind of man who had donated wings to hospitals and smiled beside mayors in newspaper photographs.
He had also given the eulogy at Claire’s grandfather’s funeral.
Claire opened the door halfway.
“Mr. Price.”
Walter smiled.
“Major Bennett. Welcome home.”
“How did you know I was home?”
“I saw your mother at the grocery store.”
From behind Claire, Linda whispered, “I haven’t been to the grocery store today.”
Walter’s smile did not change.
Claire opened the door wider but stayed in the frame.
“What do you want?”
“To talk to Robert.”
Robert stepped into view.
Walter’s eyes moved past Claire.
“You haven’t been returning calls.”
Robert said, “There’s nothing to discuss.”
Walter sighed.
“There’s always something to discuss when family is involved.”
Ethan came into the hallway.
Walter looked at him.
“Still running the repair shop?”
Ethan did not answer.
Walter’s gaze moved back to Claire.
“You should be proud of your brother. Building something honest is rare.”
Claire felt the sentence land like a threat.
“Say what you came to say.”
Walter reached inside his coat slowly.
Claire’s posture changed.
He noticed.
“Easy, Major.”
He pulled out an envelope.
“Robert forgot this.”
Claire took it.
Inside was a printed photograph.
Mark, standing beside a gas pump.
Taken close enough to see the exhaustion in his face.
On the back were six handwritten words.
HE CAN’T HIDE FOREVER. NEITHER CAN YOU.
Claire looked up.
Walter was already walking toward the sedan.
She called after him. “If Mark is hurt—”
Walter turned.
“For a soldier, you’re asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
He smiled again.
“Ask what your brother stole that was worth ruining all of you.”
He got into the car and left.
Claire shut the door.
Robert looked sick.
Ethan read the note over her shoulder.
Linda sat down hard on the bottom stair.
Claire turned to her father.
“You’re done deciding what we know.”
Robert stared at the floor.
“Then you need to see what Mark sent me.”
He walked into his study and opened a locked metal drawer.
Inside was a flash drive.
Claire’s heart accelerated.
Robert placed it on the desk.
“He mailed this two years ago.”
“You never opened it?”
“I did.”
“What’s on it?”
May you like
Robert looked at her.
“Your name.”
