Chapter 5 - The Uncle No One Talked AboutDaniel remembered Uncle Victor only as a shadow from childhood.
For nearly ten years, Marcus had driven Richard Harrington everywhere: airports, board meetings, charity dinners, private clubs, and occasionally the family cabin in Vermont.
Daniel remembered him as a quiet man with a scar above his eyebrow who always carried peppermint candy in his jacket.
After Richard’s death, Daniel had asked what happened to Marcus.
Victoria told him Marcus had been killed in the crash.
Daniel had believed her.
Now security footage suggested Marcus was alive.
Detective Brooks checked government records.
Marcus Reed had not been declared dead.
In fact, no second person was listed in the crash report.
There was no death certificate.
No burial record.
No insurance claim.
Daniel felt sick.
His mother had lied casually enough that he had never questioned it.
“Why tell me he died?” Daniel asked.
Brooks replied, “Maybe because she didn’t want you looking for him.”
They traced Marcus’s old Social Security number.
No recent employment.
No tax filings.
No credit history after 2013.
Then a toll-camera system produced a hit.
A pickup registered to a shell company had crossed into Rhode Island thirty minutes after leaving the Harrington estate.
The driver matched Marcus.
Police issued an alert.
Meanwhile, Daniel confronted his mother.
Victoria sat in her private sitting room with attorney Rebecca Sloan beside her.
Daniel entered with Brooks.
“Where is Marcus Reed?”
Victoria’s expression barely moved.
“Who?”
“My father’s driver.”
“I haven’t thought about him in years.”
“You told me he died with Dad.”
Victoria looked at him.
“I may have been mistaken.”
“You were mistaken about whether a man died?”
Rebecca interrupted.
“My client is not required to answer questions.”
Daniel ignored her.
“Were you in Vermont the night Dad died?”
For the first time, Victoria’s composure cracked.
Just slightly.
“Daniel—”
“Yes or no?”
Rebecca stood.
“This interview is over.”
Daniel stepped closer to his mother.
“I heard your voice.”
Victoria went pale.
“We found Dad’s recording.”
Silence.
“You were there.”
Victoria looked away.
Daniel felt something inside him break.
“You let me spend thirteen years believing he died without anyone beside him.”
Tears suddenly filled Victoria’s eyes.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Rebecca placed a hand on Victoria’s shoulder.
“No more.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That has been the family motto for years, hasn’t it? No more questions. No explanations.”
He turned to leave.
Victoria whispered, “Your father wasn’t supposed to drive that night.”
Daniel stopped.
Brooks turned too.
“What did you say?”
Victoria’s attorney immediately objected.
But Victoria continued.
“He was angry. He left the lodge early.”
“Why wasn’t he supposed to drive?” Daniel asked.
Victoria covered her face.
Rebecca leaned toward her.
“Victoria, stop talking.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Why?”
Victoria lowered her hands.
“Because Charles had arranged for someone else to take him home.”
“Marcus?”
She said nothing.
Daniel understood.
“Marcus was at the lodge.”
Victoria’s silence confirmed it.
Brooks asked, “Why would Marcus disappear afterward?”
Victoria looked terrified.
“I don’t know.”
That night, someone attempted to kill Marcus Reed.
Rhode Island police located his pickup outside an abandoned marina.
Officers approached a storage building and heard gunshots.
By the time they entered, Marcus had been hit in the shoulder.
His attacker escaped through a rear door.
Marcus survived.
Daniel and Brooks drove south immediately.
Marcus refused to speak until Daniel entered the hospital room.
He stared at Daniel for a long time.
“You look like your father.”
Daniel stood near the foot of the bed.
“You knew I thought you were dead.”
Marcus nodded.
“Your mother told me never to contact you.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew what happened.”
Daniel’s pulse accelerated.
“To my father?”
Marcus looked toward Brooks.
“I want protection.”
“You’ll have it,” she said.
Marcus swallowed.
“Richard discovered Bennett was stealing millions from the company. But Charles wasn’t working alone.”
Daniel glanced at Brooks.
“Who was helping him?”
“Several executives. A state official. Two bankers.”
“And my mother?”
Marcus hesitated.
“She knew about some of the money.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“But she wasn’t the one who planned the crash.”
His eyes opened.
“Planned?”
Marcus nodded.
“That car was sabotaged.”
The room became silent.
Marcus explained.
At the Vermont lodge, Richard confronted Charles.
Victoria tried to calm them.
Richard ordered Marcus to bring the car around.
When Marcus reached the garage, he saw a maintenance contractor under the hood.
He assumed Richard had requested repairs.
Minutes later, Richard stormed outside and insisted on driving himself.
Marcus tried to stop him.
Richard refused.
“He was furious,” Marcus said. “I watched him leave.”
“Then what?”
“Charles came outside and saw the car was gone.”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“He looked scared.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked which vehicle Richard took.”
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
“When I said the Mercedes, Charles whispered, ‘Oh God.’”
Brooks leaned forward.
“Why?”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“Because the sabotaged car wasn’t meant for Richard.”
Daniel stared.
“Whose car was it meant for?”
Marcus answered slowly.
“Yours.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Thirteen years earlier, Daniel had planned to drive that Mercedes from Vermont back to Boston the next morning.
Richard changed plans and took it first.
Someone had tried to kill Daniel.
His father died instead.
“Who ordered it?” Daniel asked.
Marcus shook his head.
“I never knew.”
“Why did you disappear?”
“Because the next morning someone came to my apartment.”
“Who?”
“A man I had seen with Bennett.”
The man showed Marcus photographs of his wife and infant son.
He gave him cash.
Then he said if Marcus ever spoke, his family would die.
Marcus moved them to Canada and disappeared.
“Why come back now?”
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“Because somebody contacted me six months ago.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Messages only.”
The anonymous sender claimed Daniel had started uncovering the same financial network Richard found.
They asked Marcus to provide information.
“Did you?”
Marcus nodded.
“I sent copies of everything I kept.”
Daniel stared.
“What everything?”
Marcus reached beneath his pillow and pulled out a locker key.
“There’s a bus terminal locker in Providence.”
Inside, police found photographs, receipts, vehicle records, and one handwritten note Marcus had taken from the Vermont lodge.
It was addressed to Charles Bennett.
The message read:
D must not attend Monday’s board meeting. Use the car if necessary.
No signature.
Just a single initial.
V.
Daniel sat down.
His mother’s name was Victoria.
But Marcus immediately shook his head.
“That isn’t her handwriting.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You’re sure?”
“I drove your mother for ten years too.”
“Then who is V?”
Marcus hesitated.
“There was another V around your father.”
“Who?”
Before Marcus could answer, alarms sounded in the hallway.
A nurse rushed in.
Police officers shouted outside.
Brooks grabbed her weapon.
Daniel moved toward the door.
Then every light in the hospital wing went dark.
In the blackness, Marcus whispered one name.
“Victor.”
Daniel froze.
“Victor who?”
A gunshot exploded from the corridor.
May you like
And Marcus whispered:
“Your father’s brother.”
Related Stories
