Chapter 8: The Road Where Everything Ended
I had spent seven years avoiding that road.
Seven years pretending it was just a place.
A curve.
A stretch of asphalt.
A random location where my father lost control of his car and never came home.
That was the story I had been given.
The story everyone expected me to accept.
But now I knew better.
Some stories are not told because they are true.
They are told because someone needs you to believe them.
The old highway was almost empty when Lena and I arrived.
The sun was disappearing behind the hills.
Long shadows stretched across the road.
I stared through the windshield.
My hands were locked together.
Lena noticed.
"You can still turn around.""
I looked at her.
"No.""
"Joe.""
"I spent seven years running from this place.""
I opened the door.
"I'm done running.""
She followed me out.
The air smelled like rain.
Exactly like that night.
I hated that my memory still held onto small details.
The smell.
The sound.
The feeling.
I walked toward the guardrail.
The same guardrail where my father's car had supposedly crashed.
The same place where everyone told me my life changed forever.
Lena stood a few steps behind me.
"I need to tell you something.""
I didn't turn around.
"What?""
"The night your father died...""
She paused.
"I wasn't investigating Richard yet.""
I looked back.
"What?""
She lowered her eyes.
"I knew him. I worked for him. I believed him.""
The confession surprised me.
"Then why are you telling me now?""
"Because you need to understand something.""
She stepped closer.
"Richard didn't just fool you.""
A pause.
"He fooled me too.""
I looked at the road.
"That doesn't make it easier.""
"I know.""
A few seconds passed.
Then I noticed something.
A mark on the ground near the guardrail.
Fresh tire tracks.
I walked closer.
"Lena.""
She followed.
"What?""
I pointed.
"These weren't here seven years ago.""
She crouched down.
The dirt beside the road had been disturbed.
Someone had been here recently.
She pulled out her phone and took pictures.
"Richard knew we would come.""
I looked around.
The empty road suddenly felt different.
Not abandoned.
Watched.
Then a sound came from behind us.
A car door closing.
We turned.
A black SUV was parked fifty yards away.
My body immediately tensed.
A man stepped out.
Not Richard.
Someone younger.
Tall.
Dark jacket.
He held something in his hand.
Lena moved closer to me.
"Who is that?""
I shook my head.
"I don't know.""
The man walked toward us slowly.
"Joseph Carter?""
I didn't answer.
He stopped several feet away.
"I'm Daniel Reeves.""
The name meant nothing.
But the way he looked at me did.
Like he had been waiting years.
"Who are you?""
He looked at Lena.
Then back at me.
"I worked for your father.""
My heart tightened.
"Another person who knows things but never tells me?""
His expression changed.
Pain.
Not anger.
"You have every right to hate us.""
That caught me off guard.
"Us?""
"Everyone who knew.""
The man reached into his jacket.
Lena immediately stepped forward.
"Don't.""
He stopped.
"I'm not here to hurt him.""
"That's what everyone says.""
Daniel looked at me.
Then slowly placed a small envelope on the ground.
"Your father gave me this.""
I stared at it.
"When?""
"The night before he died.""
My breathing changed.
"Why didn't you give it to me?""
His face fell.
"Because Richard found me first.""
Silence.
"What happened?""
Daniel looked toward the road.
"He knew your father was planning to expose him.""
My jaw tightened.
"How?""
"Because someone inside your company was feeding him information.""
I thought of Emily.
Then pushed the thought away.
Daniel continued.
"Your father had a plan. He was going to meet a lawyer the next morning with evidence.""
"And?""
"He never made it.""
I looked at the guardrail.
"The accident.""
Daniel nodded.
"It wasn't an accident.""
The words landed harder than I expected.
Even after everything, hearing someone say it out loud felt impossible.
"How do you know?""
Daniel looked at me.
"Because I was there.""
Lena's eyes widened.
"You saw it?""
Daniel nodded.
"I followed your father that night.""
"Why?""
"Because he asked me to.""
I stepped closer.
"Then why didn't you tell anyone?""
His face twisted with guilt.
"Because I was afraid.""
There it was again.
Fear.
The same thing everyone used as an excuse.
But then Daniel pulled out his phone.
"I recorded something.""
He showed us a video.
The quality was poor.
The image shook.
But I recognized the location.
The road.
My father.
Standing beside his car.
And another person.
I moved closer.
The figure was blurry.
But familiar.
A voice came from the phone.
Richard.
"You don't understand what you're doing.""
My father's voice answered.
"I understand exactly.""
The video shook.
Daniel's voice whispered.
"I was hiding because I thought Richard would come after me.""
The recording continued.
"You destroyed enough lives.""
Richard said something I couldn't hear.
Then my father answered.
"No. You did.""
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
"Who was the other person?""
Daniel looked at me.
"You know.""
My stomach dropped.
"No.""
He nodded.
"Your sister.""
I stepped back.
Again.
Emily.
Always Emily.
"She was there?""
"Yes.""
"What did she do?""
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"She tried to stop Richard.""
I looked at Lena.
Then at him.
"Then why does everyone keep making it sound like she betrayed us?""
"Because Richard wanted you to believe that.""
The pieces started moving.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Emily wasn't the villain.
But why had she stood beside Richard afterward?
Why had she disappeared?
Why had she warned me not to trust Lena?
I needed answers.
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked at his phone.
Then his face changed.
"What?""
"Who is it?"" Lena asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
He put the phone on speaker.
A woman's voice came through.
Emily.
"Daniel, where are you?""
He looked at me.
I grabbed the phone.
"Emily.""
Silence.
Then a shaky breath.
"Joseph.""
"I'm here.""
"Listen to me.""
Her voice was rushed.
"Richard knows about the road.""
My eyes moved around.
"What?""
"He knew you would come here.""
Lena looked toward the trees.
"How?""
Emily didn't answer.
Then she whispered:
"Because someone told him.""
My stomach tightened.
"Who?""
A long pause.
Then Emily said:
"Someone you trust.""
The call suddenly became distorted.
"Emily?""
Static.
Then her voice returned.
Quiet.
Terrified.
"Joseph, don't trust...""
The call cut off.
I stared at the phone.
"What did she say?""
Nobody answered.
Because we all heard it.
The unfinished sentence.
Don't trust...
Lena looked at me.
Daniel looked away.
And then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From Emily.
Not a call.
A message.
I opened it.
My blood ran cold.
There was a photo.
Taken moments ago.
From behind us.
It showed me.
Lena.
Daniel.
Standing on the road.
Watching the guardrail.
Someone had been filming us.
Under the picture were four words.
*"Look behind you, Joseph.""*
I slowly turned.
At the top of the hill, a figure stood in the fading light.
A familiar silhouette.
A person I thought I would never see again.
My mother.
But she wasn't alone.
May you like
Standing beside her was Richard Voss.
And he was smiling.
