Chapter 10 - MY FATHER WAS ALIVE
My father was sixty-two years old and alive.
Daniel Vale stood in the bank lobby wearing a cheap gray coat. His hair was white at the temples. His hands shook when he saw me.
“Selene.”
I stopped ten feet away.
“You don’t get to say my name like you know me.”
His face folded.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Stellan stayed beside me but did not interfere.
Daniel looked at him. “You look like Anthony.”
“Answer her,” Stellan said.
Daniel had spent twenty years in federal witness protection after giving partial evidence against Victor’s network. The case collapsed when a prosecutor disappeared and two witnesses died.
He was told Loretta and I would be killed if he contacted us.
“So you stayed gone forever?” I asked.
“I watched from a distance.”
“That is not parenting.”
“No.”
His honesty made me angrier.
“Did you know about Fern?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Victor found me six months ago.”
Stellan moved closer. “And you didn’t warn us?”
“I tried.”
He pulled out an old prepaid phone.
Messages filled the screen. Unsent drafts to my number. Photos of men following my apartment. Notes about Gavin.
“Why didn’t they send?”
“Because the number I had was dead. I didn’t know where you lived until Victor did.”
I looked at the ledger.
“Who is the Shepherd?”
My father went pale.
“I still don’t know.”
Stellan’s phone rang.
Mrs. Thornbury.
He answered.
Her voice was loud enough for all of us to hear.
“Mr. Cross, someone entered the nursery.”
Stellan’s face went blank.
“Where is Fern?”
“With me. She’s safe.”
I nearly collapsed.
Mrs. Thornbury continued.
“But they left something in her crib.”
“What?”
“A shepherd’s crook carved from black wood.”
May you like
Stellan looked at Elias.
Elias whispered, “The traitor is inside the mansion.”
