CHAPTER 2 â The Family That Had Already Buried Him
Silence swallowed the hallway.
No one moved.
No one even breathed.
The stranger standing beside Emma instinctively stepped in front of her.
"Can I help you?"
Ethan looked at the wedding ring on the man's finger.
His chest tightened.
"You married my wife."
The room froze.
The man frowned.
"What did you just say?"
Emma burst into tears.
"It's him..."
"No..."
"It can't be..."
Noah stared from one adult to another.
"Mom... who is this?"
Emma collapsed onto the staircase.
Her voice cracked.
"Noah..."
"He's your father."
The words shattered the world around them.
Noah laughed nervously.
"This isn't funny."
"My father died before I started school."
"I visit his grave every Memorial Day."
Ethan slowly reached into his jacket.
He removed a small silver compass.
Old.
Scratched.
Broken.
He handed it to Noah.
"You gave this to me the night before I deployed."
"You cried because you thought monsters would find me."
"So I promised this compass would always bring me home."
Noah's face turned pale.
Only three people had ever known about that promise.
Him.
His mother.
His father.
The compass slipped from his trembling hands.
Emma covered her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her new husband slowly backed away.
"What... is happening?"
Ethan finally looked into the man's eyes.
"I'm not here to destroy your family."
"I'm here because someone made sure I never came home."
The room turned silent again.
Emma slowly lifted her head.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan pulled one final object from his backpack.
A classified military file.
Across the front was a name.
GENERAL RICHARD HAWTHORNE
Stamped beneath it in bold red letters:
TOP SECRET
Ethan's voice became cold.
"My rescue team was never ambushed."
"We were sold."
"The order came from someone wearing our own uniform."
Emma stared at the file in horror.
Because General Richard Hawthorne wasn't just a decorated war hero.
He was...
Her own father.
Ethan looked directly into her eyes.
"I didn't come home for revenge."
"I came home because your father tried to erase me..."
"...and now he's trying to erase someone else."
Outside the window...
A black SUV slowly stopped across the street.
Three men in dark suits stepped out.
One of them raised a phone.
"He found his family."
"Tell the General."
May you like
"Finish the job."
TO BE CONTINUED...
