Chapter 4 – The Dying Man's Last Words Changed Everything
Rain washed blood across the stone driveway.
Police cruisers crowded the entrance to Parker Mansion.
Blue and red lights flashed against the old iron gates while paramedics fought desperately to keep the unidentified man alive.
Daniel Parker ran through the rain without an umbrella.
Laura Hayes was only steps behind him.
Richard followed more slowly, his face drained of all color.
The injured man lay on the wet pavement, his clothes torn, his face bruised almost beyond recognition.
His beard was long.
His hair was streaked with gray.
He looked like someone who had spent years hiding from the world.
A paramedic pressed hard against a gunshot wound in his abdomen.
"We're losing him!"
Another medic inserted an oxygen mask.
"No pulse... wait... I've got one..."
Daniel stopped several feet away.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't convince himself to look closer.
Because something inside him already knew.
The stranger slowly turned his head.
His swollen eyes struggled to focus.
When they finally found Daniel...
They filled with tears.
The man's lips trembled.
"...Danny..."
Only one person in the world had ever called him that.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
"Michael..."
The man's cracked lips formed the faintest smile.
"I... told you..."
"...I would come home."
Daniel grabbed his brother's hand.
It was ice cold.
"My God..."
"I thought you were dead."
Michael let out a painful laugh that became a cough.
"I almost was."
Blood stained the corner of his mouth.
Laura immediately knelt beside them.
"Michael Parker?"
He nodded weakly.
"I don't have much time."
The paramedics exchanged worried glances.
One whispered quietly,
"Less than five minutes."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"You're going to the hospital."
Michael squeezed his hand with surprising strength.
"No."
"They'll never let me get there."
Daniel frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Michael's frightened eyes searched the darkness beyond the gates.
"They're watching."
Laura instantly looked toward the surrounding trees.
"Who?"
Michael swallowed painfully.
"The people..."
"...who killed Margaret."
The world seemed to stop.
Even the rain felt silent.
Daniel stared at him.
"What did you say?"
Michael's breathing grew heavier.
"It wasn't..."
"...an accident."
Laura's instincts took over.
"Everyone back!"
She signaled officers to secure the area.
"No one comes within fifty feet!"
Flashlights swept across the woods.
Police dogs were released.
But whoever had brought Michael here had already vanished.
Michael looked at Daniel.
"I've lived with this for twelve years."
"I can't die with it."
Daniel's voice broke.
"Then tell me."
Michael closed his eyes.
"The truck..."
"...didn't run the light."
Daniel frowned.
"It did."
"I believed that too."
Michael coughed again.
"So did everyone."
"But I was wrong."
He struggled for air.
"There wasn't one truck."
"There were two."
Laura leaned closer.
"What are you talking about?"
"The first truck..."
"...forced us into the intersection."
"The second one..."
"...hit Margaret's car on purpose."
Daniel felt his heart pounding so hard it hurt.
"No."
Michael nodded.
"Someone wanted us dead."
The paramedics prepared another injection.
Michael pushed the medic's hand away.
"No more."
"I need to finish."
Daniel gripped his brother's shoulder.
"Who wanted to kill you?"
Michael looked straight into his eyes.
"Not me."
"You."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"They were trying..."
"...to kill you."
Rainwater rolled down Michael's face.
"You switched cars at the last minute."
Daniel remembered.
Twelve years earlier.
He had planned to pick up Margaret after her charity gala.
But an emergency board meeting had delayed him.
Margaret insisted on driving home with Michael instead.
"I'll come get you," she had laughed over the phone.
"It'll save you the drive."
Daniel had agreed without thinking.
One harmless decision.
One ordinary change of plans.
One choice that had haunted him every day since.
Michael whispered,
"They thought you were in the passenger seat."
Daniel's entire body went numb.
"So Margaret..."
"...died because of me."
Michael grabbed his shirt.
"No!"
"Never say that."
"They murdered her."
"You didn't."
Laura's mind raced.
"If this is true..."
"...someone altered the entire investigation."
Michael nodded.
"They owned people."
"Who?"
Michael looked toward Richard.
The old butler stood motionless in the rain.
His face unreadable.
Michael slowly lifted a shaking finger.
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
Daniel turned.
"Richard?"
The old man whispered,
"I begged them not to."
"What?"
"I begged them."
Daniel stepped backward.
"No..."
Richard removed his glasses.
For forty years Daniel had trusted this man more than almost anyone.
The man who taught him to tie a necktie.
The man who tucked him into bed after his parents divorced.
The man who stood beside him at every funeral.
Richard lowered his head.
"I failed your father."
"I failed Margaret."
"I failed you."
Laura immediately drew her weapon.
"Don't move."
Richard didn't.
"I never wanted anyone hurt."
Daniel's voice shook with rage.
"What are you talking about?"
Richard looked at Michael.
"I'm sorry."
Michael gave a weak smile.
"I know."
Daniel shouted,
"Somebody tell me the truth!"
Richard closed his eyes.
"The Parker family..."
"...has never owned half of Charleston."
Daniel stared at him.
"What?"
"It was built..."
"...with another family."
"The Blackwoods."
Daniel had heard the name.
Only in whispers.
His grandfather had forbidden anyone from mentioning them.
Richard continued,
"Your father betrayed them."
"He took everything."
"The hotels."
"The land."
"The businesses."
"The fortune."
Daniel shook his head.
"That's impossible."
"I've seen the records."
Richard nodded sadly.
"So had Margaret."
Silence.
"What?"
"Three weeks before she died..."
"...Margaret discovered documents proving the Parker fortune was stolen."
Daniel felt the ground disappear beneath him.
"No..."
"She confronted your father."
"And?"
Richard looked away.
"He told her to forget what she found."
"Did she?"
Richard slowly answered.
"Margaret never forgot anything."
Michael whispered,
"She planned to expose them."
Daniel's breathing became ragged.
"So they..."
Richard's tears finally fell.
"They believed she had already given you the evidence."
"No..."
"They ordered someone to stop the car."
Daniel whispered,
"My own father..."
Richard couldn't answer.
Because at that exact moment—
Michael suddenly sat upright.
His eyes widened in terror.
He looked past everyone toward the mansion roof.
"SNIPER!"
Laura reacted instantly.
"DOWN!"
A suppressed shot cracked through the rain.
The bullet struck Michael squarely in the chest.
Daniel caught his brother as he collapsed backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Michael gasped desperately.
Daniel screamed for the paramedics.
"No!"
"No!"
Michael pulled Daniel closer.
With the last strength he had left...
He whispered four words into his brother's ear.
"They took... your daughter..."
His hand fell limp.
The heart monitor emitted one long, continuous tone.
Michael Parker was dead.
Daniel couldn't hear anything anymore.
Only those final four words echoed inside his mind.
They took your daughter.
His daughter?
Daniel had never had children.
Margaret had died before they could start a family.
Or...
At least...
That was what he had believed for the last twelve years.
Laura slowly looked at Richard.
Richard looked at Daniel.
Neither of them spoke.
Because if Michael's dying words were true...
Then somewhere...
A child Daniel Parker had never known existed...
May you like
Had been alive all this time.
And someone had spent twelve years making sure he would never find her.
