The Question Daniel Shouldn't Have Asked
Chapter 04 - The Question Daniel Shouldn't Have Asked
Daniel came home that night.
He canceled his flight and arrived shortly after midnight.
Claire was sitting at the kitchen table when he walked in.
She had placed Noah’s old missing-person flyer between them.
Daniel stopped when he saw it.
“He remembered Captain Blue,” Claire said.
Daniel slowly removed his coat.
“Claire—”
“Sit down.”
He sat.
For seven years, they had lived around Noah’s disappearance.
They did not speak about it every day.
That would have been easier.
Instead, grief existed in the spaces between words.
The unused bedroom they eventually converted into an office.
The birthday Claire still marked privately every April.
The way Daniel changed the television channel whenever a missing-child story appeared.
Then Owen had been born fourteen months after Noah disappeared.
Their second son had saved them in ways no child should ever be responsible for.
Claire pushed the flyer toward Daniel.
“When I told you I found a boy with Noah’s birthmark, you asked where I found him.”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“I was shocked.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You were scared.”
He stood.
She stood too.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
“That was too fast.”
“What?”
“You answered too fast.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
Claire had known him for seventeen years.
She knew when he was lying.
Not because he was bad at it.
Because he was usually so good.
The realization was worse.
“What do you know?” she asked again.
Daniel looked toward the dark hallway leading to Owen’s room.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Three years ago, I got a phone call.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“A man said he had information about Noah.”
Her chair scraped backward.
“You never told me.”
“He wanted fifty thousand dollars.”
“You never told me.”
“I thought it was a scam.”
“You never told me!”
Daniel flinched.
Claire had not screamed at him in years.
“He knew details,” Daniel continued. “Things from the case.”
“What details?”
“The rabbit.”
Claire stared at him.
“No.”
“Claire—”
“You knew someone out there knew about Captain Blue?”
“I hired an investigator.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked away.
That was when Claire understood.
There was another secret.
“Who did you hire?”
“My mother recommended someone.”
Evelyn Bennett.
Daniel's mother.
The woman who had insisted Claire stop searching years ago.
The woman who said continuing would destroy Owen.
Claire picked up her phone.
Daniel grabbed her wrist.
“Don't call her.”
Claire looked at his hand until he released her.
“Why?”
Daniel's face went pale.
“Because the investigator disappeared.”
Claire felt the room tilt.
“What does that mean?”
“He took the money.”
“And the caller?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Called again.”
Claire waited.
May you like
Daniel's next words destroyed what little trust remained between them.
“He said Noah was still alive.”
