Samuel closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered a name I had never heard before.
“Daniel Vale.”
My stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
Samuel opened his eyes.
“That was my brother.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He looked toward the road, as if expecting someone to appear at any moment.
“Daniel Vale was my younger brother.”
The words didn’t make sense.
My mind refused to connect them.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
“But… I thought you were an only child.”
“That is what I told everyone.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because Daniel was supposed to be dead.”
The baby stirred in his arms.
I reached out automatically and touched her tiny hand.
“What do you mean, supposed to be?”
Samuel swallowed.
“Thirty years ago, Daniel disappeared.”
I felt my heart begin to pound.
“Disappeared?”
“He was involved with people he shouldn’t have been involved with. Money. Property. Fraud. Things that started small and became much bigger.”
He paused.
“And then one night, he vanished.”
“Did the police look for him?”
“Yes.”
“Did they find him?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know Ethan is his son?”
Samuel looked directly into my eyes.
“Because I met Ethan’s father.”
