Chapter 9: The Husband Who Never Died
For several seconds after the screen went black, I could hear nothing except the rain against the diner windows.
Then Victor whispered, "Your husband?""
I couldn't answer.
My husband had been dead for nineteen years.
I had watched them lower his coffin.
I had stood beside his grave in the winter cold.
I had gone home alone afterward and slept on his side of the bed because I couldn't bear to touch mine.
I'd mourned him for half my life.
And now my dead husband had just appeared on a video call.
Victor turned toward me.
"Grandma.""
I stared at the black phone.
"That's impossible.""
Isabel came closer.
"Who was he?""
I swallowed.
"Daniel.""
Victor frowned.
"Daniel Carter?""
I nodded.
"My husband.""
Mason stepped into the kitchen.
"Boss, we've got a problem.""
Victor looked at him.
"What?""
"One of our bikes is gone.""
"Which one?""
"Mine.""
Mason's face was grim.
"I left the keys inside the diner.""
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Nobody came through the front.""
"I know.""
He looked at Isabel.
"Back door?""
"Locked.""
Victor looked at me.
"Then whoever took it already had a key.""
My skin prickled.
The diner had three sets of keys.
Mine.
Calvin's old set.
And one emergency set I'd given Daniel years ago.
I whispered, "Daniel had a key.""
Victor turned.
"Where is it now?""
"I don't know.""
Isabel looked toward the basement.
"Maybe we should.""
"I know where to look," I said.
We hurried downstairs.
The old key cabinet hung beside the breaker box.
I had not opened it in years.
Victor pulled the little wooden door wide.
Three hooks.
My set.
Calvin's.
And the empty hook where Daniel's emergency key had been.
Victor stared.
"Someone used it recently.""
I shook my head.
"Daniel's been dead nineteen years.""
Victor looked at me.
"Apparently somebody forgot to tell him.""
The words should have sounded absurd.
They didn't.
They sounded terrifying.
Mason checked the basement stairs.
"Boss.""
He pointed at the floor.
Fresh mud.
Boot prints.
Leading away from the freezer.
Victor crouched.
"What size?""
"Eleven, maybe twelve.""
I looked closer.
There were two sets.
One heavy.
One smaller.
The smaller prints stopped beside the wall.
Something had been scratched into the dust.
A single letter.
*D.*
I stepped back.
"Daniel.""
Victor stood.
"He came here.""
"No.""
I shook my head.
"Why would he?""
"Because this is his property.""
My eyes snapped toward him.
Victor took out his phone.
"I had my attorney run the deed.""
He showed me the screen.
"The Blue Lantern is held by Carter Holdings.""
He swiped.
"The corporation was established forty years ago.""
"By Daniel?""
"No.""
He looked at me.
"By your son.""
I frowned.
"Elijah.""
Victor nodded.
"But Daniel became the trustee.""
My heart pounded.
"I never knew.""
"He kept it hidden.""
"Why?""
Victor studied me.
"Maybe because your husband was never your husband in the way you thought.""
The words cut deeper than I expected.
I sat on an overturned crate.
"Daniel loved me.""
Victor crouched in front of me.
"Did he?""
I stared at him.
"I thought he did.""
"Did he ever talk about Elijah after he disappeared?""
"Every day.""
"Did he search?""
"Yes.""
Victor hesitated.
"Did he ever let you see the police files?""
"No.""
"Did he control the money?""
"Yes.""
"Did he tell you the diner was struggling?""
"Yes.""
"Was it?""
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
For years, Daniel had told me that the diner barely made enough to survive.
But somehow the bills were always paid.
The taxes were always covered.
The roof was repaired.
The kitchen equipment was replaced.
Even when business was terrible.
I whispered, "He told me he had investments.""
Victor's expression hardened.
"Maybe he did.""
Isabel suddenly pointed.
"Wait.""
She crouched near the wall.
Behind a loose brick was a metal box.
Victor pulled it free.
Inside were passports.
Four of them.
All under different names.
One bore Daniel's photograph.
Another showed him with gray hair.
Another showed him younger.
But the names were different.
Victor picked up the first.
"David Kane.""
The second.
"Thomas Bell.""
The third.
"Edward Kane.""
I stared.
"Edward Kane.""
Isabel looked at me.
"The name on the nursing home record.""
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"So the patient in Room 17...""
"Wasn't Elijah," Isabel whispered.
"Was Daniel.""
My heart stopped.
"Then where is my son?""
Before anyone could answer, a sound came from upstairs.
The front door opening.
Victor immediately stood.
He signaled Mason.
The bikers moved into position.
Footsteps crossed the diner floor.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Someone whistled.
An old song.
The song Daniel used to hum while making coffee.
I gripped my walker.
"That song.""
Victor looked at me.
"You recognize it?""
"Daniel sang it every morning.""
The footsteps stopped.
Then a man's voice drifted down the basement stairs.
"Evelyn?""
My entire body froze.
It was his voice.
Older.
Raspy.
But unmistakable.
Victor stepped in front of me.
The man appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
A scar across his cheek.
Older than the husband I remembered.
But his eyes were exactly the same.
Daniel.
My dead husband.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
"Hello, sweetheart.""
Victor moved forward.
"You stay where you are.""
Daniel raised his hands.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone.""
I stared at him.
"You died.""
He gave a tired laugh.
"No.""
He looked around the basement.
"I was buried.""
Then his eyes shifted to the black notebook in Victor's hand.
"You found it.""
Victor tightened his grip.
"You let her think Elijah was dead.""
Daniel's face hardened.
"I kept him alive.""
"By destroying his family?""
"You don't understand what was coming.""
Victor stepped closer.
"Then explain.""
Daniel looked directly at me.
"I will.""
He pointed toward the ceiling.
"But not here.""
"Why?""
He whispered:
"Because Marlene is listening.""
May you like
The lights went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere above us.
