Chapter 3
THE BROTHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE D/E/@/D KNEW SOPHIE’S NAME BEFORE ETHAN DID
The alarm inside the ICU screamed for nine seconds.
Nine seconds was all it took for Ethan Callahan to become someone I no longer recognized.
He did not panic.
He did not raise his voice.
He simply turned toward the double doors, handed his phone to one of his men, and said, “Lock down the floor.”
The bodyguard nodded once.
“Already happening.”
I stared at Ethan.
“Lock down?”
“It means nobody leaves until we know why that alarm started.”
“This is a hospital, Ethan.”
“I’m aware.”
“My sister is in there.”
“And if someone came here because of her, I’m not letting them walk away.”
The word someone landed harder than it should have.
Because only minutes earlier, the detective had shown us a photograph of Ethan’s older brother—the brother Ethan had believed d/e/@/d for twelve years.
And that same man had apparently been seen outside my apartment in Los Angeles.
Three days ago.
My knees weakened.
I pressed Sophie against my chest.
“Tell me his name.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Rachel—”
“His name.”
His jaw tightened.
“Julian.”
The detective, Mark Bellamy, stood beside us with the photograph still in his hand.
“Julian Callahan vanished after a warehouse fire twelve years ago.”
Ethan’s gaze hardened.
“He didn’t vanish.”
Bellamy studied him.
“You identified him?”
“I identified what was left.”
His voice had changed.
Low.
Flat.
Dangerously controlled.
I realized then that Ethan had spent twelve years grieving a brother he believed he had lost in something horrific.
And now a detective was calmly telling him Julian had been alive all along.
“Why would he fake his own d/e/@/th?” I asked.
Ethan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Julian never did anything for one reason.”
The ICU doors opened.
A doctor stepped out.
I rushed forward.
“Melissa?”
“She’s stable.”
I nearly collapsed.
“What happened?”
“Her heart rhythm became irregular, but it corrected quickly. We’re still running tests.”
“Can I see her?”
“In a moment.”
The doctor glanced toward Bellamy.
“Detective, we found something attached beneath the patient’s hospital bed.”
Ethan’s expression changed instantly.
“What?”
The doctor held up a clear plastic bag.
Inside was a tiny black device.
Bellamy cursed under his breath.
“A tracker?”
“Not exactly.”
One of Ethan’s men took one look at it.
“Audio transmitter.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
Someone had been listening.
Bellamy turned toward the hallway.
“No one touches this floor.”
Ethan was already moving.
He grabbed my elbow.
“Rachel, you and Sophie are leaving.”
“No.”
“This isn’t negotiable.”
“My sister is here.”
“And whoever planted that may still be here.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
Ethan stepped closer.
His eyes met mine.
“I’m not asking you to abandon her.”
“Then stop telling me to go.”
His face softened for one second.
Then he exhaled.
“Fine.”
One of his men approached.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We pulled the camera feeds.”
“And?”
“Someone entered Ms. Morales’s room twenty-two minutes before we arrived.”
“Hospital employee?”
“No.”
The man turned the screen.
A figure wearing blue scrubs moved through the corridor.
Baseball cap.
Surgical mask.
Average height.
Nothing distinctive.
Then the figure glanced toward the camera.
I stopped breathing.
Even with half the face covered, I recognized the eyes.
The same cold gray eyes from outside my apartment.
The man who had grabbed me.
The man who asked about the envelope.
I pointed with a shaking hand.
“That’s him.”
Ethan looked at me.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
His entire posture changed.
Bellamy noticed.
“So your mystery man is definitely connected.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Julian.”
I whispered, “That’s your brother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“I said it could be.”
Bellamy zoomed the image.
The man looked older than Ethan.
Same cheekbones.
Same posture.
The resemblance became obvious.
Ethan stepped back as though someone had struck him.
“Jesus.”
For the first time, his control cracked.
I touched his arm.
He looked down at my hand.
I almost pulled away.
Instead, I left it there.
“You don’t have to pretend this doesn’t hurt,” I said softly.
His mouth tightened.
“I don’t have time for it to hurt.”
That sentence broke something in me.
Before I could answer, the ICU doors opened again.
A nurse smiled weakly.
“Ms. Morales can have one visitor.”
I immediately handed Sophie toward Ethan.
He stared at her.
“You want me to—”
“Hold your daughter.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Silence.
His face changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Enough that I knew he heard them the way I had.
Your daughter.
I swallowed.
“We don’t know that yet.”
“No.”
But he took Sophie carefully.
Like she was the most valuable thing he had ever touched.
I walked into Melissa’s room.
My sister looked tiny against the white pillows.
An IV ran into her arm.
Her face was pale.
But her eyes opened when she heard me.
“Rachel.”
I reached her bed in three steps.
“You scared ten years off my life.”
Her lips trembled.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
Tears burned my eyes.
“You were supposed to get married.”
She shut her eyes.
“I know.”
“Instead I’m standing in an ICU while Ethan Callahan’s men are checking the ceiling for listening devices.”
That actually made her laugh.
It became a weak cough.
I squeezed her hand.
“Melissa.”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“How much do you know?”
“That Daniel didn’t meet you by accident.”
She nodded.
“And Sophie?”
My heart tightened.
“Ethan thinks she might be his.”
Melissa opened her eyes.
“He is.”
My entire body went cold.
“What?”
“I had a DNA test done.”
For one second, I thought I had misunderstood.
“You did what?”
“I’m sorry.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
My voice rose.
“You tested my baby behind my back?”
“Lower your voice.”
“I don’t care!”
“Rachel.”
“How did you even get Ethan’s DNA?”
Melissa looked away.
That was my answer.
“You knew him.”
“I knew Daniel knew him.”
“Melissa.”
“Daniel kept a glass Ethan had used at our apartment.”
My skin crawled.
“What?”
“He told me it was for leverage.”
“Leverage?”
“I didn’t understand what that meant at first.”
I stared at her.
“You were living with a man collecting people’s DNA?”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds insane.”
“It was.”
She began crying.
“Rachel, I was stupid.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
No.
Not stupid.
Manipulated.
That was different.
“Start at the beginning.”
She nodded weakly.
“Daniel met me eleven months ago.”
“That’s what you told me.”
“He already knew who I was.”
“How?”
“Because Julian gave him your name.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Why?”
“Because Julian had been watching Ethan for years.”
My stomach turned.
“Watching him for what?”
“To see if Ethan ever had a child.”
I froze.
Melissa continued.
“Julian believed Ethan would never marry, never trust anyone, never have an heir.”
“An heir to what?”
“The Callahan businesses.”
I stared at her.
“This is not a medieval kingdom.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
“But to men like Julian, control is everything.”
The door opened.
Ethan stepped inside carrying Sophie.
He had clearly heard the last sentence.
Melissa looked at him.
“So now you know.”
His voice was quiet.
“Keep talking.”
She swallowed.
“Daniel was supposed to stay close to Rachel. But she was in Los Angeles, and I was easier.”
My face tightened.
“Easier?”
“I was lonely.”
She looked ashamed.
“He was charming.”
“Melissa.”
“I loved him.”
I sat beside her.
“I know.”
She nodded.
“That’s why it worked.”
Ethan approached the bed.
“What did Julian want?”
Melissa looked at Sophie.
“He wanted proof.”
“Of what?”
“That Sophie was yours.”
Ethan’s jaw hardened.
“And once he had it?”
Melissa hesitated.
“He planned to use her.”
My arms went cold.
I stood.
“What does that mean?”
“He never told Daniel exactly.”
“Then guess.”
“He said a child would force Ethan to make decisions he normally wouldn’t make.”
Ethan’s voice became icy.
“He wanted leverage.”
Melissa nodded.
I felt sick.
The word itself sounded ugly.
Sophie shifted in Ethan’s arms.
He immediately adjusted her blanket.
The contrast made my chest ache.
This man could terrify a city.
But he knew exactly how to support a six-month-old baby’s neck.
“How did you find out?” Ethan asked.
Melissa looked at me.
“I heard Daniel on the phone.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“What did he say?”
“That the wedding was finally forcing Rachel onto Callahan ground.”
My stomach dropped.
“That was the point of the wedding?”
“No.”
Melissa’s face crumpled.
“The wedding was real to me.”
I squeezed her hand.
“I know.”
“But for Daniel…”
She looked away.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Ethan shifted Sophie.
“What was he supposed to do once Rachel arrived?”
“Bring her somewhere private.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan’s stare sharpened.
“Think.”
Melissa swallowed.
“He mentioned St. Gabriel.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Bellamy, who had stepped into the doorway, reacted too.
“What’s St. Gabriel?” I asked.
Neither answered immediately.
“Ethan.”
He looked at me.
“An abandoned church on the west side.”
“Why does Julian care about it?”
Bellamy spoke.
“Because that’s where Julian Callahan supposedly d/i/e/d.”
The room went silent.
I stared at Ethan.
His face had become unreadable.
Melissa whispered, “Daniel said something else.”
“What?”
“He said Julian wanted Ethan to return to the place where everything started.”
Ethan looked toward the window.
For the first time, I saw fear settle behind his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for us.
Then Sophie reached up and wrapped her tiny fingers around his thumb.
Ethan looked down at her.
His entire face changed.
And in that moment, I understood something.
Whatever kind of man Ethan Callahan had been before Sophie—
he had already become something else.
Not softer.
More dangerous.
Because now he had something to protect.
A phone began ringing.
Melissa’s.
We all looked toward the nightstand.
The screen read:
DANIEL.
No one moved.
Then Ethan held out his hand.
“Answer it.”
Melissa stared at him.
“What do I say?”
“Nothing unusual.”
She answered.
“Daniel?”
His voice came through faintly.
“Where are you?”
Melissa looked at Ethan.
“At the hospital.”
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
Silence.
“Who’s there?”
Melissa’s voice trembled.
“Rachel.”
Another pause.
“And Ethan?”
Melissa hesitated.
“Yes.”
Daniel exhaled.
Then he said something none of us expected.
“Good.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
Daniel continued.
“Put me on speaker.”
Melissa did.
“Daniel,” I snapped, “what is going on?”
His voice cracked.
“Rachel, listen to me. You have to leave Chicago.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Why?”
Daniel went silent.
Then:
“Because Julian isn’t using me anymore.”
A crash sounded behind him.
Melissa sat upright.
“Daniel?”
“He knows I switched sides.”
Ethan’s expression sharpened.
“Where are you?”
“St. Gabriel.”
My heart stopped.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“And Ethan?”
“Yes?”
“Your brother wants Sophie brought here before midnight.”
Ethan’s face turned to stone.
“And if she isn’t?”
Daniel whispered:
“He says he’ll come get her himself.”
May you like
The line went d/e/@/d.
And somewhere beneath Chicago, twelve years of secrets began opening their eyes.
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