Chapter 6 - The Man Behind the Door
Arthur couldn't speak.
The word had reached him through the phone like a hand through time.
Daddy.
Not Mr. Callahan.
Not Arthur.
Daddy.
His daughter knew who he was.
"Arthur?"
His mother's voice came again.
He finally answered.
"Mom."
Margaret Callahan had died six years earlier.
At least Arthur believed she had.
He remembered the hospital.
Cancer.
A closed casket.
His father handling everything.
Of course.
Patrick had handled everything.
Arthur began to laugh.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the dead had become crowded around him.
Daniel.
Margaret.
Secrets.
Bodies that weren't bodies.
Funerals that were lies.
"Where are you?"
Margaret gave him an address in northern Wisconsin.
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Is Lily safe?"
"Yes."
"Is she with you?"
"Yes."
"Put her on."
A pause.
Then a small voice.
"Hello?"
Arthur's heart broke.
"Hi."
"Are you my dad?"
He pressed one hand against the wall.
"Yes."
"Grandma said you were."
"I am."
"Why didn't you come?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
There were no words good enough.
"I didn't know where you were."
"Okay."
Simple.
Children sometimes accepted the impossible faster than adults.
"Are you coming now?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Another pause.
"Leo is my brother, right?"
Arthur smiled through tears.
"Yes."
"Does he know me?"
Arthur looked toward the tunnel entrance.
"He will."
"I made him a picture."
Arthur couldn't answer for several seconds.
Then he whispered, "He'll love it."
Margaret returned to the phone.
"Arthur, don't come directly."
"Why?"
"Someone found us yesterday."
His happiness vanished.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Did they see Lily?"
"No."
"Are you safe now?"
"For the moment."
Arthur looked down at Conrad.
The older man smiled weakly.
Arthur understood.
Conrad hadn't known Lily's exact location.
But someone else did.
Someone who had followed the trail.
"Mom, leave."
"We are."
"I'll send coordinates."
"Arthur."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
He swallowed.
"We'll do apologies later."
He ended the call.
Nick and Daniel reached him.
Daniel looked at Conrad.
"Alive?"
"Unfortunately."
Nick crouched beside him.
Conrad laughed.
"Nicholas."
Nick grabbed his collar.
"Who found Margaret?"
Conrad smiled.
"Not me."
"Who?"
"There are always ambitious men."
Arthur looked at Nick.
"What does that mean?"
Nick's face darkened.
"Dominic."
Arthur remembered his guard.
The man who betrayed the mansion.
Dominic knew much of Arthur's security.
Could he know more?
Conrad chuckled.
"Dominic learned quickly."
Arthur kicked the gun away again even though it was already out of reach.
"Where is he?"
Conrad shook his head.
"Running his own game now."
Daniel said, "We need to move."
Arthur agreed.
Police were already closing in.
Nick's anonymous tip had brought federal agents connected to an investigator Sarah had trusted.
The ledger was finally leaving Callahan hands.
Arthur had made the decision while driving.
No more private justice.
No more secret wars.
Conrad's network had survived because Callahan men believed they could handle everything themselves.
Arthur wasn't going to repeat it.
He handed the drive to Special Agent Rebecca Sloan thirty minutes later.
She looked at him suspiciously.
"You understand what's on this could put you in prison too."
Arthur nodded.
"If I belong there, do your job."
Nick stared at him.
Daniel did too.
Arthur didn't care.
Sarah had died trying to end the machine.
He would finish it.
Elena arrived with Leo.
Arthur ran to his son.
Leo hugged him.
Arthur lifted him.
"We're going somewhere."
Elena understood.
"You found her."
Arthur nodded.
"Lily."
For the first time since he met her, Elena smiled fully.
"Sarah did it."
"Sarah and my mother."
Elena's eyes widened.
"Margaret?"
"Alive."
Daniel laughed.
"Of course she is."
Arthur looked at him.
"Apparently this family doesn't understand funerals."
Even Nick smiled faintly.
Then Arthur's expression hardened.
"Dominic may know where they are."
They drove north.
Two vehicles.
Arthur, Leo, and Elena in the first.
Daniel and Nick behind.
Federal agents were moving separately.
Arthur didn't fully trust anyone yet.
But for the first time, he wasn't trying to control everything alone.
Halfway to Wisconsin, Leo touched the pendant around Elena's neck.
She looked down.
"Do you want to see it?"
He nodded.
She opened it.
The tiny chip was gone.
Now it contained only Sarah's photograph.
Leo touched his mother's face.
His lips moved.
Elena waited.
Arthur watched from the driver's seat.
No sound.
But progress didn't need to be dramatic.
Sometimes survival came quietly.
They reached the address near dusk.
A small house near a lake.
No guards.
No mansion.
No walls.
Arthur parked.
His hands shook on the steering wheel.
Elena noticed.
"You okay?"
"No."
She nodded.
"Good answer."
Arthur looked at her.
"You're enjoying this."
"A little."
He almost laughed.
Leo unbuckled.
Arthur stopped him.
"Wait."
He scanned the property.
Nothing.
Daniel and Nick arrived.
Federal agents remained several minutes away.
Arthur hated that timing.
But Lily was inside.
He couldn't wait.
They approached.
The front door opened.
Margaret Callahan stepped outside.
Arthur stopped.
Six years disappeared.
His mother looked older.
Smaller.
But alive.
She covered her mouth.
"Arthur."
He crossed the yard.
They embraced.
Arthur had thought he used up every possible emotion.
He hadn't.
Margaret held his face.
"I'm sorry."
He shook his head.
"Later."
She looked at Leo.
Her eyes filled.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Leo hid partly behind Arthur.
Margaret didn't approach.
Then someone appeared behind her.
A little girl.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
Holding a drawing.
Arthur forgot the world.
Lily.
His daughter looked exactly like Sarah when she was small.
Arthur crouched.
Lily stared.
"Are you really him?"
Arthur smiled.
"I think so."
She walked closer.
He didn't reach for her.
He let her choose.
She studied his face.
Then held up the drawing.
Two children.
A woman with gray hair.
A woman in blue.
And a tall man in a black suit.
Arthur's throat tightened.
"Is that me?"
She nodded.
"You don't look exactly right."
He laughed.
"That's okay."
"I didn't know your nose."
"Fair."
Leo stepped beside him.
Lily looked at him.
"Leo?"
He stared back.
She held out the drawing.
"I made you one too."
Leo looked at Arthur.
Arthur nodded.
Leo took it.
For several seconds, the twins simply stared at each other.
Then Lily smiled.
Leo almost did.
Arthur thought maybe that would be enough.
Then a gunshot shattered the window.
Arthur threw both children to the ground.
"DOWN!"
Daniel fired toward the trees.
Nick dragged Margaret behind the stone wall.
Elena covered Leo and Lily.
Another shot hit the porch.
Arthur saw movement near the dock.
Dominic.
Running.
Arthur chased him.
Daniel shouted.
"Arthur!"
Arthur didn't stop.
Dominic reached a boat.
Arthur tackled him before he could start it.
They hit the dock.
Dominic swung.
Arthur blocked.
Hit him once.
Twice.
Dominic laughed through blood.
"You really think Conrad was the end?"
Arthur grabbed his jacket.
"No."
"Your father's network had twelve captains."
"I have the ledger."
"Not all of it."
Arthur punched him.
"Where are the others?"
Dominic smiled.
"Some are already running."
"Good."
Arthur dragged him upward.
"Let them."
Dominic frowned.
Arthur heard sirens approaching.
Federal vehicles.
Dominic's expression changed.
"You called the government?"
Arthur smiled.
"No."
"Sarah did."
Dominic tried to reach his waistband.
Arthur caught the movement.
A shot rang out.
Dominic fell.
Arthur turned.
Nick stood behind him.
Gun smoking.
Arthur stared at him.
Nick lowered the weapon.
"He was reaching."
Arthur looked.
A second pistol lay beneath Dominic's hand.
Nick had saved him.
Arthur didn't know what that meant for them.
Maybe nothing.
Maybe everything.
Federal agents reached the property.
Dominic was alive.
Wounded.
Arrested.
Arthur returned to the house.
Lily ran toward Margaret.
Leo sat beside Elena.
Everyone was alive.
For once.
Later, after agents secured the area, Arthur stood near the lake.
Nick approached.
"You hate me."
Arthur looked at him.
"I don't know what I feel."
"Fair."
"You lied to me for years."
"Yes."
"You loved my wife."
"Yes."
Arthur looked at him.
Nick didn't look away.
"But you protected Lily."
"I tried."
"You protected Daniel?"
"No."
Nick's face tightened.
"I truly believed he was dead."
Daniel approached from behind.
"Still deciding whether to punch you again."
Nick nodded.
"Take a number."
Arthur almost smiled.
Then his phone vibrated.
Agent Sloan.
He answered.
"We opened more of the ledger," she said.
"And?"
"We found the payment for Sarah's crash."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Conrad?"
"Yes."
He exhaled.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"A second payment was issued the same night."
Arthur looked toward his family.
"For what?"
Sloan hesitated.
"To kill you."
Arthur froze.
"Who stopped it?"
"We don't know."
Then she said:
"But the payment was returned three hours later."
Arthur stared at Nick.
Nick looked confused.
Sloan continued.
"There's a handwritten notation beside it."
"What does it say?"
She read the words.
"Target protected by N.R."
Arthur slowly lowered the phone.
Nick.
Nicholas Rourke.
His best friend had saved his life the night Sarah died.
Arthur looked at him.
Before he could speak, Margaret screamed from inside the house.
"Lily!"
Arthur ran.
The back door stood open.
The room was empty.
May you like
On the floor lay Lily's drawing.
And a trail of blood led toward the basement.
