Chapter 3 - The Son His Father Never Met
For several seconds, Silas couldn't hear anything.
Not Walter Dain.
Not the music drifting from the ballroom.
Not even the footsteps of the guards approaching behind him.
Only one sentence kept repeating inside his head.
Your wife was pregnant when she disappeared.
He looked at Mallory.
“Where is he?”
She began crying harder.
“Silas…”
“Where is our son?”
Walter laughed softly.
“I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person.”
Silas turned toward him.
“Get out of my sight.”
“Mr. Keene, I wouldn't make threats in my own house.”
Silas pulled out his phone.
“Jonah. Bring everyone inside.”
Walter's smile disappeared.
Silas continued, his voice dangerously quiet.
“And lock down every exit.”
Jonah responded immediately.
“Understood.”
Walter glanced toward his guards.
Neither man moved.
They had heard of Silas Keene. Everyone in certain circles had.
They knew that the man standing before them had destroyed an entire criminal organization over a missing shipment.
They knew he had once made a business partner disappear after discovering that the man had threatened his family.
And now they were watching him discover that someone had stolen three years of his life.
Silas turned back to Mallory.
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
She slowly raised her eyes.
“Where is our little boy?”
Her lips trembled.
“His name is Noah.”
Silas closed his eyes.
Noah.
He had never known his son existed.
“How old?”
“Two years and eight months.”
“Where is he?”
“Upstairs.”
Silas stared at her.
“What?”
Mallory wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of his jacket.
“They told me I could stay as long as I worked here. They said Noah needed a roof over his head. They said if I tried to leave, they would send him somewhere I could never find him.”
Silas felt something inside him turn to ice.
“They have our son?”
She nodded.
“Walter's sister adopted him.”
Silas looked at Walter.
“You put my child in someone else's home?”
Walter adjusted his cufflinks.
“The boy needed stability.”
“He needed his father.”
“He needed a mother who wasn't constantly crying.”
Silas moved so quickly that the guards barely reacted.
He grabbed Walter by the lapels and slammed him against the wall.
“Where is my son?”
Walter struggled to breathe.
“Second floor. Nursery.”
Silas released him.
Then he turned to Mallory.
“Stay beside Jonah when he arrives. Don't let anyone take you anywhere.”
She grabbed his hand.
“Please don't go alone.”
He looked down at her fingers wrapped around his.
“I won't be long.”
“Silas.”
He waited.
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“Don't let them take Noah away from me again.”
He kissed her forehead.
“Never again.”
Then he headed upstairs.
The second floor was almost silent.
A long corridor connected a series of guest suites. At the far end, a small wooden door stood slightly open.
Silas heard a child's voice.
“Can I have Mommy?”
A woman's voice answered.
“Your mommy is working, sweetheart.”
“But I want my mommy.”
“You have everything you need here.”
Silas pushed the door open.
A little boy sat on a cream-colored rug.
He had honey-brown hair.
Small hands.
And the same gray eyes Silas saw every morning in the mirror.
The boy looked up.
“Who are you?”
Silas couldn't answer immediately.
He had faced armed men without blinking.
He had negotiated with killers.
He had watched people beg for their lives.
Nothing had prepared him for the sight of his own son.
He lowered himself to the floor.
“Hello, buddy.”
The little boy studied him.
“Are you Mommy's friend?”
Silas swallowed.
“I'm your daddy.”
The woman standing beside the crib immediately stepped forward.
“You cannot be here.”
Silas ignored her.
“What's your name?”
“Noah.”
“That's a beautiful name.”
“My mommy picked it.”
Silas smiled, although his eyes were burning.
“She has very good taste.”
Noah looked at him for a long moment.
Then he asked a question that shattered whatever remained of Silas's composure.
“Are you going to die too?”
Silas froze.
“No, buddy.”
“Mommy cries when she thinks you're coming back.”
Silas reached for the boy.
He stopped before touching him.
“Can I give you a hug?”
Noah hesitated.
Then he slowly stepped forward.
Silas gathered his son into his arms.
And for the first time in three years, the most feared man in his world cried without caring who saw him.
Behind him, the nursery door opened.
Jonah appeared.
“Silas.”
Silas didn't release Noah.
“What?”
Jonah held up a tablet.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“A security recording from the night Mallory disappeared.”
Silas looked at him.
“Show me.”
Jonah turned the screen around.
The footage was grainy, but the restaurant entrance was visible.
Mallory stood beside her car.
A dark sedan pulled up.
A man stepped out.
Silas leaned closer.
The man turned toward the camera.
His face became visible.
Silas stopped breathing.
It was Adrian.
His supposedly dead brother.
But the worst part came thirty seconds later.
Mallory opened the passenger door.
May you like
And willingly got inside the car.
Chapter 3 ends.
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