Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Red CoatWe escaped through a hidden tunnel beneath the safe house.
Logan slept through most of it.
I wished I could.
Every step felt like walking through a nightmare.
We emerged two blocks away.
A black car waited.
Inside was the woman from the photograph.
The one who had worked with David.
She was wearing a red coat.
"My name is Evelyn Hart."
I stared.
"You knew my husband."
"I loved him."
The words hit me unexpectedly.
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
Evelyn noticed.
"It wasn't romantic."
I looked between them.
"What was it?"
"Professional."
She handed me a folder.
"David was investigating a private network that operated inside legitimate companies."
"What kind of network?"
"Money laundering. Extortion. Contract killings."
I looked at Alessandro.
"Your organization?"
"No."
Evelyn answered.
"Someone using his name."
I frowned.
"What?"
"For years, criminals used Alessandro's reputation to hide their operations."
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"Who?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Your father."
I felt sick.
"My father?"
"He built the network."
"Why would David work for him?"
"Because he wanted to bring him down."
Evelyn opened the folder.
Inside were bank statements.
Photographs.
Contracts.
And a birth certificate.
I stared.
The name on it was impossible.
David Winters.
But the date of birth was wrong.
I looked at Evelyn.
"What is this?"
"Your husband's real identity."
I shook my head.
"No."
"David wasn't born David Winters."
I looked at Alessandro.
He nodded.
"His real name was Daniel Winters."
I laughed nervously.
"That's impossible."
"Your father changed his identity."
"Why?"
Evelyn answered.
"Because David was your father's illegitimate son."
My world tilted.
I couldn't speak.
David had been my husband.
And my father's son.
Not by blood to me.
But connected to the same man.
My father had hidden the truth from both of us.
"Why did David marry me?"
"Because he loved you."
Evelyn's voice softened.
"He didn't know the full truth when he married you."
I closed my eyes.
Memories came flooding back.
Our first date.
Our wedding.
Logan's birth.
David holding him.
Everything felt sacred.
Everything felt threatened.
Then Evelyn said:
"There is one more thing."
"What?"
"David is alive."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
She looked at Alessandro.
He nodded.
"Virginia."
"Take me."
"We can't."
"Why?"
"Because he's being watched."
I stared at them.
"I don't care."
Evelyn reached for my hand.
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because the people watching him aren't trying to kill him."
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She paused.
"They're waiting for him to lead them to you."
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