He turned toward the ambulance.
Before getting inside, he noticed one final detail on the photograph.
The older man standing beside Rebecca had a familiar scar on his left hand.
A scar Daniel remembered from childhood.
His father's scar.
And underneath the photograph, someone had written a final sentence.
Come alone. Your father has been waiting twenty years to see you.
Daniel looked toward the dark road.
The truth about Saint Mary's was finally beginning to emerge.
But the biggest mystery had not yet been solved.
If Thomas Carter was alive...
Whose body had they buried fifteen years ago?
The photograph trembled in Daniel's hands.
For fifteen years, he had believed his father was dead.
He remembered the funeral. He remembered the black suit he had worn as a teenager, the rain falling against the cemetery, and the people who had approached him to offer their condolences.
Most of all, he remembered the empty feeling of standing beside a grave, wondering why the world had taken away the only person he had left.
Now someone was telling him that Thomas Carter might still be alive.
"Daniel, listen to me," Marcus said. "We don't know who sent that photograph."
Daniel looked at him.
"I know what I saw."
"It could be manipulated."
"Look at his hand."
Marcus examined the picture again.
The scar was unmistakable.
Years earlier, Thomas had injured his left hand while repairing an old wooden fence. Daniel remembered watching his father wrap it in a white bandage.
No photograph could change that memory.
"Where was this taken?" Marcus asked.
Daniel turned the photograph over.
There was a small address written beneath the message.
An abandoned farmhouse outside the city.
They decided to leave immediately.
But before they could get into the car, Daniel received another phone call.
It was Rebecca.
"Daniel, you need to listen carefully."
"Where are you?"
"I'm with Arthur."
"Are you safe?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"Not anymore."
Daniel's heart tightened.
"What happened?"
"Hayes found us. He knows about the photograph. He knows you think your father is alive."
"Where are you?"
Rebecca gave him an address.
Then she whispered:
"There's something else. My father wants to tell you the truth about Thomas. But you need to come before Hayes gets here."
The call suddenly ended.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
"We're going."
The address led them to a small house near the outskirts of the city.
The windows were covered with thick curtains, and the front door was slightly open.
Daniel entered first.
"Rebecca?"
A voice answered from the living room.
"Daniel."
Arthur Mitchell was sitting in an old armchair.
His face was bruised, and his left arm was wrapped in a bandage. Rebecca stood beside him, holding a small flashlight.
Daniel rushed toward them.
"Are you both okay?"
Arthur nodded.
"More or less."
Daniel placed the photograph on the table.
"Is this real?"
Arthur looked at it for a long time.
Then he sighed.
"Yes."
"Is my father alive?"
Arthur nodded.
Daniel felt his legs weaken.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your father made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"That I would keep you away from this until the people responsible could no longer reach you."
Daniel shook his head.
"You let me believe he was dead."
Arthur looked directly at him.
"I know. And I will spend the rest of my life regretting it."
Daniel turned away.
For fifteen years, he had lived with the memory of losing his father. He had built an entire life around that loss.
Now he was expected to accept that it had all been a lie.
Arthur continued.
"Your father discovered that Hayes had arranged the disappearance of several children. He also discovered that the people behind the operation were connected to a much larger organization."
"What organization?"
"A network of powerful individuals who paid to obtain children through illegal transfers. Some wanted to hide family scandals. Others wanted to avoid legal adoption procedures. They used hospitals, private agencies, and corrupt officials to make everything look legitimate."
"And my father found out?"
"Yes. He found the original records and copied them. But before he could expose the network, Hayes discovered what he was doing."
Daniel sat down.
"What happened fifteen years ago?"
Arthur looked toward Rebecca.
She nodded.
Then Arthur began to explain.
Thomas Carter had not died in the house fire.
The fire had been staged after an attempt to eliminate him.
Thomas had escaped with severe injuries, but the authorities were told that his body had been recovered.
A man who had died in another incident was mistakenly identified as Thomas through deliberately falsified records.
The funeral had been arranged quickly.
The official investigation was closed.
And Daniel, still young and grieving, had been left with no reason to question anything.
Thomas had survived.
But he could not return.
He knew that if he contacted Daniel, Hayes would use his son to find him.
So he disappeared.
"Where has he been all these years?" Daniel asked.
Arthur lowered his eyes.
"Moving between safe houses. Gathering evidence. Waiting for the right moment."
Daniel looked furious.
"And you helped him?"
"I did what I thought was necessary."
"Did you ever consider what it did to me?"
Arthur had no answer.
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Marcus approached the window.
"Someone's outside."
Everyone turned.
A black vehicle had stopped at the end of the street.
Its headlights were off.
Arthur immediately stood up.
"That's Hayes."
Daniel reached for his weapon.
"How did he find us?"
Arthur looked at the floor.
Then he slowly said:
"Because someone gave him the location."
Everyone turned toward Marcus.
Marcus looked shocked.
"Don't look at me. I didn't tell anyone."
Daniel wanted to believe him.