But before he could respond, a gunshot shattered the front window.
"Get down!"
Marcus pushed Rebecca behind the sofa.
Daniel pulled Arthur toward the hallway.
Two men entered through the front door.
Marcus returned fire.
The first attacker fell behind the entrance.
The second ran toward the kitchen.
Daniel chased him.
But when he reached the back door, the man was already gone.
Outside, another vehicle accelerated away.
Daniel returned to the living room.
Arthur was sitting on the floor, breathing heavily.
Rebecca was safe.
But Marcus was gone.
His weapon lay near the doorway.
Daniel picked it up.
Then he noticed something beside it.
A small piece of paper.
It contained a photograph of Lily, Marcus's daughter.
On the back was a message.
Your partner has made his choice.
Daniel looked at Arthur.
"Where is Marcus?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Hayes has taken him."
At that exact moment, Marcus was sitting inside a dark warehouse.
His hands were tied behind his back.
Captain Hayes stood in front of him.
"You have been a disappointment, Marcus."
Marcus looked up.
"Where's my daughter?"
Hayes smiled.
"That depends on how cooperative you are."
"I gave you everything you wanted."
"Not everything."
Hayes placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Daniel standing outside his childhood home.
"Tell me where he hid the original ledger."
Marcus remained silent.
Hayes leaned closer.
"Your daughter is waiting for you."
Marcus's eyes filled with anger.
"If you touch her, I'll kill you."
Hayes laughed.
"Then perhaps you should start talking."
Marcus looked at the photograph again.
Then he slowly smiled.
"You made one mistake."
Hayes frowned.
"What?"
Marcus raised his head.
"You think Daniel is still playing by your rules."
Hayes's smile disappeared.
And somewhere across the city, Daniel was already preparing to bring the entire department down.
The abandoned farmhouse stood nearly forty miles outside the city.
Daniel had received the address from Arthur, who insisted that Thomas had been staying there whenever he needed to disappear.
Rebecca wanted to accompany him.
But Daniel refused.
"If Hayes is watching us, I don't want him finding everyone in one place."
Rebecca grabbed his arm.
"Daniel, you don't understand. Your father has been waiting for you."
Daniel looked at her.
"Then I'll make sure he doesn't have to wait any longer."
He drove through the darkness alone.
The road became narrower as he approached the farmhouse.
Tall trees surrounded the property.
There were no streetlights.
Only a single yellow lamp illuminated the front porch.
Daniel stepped out of his vehicle.
He approached the door and knocked.
Nothing happened.
He knocked again.
Then a voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
Daniel swallowed.
"It's me."
A long silence followed.
"Who?"
Daniel felt tears forming in his eyes.
"Your son."
The door slowly opened.
And there he was.
Thomas Carter.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair was almost completely white, and he walked with a slight limp.
But his eyes were exactly the same.
Daniel couldn't move.
Neither could Thomas.
For several seconds, father and son simply stared at each other.
Then Thomas whispered:
"Daniel."
Daniel stepped forward.
"You're alive."
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
"You're alive."
"I am."
Daniel suddenly embraced him.
For the first time in fifteen years, he held his father again.
Thomas closed his eyes.
His hands trembled as he held his son.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Daniel began to cry.
"Why?"
Thomas couldn't answer.
"Why did you let me bury you?"
"I had no choice."
"You always had a choice!"
Daniel stepped back.
"You could have called me. You could have written. You could have told me anything!"
Thomas lowered his head.
"I know."
"You made me believe I had nobody."
"I know, son."
Daniel wiped his face.
"Do you have any idea what that did to me?"
Thomas looked at him.
"I thought about you every single day."
"That doesn't make it right."
"No. It doesn't."
Thomas took a deep breath.
"I wanted to come back more than anything. But Hayes had people watching you. He knew where you worked, where you lived, and who you loved."
Daniel looked away.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Thomas placed a hand on his shoulder.
"There's something else you need to know."
Daniel looked at him.
"Your brother."
Thomas explained that Michael had been taken from the hospital shortly after birth.
The original plan was to place him with a wealthy couple who had paid for the illegal transfer.
But the arrangement had fallen apart.
The couple eventually disappeared from the investigation, and Michael was raised by another family.
His name was changed to James Miller.
Daniel had already met James.
But what he didn't know was that Thomas had found him years earlier.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Daniel asked.
"Because James was being watched. I had to make sure he was safe before contacting him."
Thomas opened an old metal box.
Inside was a collection of photographs.
One showed James as a child.
Another showed him graduating from school.
A third showed him standing beside an older woman.
"His adoptive mother loved him," Thomas said. "She didn't know the full truth. She simply wanted to give him a good life."
Daniel looked at the pictures.
"Did you ever meet him?"
"Once."
"When?"
"About seven years ago."
Daniel stared at him.
"You met my brother seven years ago?"
Thomas nodded.
"He was working at a small repair shop. I watched him from across the street. I wanted to walk up and tell him everything."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because two men were watching him. I knew they worked for Hayes."
Thomas closed the box.
"I couldn't risk losing another son."
Daniel sat down.
For the first time, he began to understand how complicated his father's decisions had been.