Blackwood Station had been closed for years.
“What happened there?”
“Your father met someone.”
“The person he trusted?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Samuel looked at Elena.
Elena nodded.
Then Samuel said,
“The person was your father's brother.”
Daniel froze.
“My uncle?”
“You have an uncle?”
“I thought he died before I was born.”
Samuel looked at him.
“That is what your family believed.”
Daniel's voice became unsteady.
“What was his name?”
“Jonathan Carter.”
Daniel stared at Samuel.
“My father never talked about him.”
“He couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan was the person your father feared most.”
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
“What did he do?”
“He betrayed him.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Your father discovered that Jonathan was involved in the theft.”
“And he confronted him?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“They argued.”
“And?”
“Your father tried to leave.”
“Did Jonathan kill him?”
Samuel looked down.
“We never proved it.”
“But you were there.”
“I arrived afterward.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I found your father's watch.”
Daniel stared at him.
“His watch?”
Samuel reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small metal watch.
Daniel immediately recognized it.
His father's watch.
The same one Daniel remembered seeing on his father's wrist when he was a child.
Daniel reached for it.
His fingers trembled.
Samuel handed it to him.
Daniel held the watch against his palm.
It was cold.
He turned it over.
On the back were two initials.
D.C.
Daniel Carter.
His father had given it to him once when Daniel was eight.
Daniel had lost it.
Or so he thought.
“You kept this?”
Samuel nodded.
“For nine years.”
“Why?”
“Because your father asked me to.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What did he say?”
Samuel's voice became quiet.
“He said, 'If my son ever comes looking for me, give him this. He'll understand.'”
Daniel stared at the watch.
“I don't understand.”
Samuel pointed to the back.
“Look carefully.”
Daniel turned it over.
There was something engraved beneath the initials.
A tiny sequence of numbers.
Daniel frowned.
“What are these?”
“A location.”
“Where?”
Samuel said,
“An old signal tower.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why would my father leave a location?”
“Because he knew he might not survive.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
The countryside was changing.
The golden fields were giving way to dark forests.
The train was approaching the mountains.
“What is at the tower?”
Samuel's expression became serious.
“The rest of the evidence.”
Daniel looked at Elena.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because we weren't sure you were ready.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Ready?”
Samuel said,
“Your father waited nine years for you to be ready.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Wait.”
He looked at the watch again.
“The numbers.”
“Yes.”
“They're not a location.”
Samuel said nothing.
Daniel looked closer.
“They're a date.”
Samuel's face changed.
“What date?”
Daniel read the numbers.
“October twenty-third.”
Elena stepped closer.
“That is tomorrow.”
Daniel looked up.
Samuel stared at him.
The three of them stood silently.
Then the train suddenly shook.
The lights flickered.
The elderly couple looked up.
The businessman woke.
Elena immediately moved toward the front.
Samuel looked at Daniel.
“Stay here.”
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Samuel stared at him.
Then he whispered,
“Someone knows you're on this train.”
Daniel's stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Samuel did not answer.
He walked toward the front.
Elena followed.
Daniel remained seated.
For a moment, he considered ignoring Samuel.
Then he heard something.
A door closing.
Behind him.
Daniel turned.
At the end of the carriage stood a man in a dark coat.