PART 2: The Truth Hidden Behind the Wolf Patch
The biker couldn't breathe.
His eyes stayed fixed on the stranger across the diner.
"Impossible..."
The young man's hand slipped inside his jacket.
Every muscle in Jack's body tensed.
Several customers backed away.
The waitress near the coffee station froze.
Even Emily stopped breathing.
Then the stranger slowly pulled something out.
Not a gun.
A photograph.
Jack frowned.
The stranger held it up.
And the world tilted beneath Jack's feet.
Rose.
The picture showed Rose standing in bright sunlight.
She looked older.
Tired.
But unmistakably alive.
And in her arms was a baby.
The same little girl now hiding behind Jack's vest.
The stranger smiled.
"Long time no see, Jack."
The voice hit him harder than the photograph.
His stomach dropped.
Because he knew that voice.
Eight years ago, Daniel Cross died in a warehouse fire.
At least that's what everyone believed.
The police believed it.
The newspapers believed it.
Even Rose believed it.
Jack had attended the funeral himself.
Yet somehow...
Daniel was standing ten feet away.
Breathing.
Smiling.
Watching.
Emily's tiny fingers dug into the leather on Jack's back.
"Please don't let him take me."
The fear in her voice was real.
Not childish fear.
Not imagination.
The kind of fear that comes from experience.
Daniel's smile vanished.
"Emily, come here."
The little girl instantly shook her head.
"No."
The answer came so fast it startled everyone.
Daniel took one step forward.
Emily took two steps back.
Jack noticed.
Children don't react like that unless they've learned what happens when they don't.
His jaw tightened.
"What do you want?"
Daniel's eyes never left the child.
"She belongs with me."
Emily's grip tightened.
"No."
The diner had become completely silent.
Nobody touched their food.
Nobody spoke.
Even the cook had stepped out from the kitchen to watch.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Your mother promised."
Something dangerous flashed through Jack's eyes.
"Rose would never leave her daughter with a man like you."
For the first time, Daniel looked angry.
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
"She didn't have a choice."
A chill ran through Jack.
Because Daniel didn't sound like a man making excuses.
May you like
He sounded like a man remembering something.
Something terrible.
