Claire stared at the photograph until the image blurred.

"No."

Adrian took the phone.

"We don't know what we're seeing."

"My father is holding a gun."

"Yes."

"At my mother."

"Near your mother."

She looked at him.

"Are you seriously correcting the geometry?"

"I'm telling you not to decide what happened from one photograph designed to make you panic."

Claire looked away.

He was right.

She hated that.

Vincent drove.

Elena sat in front.

No one spoke for several minutes.

Then Claire asked, "What's the old Bennett house?"

Elena looked back.

Adrian answered.

"Your father's childhood home."

"I've never been there."

"It's outside Charleston."

"How do you know?"

"My family owns the property beside it."

Claire laughed bitterly.

"Of course they do."

Adrian didn't react.

Claire looked at his phone again.

"Are we going?"

"Yes."

"That's a trap."

"Obviously."

"You're strangely calm about traps."

"I've had practice."

Claire studied him.

"What happens when we arrive?"

"You stay in the car."

"No."

"Claire."

"Rule number one."

Adrian rubbed his forehead.

"Your rules are becoming inconvenient."

"That's their purpose."

A reluctant smile touched his mouth.

Then vanished.

"Fine. You don't stay in the car."

"Thank you."

"You stay beside me."

"That's negotiable."

"It isn't."

"Adrian."

He turned fully toward her.

"If someone starts shooting, I need to know where you are."

The bluntness stopped her.

"I won't imprison you. I won't take your phone. I won't decide what you believe. But I'm not pretending danger disappears because respecting you is important to me."

Claire stared.

That sentence rearranged something inside her.

Protection without possession.

Wasn't that exactly what she'd said?

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Don't enjoy it."

"I wouldn't dare."

They reached the property after sunset.

The old Bennett house stood beyond a line of live oaks.

No lights.

Claire stepped from the car.

Adrian joined her.

Vincent handed Adrian something concealed beneath his jacket.

Claire saw enough.

A handgun.

Her body stiffened.

Adrian noticed.

"Do you want me to leave it?"

She looked at the dark house.

"No."

He nodded.

No speech.

No attempt to justify himself.

Claire realized this man actually listened.

That was becoming dangerous in a completely different way.

They approached.

The front door was unlocked.

Inside, dust covered the furniture.

Claire saw family photographs on the walls.

Her father as a boy.

Her grandparents.

A life she'd never known.

Then she heard something.

"Claire."

Her mother's voice.

"Mom!"

She ran.

Adrian followed.

The dining room was empty.

Another sound came from below.

Basement.

Claire found the door.

Adrian caught her wrist.

She looked at his hand.

He immediately released her.

"Sorry."

That mattered.

"What?"

"Someone wants us downstairs."

"I know."

"Which means we shouldn't enter the way they expect."

Claire looked around.

"Another entrance?"

Adrian nodded toward Elena.

She disappeared outside with Vincent.

Minutes later, glass shattered below.

Adrian opened the basement door.

They descended.

Claire saw her mother.

She was tied to a chair.

Alive.

"Mom!"

Then Thomas Bennett stepped from the darkness.

Claire froze.

Seventeen years collapsed into one second.

Her father looked older.

Gray threaded through his hair.

A scar crossed his temple.

But it was him.

"Claire."

Her knees weakened.

"You died."

Thomas's face broke.

"I know."

Claire slapped him.

The sound echoed.

Adrian didn't move.

Thomas accepted it.

Claire hit him again.

"You let me bury you."

"I had to."

"You had to?"

"If they knew I survived, they would have killed you."

"Who?"

Thomas looked at Adrian.

"The Vales."

Adrian's expression remained calm.

"My father is dead."

"Because someone finally gave him what he deserved."

Adrian's eyes changed.

Claire stepped between them.

"No."

Both men looked at her.

"No fighting. No threats. No family revenge. I want the truth."

Thomas laughed bitterly.

"You're standing beside the son of the man who destroyed us."

Adrian answered.

"And you're standing beside the daughter you abandoned."

Thomas lunged.

Claire shouted.

"Stop!"

Adrian didn't move.

Thomas did.

That told Claire something.

Her mother began crying.

"Thomas, tell her."

He looked at his wife.

"Tell me what?" Claire demanded.

Thomas closed his eyes.

"The Vales didn't betray us."

Adrian went still.

Claire whispered, "What?"

"I did."

Silence filled the basement.

Thomas looked at Adrian.

"I betrayed your father."

Adrian's face became unreadable.

"Why?"

"Because someone threatened Claire."

"Who?"

Thomas looked toward the staircase.

A floorboard creaked above them.

Everyone froze.

Vincent's voice came through Adrian's earpiece.

"We have company."

"How many?"

"Six."

Thomas pulled out his gun.

Adrian raised his.

Claire's mother cried out.

Then a voice came from upstairs.

A woman's voice.

"Thomas?"

Thomas went pale.

Claire had never seen her father afraid.

The basement door slowly opened.

A shadow appeared at the top of the stairs.

Thomas whispered one name.

"Margaret."

And Claire realized he wasn't afraid for himself.

He was afraid of the woman walking down the stairs.