He was working on his motorcycle when she arrived.
He looked up.
"Claire?"
She handed him the note.
Jack stared at it.
His hands began shaking.
"I wrote this."
"I know."
"I thought it was lost."
"Harold had it."
Jack closed his eyes.
"She knew."
"Who?"
"Your mother."
"About the letter?"
"About everything."
Claire sat beside him.
"What photograph were you looking for?"
Jack looked at her.
"I don't know."
"You told me a woman gave you a photograph."
"Yes."
"The one you showed me?"
"No."
Claire frowned.
"What?"
Jack reached into a locked compartment on his motorcycle.
He pulled out another envelope.
"I found this two months ago."
He handed it to her.
Claire opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed a young woman.
Her mother.
But she wasn't alone.
Standing beside her was a man Claire had never seen before.
And between them was a little boy.
A baby.
Claire stared.
"Who is that?"
Jack shook his head.
"I don't know."
Claire turned the photograph over.
There was writing.
"The truth about Daniel."
Claire looked up.
"Who is Daniel?"
Jack didn't answer.
Because at that exact moment, Noah came running across the parking lot.
"Mom!"
Claire turned.
Noah was holding a small envelope.
"I found this in your car."
Claire took it.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
STOP LOOKING.
Jack wanted Claire to call the police.
Claire refused.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know who I can trust."
"You can't handle this alone."
"I'm not alone."
She looked at him.
"You're here."
Jack nodded.
"For the first time in twenty-six years."
Noah sat on the bench nearby.
He was drawing.
Jack watched him.
"What does he know?"
Claire sighed.
"Very little."
"Good."
"He knows you're his grandfather."
Jack smiled.
"I like that."
Claire smiled despite herself.
Then she looked at the photograph again.
"Daniel."
Jack nodded.
"Who was he?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe he was Mom's lover."
Jack's expression tightened.
"Maybe."
"Maybe he was the reason she left."
"Maybe."
"Maybe he was the person who owed money."
"Could be."
Claire stared at the image.
The baby looked about one year old.
She couldn't understand why she had never heard the name Daniel.
Then she noticed something.
The woman in the photograph wasn't much older than Claire's mother had been when Claire was born.
The baby had a small scar above his eyebrow.
Claire looked at Noah.
He had the same kind of scar.
Her heart began pounding.
"No."
Jack looked at her.
"What?"
Claire stared at the photograph.
"The scar."
"What about it?"
"Daniel had one."
Jack leaned closer.
Noah looked up.
"Mom?"
Claire suddenly remembered.
When Noah was three, he had fallen off his bicycle.
He had needed stitches.
The scar remained.
But it wasn't unique.
It couldn't mean anything.
Could it?
Jack looked at the photograph.
Then at Noah.
"Claire."
"What?"
"Who is Noah's father?"
Claire's face hardened.
"His father died before Noah was born."
Jack stared at her.
"How?"
"Car accident."
"When?"
"Eight years ago."
"Name?"
"Michael."
Jack nodded.
"Michael what?"
"Reed."
Jack went completely still.
Claire noticed.
"What?"
Jack whispered:
"Reed."
"What?"
"My old partner's name was Reed."
"That's impossible."
"He had a son."
"When?"
"About the same age as you."
Claire stared at him.
"Do you think Michael was connected to my father?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I don't."
Claire stood.
"Then let's find out."
They spent the next several days searching.
Old records.
Newspaper archives.
Motorcycle club records.
Property documents.
Hospital records.
And eventually they found something.
Michael Reed had been an employee at Jack's motorcycle shop.
He had worked there for three years.
He had left shortly before Jack's accident.
But the strangest discovery came from an old newspaper article.
Twenty-six years earlier, Michael had been questioned about a financial fraud case.
The case was dropped.
The article mentioned another name.
Margaret Bennett.
Claire felt sick.
"Mom."
Jack nodded.
"She knew him."
"How?"
"I don't know."
They kept searching.
Then they found a second article.
Michael Reed had disappeared two months after Jack's accident.
His car was found abandoned.
No body was ever recovered.
Claire stared at the article.
"So my father, my mother, Michael..."
Jack finished the thought.
"All connected."
"And now Noah."
Jack looked at her.
"Maybe."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
She refused to believe it.
"Noah is my son."
"Of course."
"He's not part of this."
"I agree."
"But someone knew his name."
Jack looked toward the window.
"That's what worries me."
That evening, Claire received a call from an unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Who's this?"
A man's voice finally spoke.
"You're asking questions about Daniel."
Claire's heart stopped.
"Who are you?"
"You should stop."
"Where is my mother?"
Silence.
Claire's breathing became shallow.
"Who are you?"
The man said:
"Ask your father what happened on October fourteenth."
The call ended.
Claire stared at the phone.
Jack was standing behind her.
"What happened?"
She looked at him.
"He knows about October fourteenth."
Jack's expression became hard.
Then Noah appeared in the doorway.
"Mom?"
Claire turned.
"Go upstairs."
"Why?"
"Now."
Noah looked confused.
Jack stepped toward him.
"Hey, buddy."
Noah looked at him.
"Are you okay?"
Jack smiled.
"I'm fine."
Noah studied him.
Then asked:
"Grandpa?"
Jack froze.
It was the first time Noah had called him that.
"Yeah?"
"Did you know my dad?"
Jack looked at Claire.
Claire couldn't answer.
Jack slowly shook his head.
"No."
Noah looked disappointed.
"I wish you did."