Luke stood beside the river until the sun disappeared.
Elizabeth Bell had left him with the one thing he had been searching for. An answer. And somehow, it created more questions.
Thomas Bell wasn't gone. Not exactly. He had been taken. The difference mattered.
Because if Thomas had simply disappeared, then there was a possibility he had run. But if someone took him...then someone had made a choice.
Someone had decided his life was worth less than a secret. Luke looked at the dark water.
His father's words came back.
The river remembers.
Maybe it wasn't a warning.
Maybe it was a promise.
The next morning, Luke found Whiskey Jack at the old still. The old man was repairing a piece of equipment that didn't appear to need repairing.
Luke knew that trick. Busy hands meant avoiding difficult conversations. "You knew."
Whiskey Jack didn't look up. "About Thomas?"
"Yes."
A long silence. "Yes."
Luke felt the anger rise. "You all knew."
Whiskey Jack stopped working. "Yes."
"My entire life, everybody knew."
The old man looked at him. "Not everything."
"Enough."
Whiskey Jack sighed. "Your father wanted you away from it."
Luke laughed bitterly. "Well, that worked."
The old man looked around the still.
"Did it?"
Luke followed his gaze. The hidden room. The records. The secrets.
"No."
"Your father knew something."
"What?"
"He knew the truth has a way of finding the people who need it."
Luke looked at him. "That sounds like something he would say."
"It was."
Whiskey Jack walked to the back wall. There was a loose board Luke hadn't noticed before. The old man removed it. Behind it was a small compartment. Inside was a folded map.
Luke stared. "How many secrets are in this place?"
Whiskey Jack gave a tired smile. "More than either of us would like."
The map showed the river. Several locations were marked. One was circled.
Cypress Hollow.
Luke frowned. "What is that?"
Whiskey Jack's face changed. "Where Thomas was last seen."
They reached Cypress Hollow just before noon.
The place was exactly what Luke expected. Quiet. Forgotten. The kind of place people avoided without knowing why.
The old cypress trees stood twisted above the water. The ground was soft. The air heavy.
Whiskey Jack stopped. "This is where I leave you."
Luke looked at him. "What?"
"I've been here before."
"Then why leave?"
The old man looked at the trees. "Because I remember what I found."
Luke waited.
Finally Whiskey Jack said: "I found Thomas's coat."
A chill moved through Luke. "Only his coat?"
The old man nodded. "No body."
Luke looked toward the water. "Did you tell my father?"
"Yes."
"What did he do?"
Whiskey Jack looked at him. "He cried."
Luke froze. He had never imagined that. His father. A man who always seemed unbreakable. Crying.
"Then he got angry." Whiskey Jack's voice lowered. "And Sam McCall was a dangerous man when someone hurt the people he loved."
Luke searched the area carefully. Not like a soldier. Not like a detective. Like a son. He looked for anything his father might have missed. Anything Thomas might have left behind.
Hours passed. Then he saw it. A piece of metal half-buried beneath the roots of a tree. He dug it out. A small silver pendant.
Inside was a photograph. Thomas. A lady. And a little girl.
Luke stared. He knew immediately. This wasn't just something Thomas carried. It was something someone wanted hidden. He turned it over.
Engraved on the back were three words.
Cypress Hollow. Remember.
Luke looked at Whiskey Jack. "What does this mean?"
The old man stepped closer. His face went pale. "I don't know."
But Luke knew. Whiskey Jack was lying. And this time...Luke saw it.
That evening, Luke returned to Belle Rive. He didn't go home.
He went to the one place where people talked when they shouldn't. The Blue Heron Roadhouse.
Elizabeth was cleaning glasses when he walked in.
She looked up. "What happened?"
Luke placed the pendant on the bar.
She froze. Her hand went to her mouth. "Where did you find this?"
"Cypress Hollow."
The color drained from her face. "No."
Luke leaned closer. "What?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "Thomas had that the night he disappeared."
Luke stared. "How do you know?"
She whispered: "Because my Mom gave it to him."
Silence. Then she touched the pendant. "That means..."
Luke waited.
She looked at him. "Thomas wasn't taken from Cypress Hollow."
A pause.
"He went there because someone called him."
"Who?"
Elizabeth closed her eyes. And when she opened them… Not for herself. For Luke.
"The person who called him..." She swallowed."...was your father."
Luke felt like the room tilted. "My father?"
Elizabeth nodded. "But Luke..." Her voice broke. "Your father wasn't calling him to hurt him.
"Then why?" She looked toward the door. "Because Sam had discovered who betrayed them."