Angela had always remembered Robert Bennett as a loving father. He worked long hours, helped with homework, attended school performances, and never missed her birthday. Yet he'd apparently spent decades hiding the existence of another child. David explained that Robert arranged for him to stay temporarily with a woman named Helen. Later, circumstances changed, and David entered the adoption system under a different surname.
He never understood why his foster family disappeared.
His adoptive mother eventually told him that Robert had been frightened of someone.
"Did you ever try finding us?" Angela asked.
David nodded.
"Many times."
"Why didn't you succeed?"
"Records were incomplete. Names had changed. And every time I found another lead, it disappeared."
Angela showed him Ruth's letter.
David read it slowly.
When he reached the passage describing Evelyn's determination to protect him, tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I thought she stopped loving me."
Angela took his hand.
"She died trying to protect you."
David covered his face.
After several minutes, he retrieved a wooden box from a bedroom closet.
Inside were letters, photographs, and a folded document addressed to him.
"This came from Robert," he explained.
Angela recognized her father's handwriting.
The letter described the night of the fire.
Robert had returned home unexpectedly after learning Evelyn believed someone was following her.
When he arrived, smoke was already escaping from an upstairs window.
He entered through the rear door and found Daniel hiding beneath the kitchen table.
Evelyn was upstairs.
Robert tried to reach her, but the staircase was burning.
He carried Daniel outside and attempted to return.
Firefighters stopped him because the interior was collapsing.
Angela pressed the letter against her chest.
Robert had lived knowing he'd been unable to save his wife.
The letter continued.
Shortly after the fire, an anonymous caller warned Robert that Angela would disappear if he revealed where Daniel had been taken.
Terrified, he moved Daniel to a temporary home.
He planned to bring him back once the danger passed.
But the threats continued.
Eventually, Robert lost contact with Daniel's caretakers.
He spent years trying to locate him without success.
At the bottom of the letter, Robert mentioned Thomas Whitaker.
Thomas knows where Samuel hid the evidence. If anything happens to me, find him.
Angela looked at David.
"Did you ever contact Thomas?"
David shook his head.
"I didn't know where he was."
Angela wiped her tears.
"He's alive."
David stared at her.
"Thomas?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Angela managed a small smile.
"At Briarwood General Hospital."
David looked stunned.
Then Angela added, "And the person who found him was my son."
For the first time that morning, David smiled through his tears.
"I think I'd like to meet them both."