Chapter 4: The Name on the Photograph

Kade Mercer had never wanted to hate anyone as badly as he wanted to hate Rhett Calloway at that moment. Standing inside the hidden safety deposit room, with the photograph of his father trembling between his fingers, Kade felt something inside him begin to break. His father was alive. After six years of grief, six years of believing he had lost the most important man in his life, and six years of visiting a grave that now felt like a cruel joke, he had finally received proof that his father had never truly been gone. Yet instead of feeling relieved, Kade felt sick. His father had been watching him, and the name written on the paper in his father's hands was Rhett Calloway.

Kade slowly raised his eyes from the photograph. Rhett stood beside him, his expression unreadable, but Kade noticed the way his jaw tightened when he saw the name. It was a small reaction, almost invisible, but Kade had spent years competing against this man. He knew Rhett's habits, his expressions, and the little signs that appeared whenever something bothered him. This time, Rhett wasn't simply irritated. He looked as though someone had just confirmed a fear he had been trying to keep buried.

Kade's fingers tightened around the photograph until the edges bent. Why was his father holding Rhett's name? Why had he been watching them? And why had Rhett gone completely silent?

Kade took a step away from him. Rhett immediately noticed.

Kade's voice came out rougher than he intended. Tell me what this means.

Rhett looked at the photograph instead of answering. For several seconds, he seemed to be fighting with himself, deciding whether to speak or continue hiding behind the walls he had built between them. The silence made Kade's chest tighten. He had spent the entire morning discovering one lie after another, and he was running out of patience for people who thought they could decide which truths he deserved to know.

I asked you a question, Kade snapped. My father is alive, he's been watching me, and he's holding your name in his hands. So tell me why.

Rhett finally lifted his eyes. I don't know why he has my name.

Kade let out a bitter laugh, but there was no humor in it. Of course you don't. You never know anything when I ask the right questions. You knew my father. You knew he was investigating something dangerous. You knew he asked you to protect me, and you stood beside me for years while I believed he was dead. Now I'm supposed to believe you have no idea why he's looking for you?

I'm not asking you to believe anything, Rhett replied, his voice unusually quiet. I'm telling you the truth.

The words should have meant something, but Kade couldn't make himself accept them. He looked down at the photograph again. His father appeared older than he remembered, with gray hair at his temples and a scar running along one side of his face. Yet his eyes were unmistakable. Kade had those same eyes, the same stubborn expression, and the same habit of pressing his lips together when he was thinking. This was not an old photograph someone had altered. The date on the back was yesterday.

His father had been alive yesterday.

He could have been anywhere. He could have called. He could have sent a message. He could have found a way to tell Kade that he was alive, that he had not abandoned him, that the six years of grief had been built on a lie. Instead, his father had chosen to stand in the shadows and watch him from a distance.

Kade's throat tightened painfully. He remembered the funeral, the black clothes, the quiet voices of people telling him to be strong. He remembered his mother sitting on the edge of her bed, holding one of his father's shirts against her chest. He remembered the nights he had cried into his pillow because he didn't want anyone to see how much he missed the man who had taught him to play basketball.

All that time, his father had been breathing somewhere.

The thought was almost unbearable.

I need a minute, Kade whispered.

He turned away before Rhett could respond, pressing his palm against the cold metal cabinet beside him. His breathing had become shallow, and he hated that Rhett was close enough to notice. Kade had built his entire reputation on being difficult to break. On the court, he could take a hard foul, get back on his feet, and stare down the player who had knocked him over. He could lose a game and return the next day determined to win. But there was no training for discovering that your dead father was alive and that the person you trusted least might somehow be involved.

Rhett moved closer, then stopped when Kade turned sharply toward him.

Don't touch me.

Rhett froze. Something painful flickered across his face before he stepped back.

Fine, he said. But we need to leave. Someone triggered the security alarm, and whoever did it may still be inside this building.

Kade wanted to tell him that he didn't care. He wanted to stay there until the walls gave him every answer his father had hidden. But the distant alarm continued to ring, and footsteps echoed somewhere beyond the locked door. Whoever had accessed the other safety deposit box might already know they had opened box 317.

Kade slipped the photograph into his jacket, collected the contract and the black envelope, and followed Rhett toward the exit. He didn't walk beside him this time. He kept several feet between them, watching Rhett's every movement as though he were looking at a stranger wearing the face of his rival.

They reached the corridor just as two security officers appeared at the far end. Rhett immediately caught Kade's wrist and pulled him toward a narrow service passage.

Kade jerked his arm free. Don't grab me.

Then stop standing in the middle of the corridor, Rhett muttered, glancing over his shoulder. Unless you want to explain why we broke into a restricted room.

Kade followed him through the passage, furious that even now Rhett could sound so irritatingly calm. They emerged through a side entrance into the cold morning air. Rhett didn't stop until they reached the parking area behind the administration building, where his car was waiting beneath a tree.

Kade refused to get inside.

Rhett leaned against the driver's door and studied him. You can be angry with me in the car. You can insult me for the entire drive. You can even threaten to ruin my life when we get back to the dorms. But if you stay here, whoever is following us will have an easier time finding you.

Kade stared at him. You make it sound like you know exactly who's following us.

I know someone is watching you. We have proof of that.

No. We have proof that someone was watching us in the arena. We have proof that my father is alive. And we have proof that he has your name. Every time we discover something, you act like you already expected it.

Rhett's expression hardened. You think I wanted any of this?

I think you know more than you're telling me.