She was looking at Ava.
And she looked terrified.
Rachel whispered, “Where did you find the DNA report?”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“Under the tree.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Oh, Sam.”
“What?”
Rachel walked toward them.
“Ethan, there's something you don't know.”
He almost laughed.
“That seems to be the theme tonight.”
Rachel didn't smile.
“The accident wasn't an accident.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What?”
“Samuel helped me stage it.”
Claire stepped backward.
“You made everyone think I was [email protected]?”
Rachel nodded, crying.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because of Vale.”
Vale interrupted.
“Not because of me.”
Rachel glared at him.
“Because of the people you worked for.”
Ethan looked between them.
“What people?”
Vale laughed bitterly.
“You still think I'm the villain.”
“Aren't you?”
“I've spent fifteen years trying to find Samuel's evidence because it could clear my name.”
Ray frowned.
“Clear your name?”
Vale nodded.
“I was an accountant. I discovered the same fraud Samuel discovered.”
Ethan stared.
“You threatened Claire.”
“I needed her to open the box.”
“You sent men here.”
“To scare her into selling.”
“That's supposed to help?”
“No.”
Vale looked ashamed.
“It was wrong.”
“Then why?”
“Because the people behind the fraud are still alive.”
Rachel whispered, “And they know Lily survived.”
Claire pulled Ava closer.
“Who are they?”
Rachel looked at Ethan.
“Ask who signed your discharge papers after Iraq.”
Ethan's face changed.
He remembered.
Colonel Richard Cross.
His father.
A decorated officer.
A man Ethan had worshipped.
A man who d.i.e.d. ten years ago.
“No.”
Rachel nodded.
“Your father ran the network.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“Samuel found out.”
“No.”
“That's why Samuel disappeared. That's why Lily had to disappear.”
Ethan felt sick.
His father had spent years telling him Samuel had d.i.e.d.
His father had comforted him at Lily's funeral.
His father had blamed Ethan's drinking.
His father had watched his son collapse.
And said nothing.
Ethan whispered, “He's gone.”
Rachel's eyes filled with fear.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What?”
“He didn't d.i.e.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Vale looked toward the highway.
“He changed his identity.”
Ray whispered, “Where is he?”
Rachel looked at Ava.
“Closer than you think.”
Ava suddenly spoke.
“Mom?”
Everyone turned.
She pointed toward the old barn.
“There was a man there yesterday.”
Claire froze.
“What man?”
“The man who gave me the bruise.”
Ethan's blood turned to ice.
“You said Vale's man grabbed you.”
Ava shook her head.
“I thought he worked for Mr. Vale.”
“What did he look like?”
“Old.”
Ethan crouched.
“What else?”
“White hair.”
“What did he say?”
Ava hesitated.
“He asked if Grandpa Samuel ever told me where Lily's tree was.”
Nobody moved.
Ethan whispered, “Anything else?”
Ava nodded.
“He said something weird.”
“What?”
“He said I had Ethan's eyes.”
Rachel gasped.
Ethan stood.
The barn door moved.
Just slightly.
Ray saw it.
“Ethan.”
Every head turned.
The sheriff's deputies moved forward.
The barn door slowly opened.
An old man stepped into the light.
White hair.
Straight posture despite his age.
A familiar face carved deeper by twenty years.
Ethan's heart stopped.
“Dad.”
Richard Cross looked at his son.
Then at Claire.
Then Ava.
He smiled.
“You finally found them.”
Ethan couldn't move.
Richard stepped forward.
Deputies raised their hands, ordering him to stop.
He did.
Ethan stared at the man he had mourned for a decade.
“You did all this?”
Richard's smile faded.
“I built something. Other men corrupted it.”
“You tried to make my daughter disappear.”
“I tried to protect my family.”
“By making me believe she was [email protected]?”
“You were drinking yourself unconscious every night. You couldn't protect anyone.”
The words struck exactly where Richard intended.
Ethan stepped forward.
Ray caught his arm.
Richard continued.
“Samuel could.”
Claire stared at the man.
“You knew where I was?”
“Always.”