Chapter 3 - the pawnshop ticket
Before Daniel could grab the man’s lapel, the stranger pivoted and slipped into the passenger seat of the idling black car. The tires screeched against the curb, and the vehicle vanished around the corner.
Daniel spun around toward the bench.
Ethan had jumped to his feet, pale and wide-eyed, while Lucy clutched her floral bag against her chest like a shield.
"Dad?" Ethan stammered, his voice cracking. "What... what are you doing here?"
Daniel took a deep breath, forcing his racing pulse under control. He knelt down beside the green bench so he was at eye level with both children.
"I followed you, Ethan," Daniel said honestly, keeping his voice calm and gentle. "And right now, I'm glad I did."
Ethan looked down at his sneakers, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't doing anything bad, Dad, I swear—"
"I know you weren't," Daniel interrupted, placing a warm hand on Ethan’s shoulder. "You were feeding a friend. That's not a crime, Ethan. I'm proud of you for having a good heart."
Lucy looked between the two of them, her blue eyes wide with panic. "I shouldn't be here. I have to go."
"Wait, Lucy," Daniel said gently, raising an open hand to show he meant no harm. "That man who was watching you... have you seen him before?"
Lucy swallowed hard. Her lower lip trembled. "He was outside our building yesterday. My mom told me to run inside and lock the chain."
"What is your mother's name, Lucy?"
"Sarah," she whispered. "Sarah Miller."
The name didn't ring any bells in Daniel's mind. But then he remembered what Lucy had said the day before.
"Ethan," Daniel said, turning back to his son. "Yesterday you asked Lucy about a ring. A ring that belonged to Julian."
Ethan glanced at Lucy, who hesitated before reaching into her floral bag. She pulled out a small, crumpled yellow slip of paper and handed it to Daniel.
"Mom dropped it on the floor when she was crying last week," Lucy said softly. "She said if we lose that ring, we lose the only thing my father ever left behind."
Daniel smoothed the paper out with trembling fingers.
It was a pawn ticket from Oak Street Collateral, dated ten days prior. Loan amount: three hundred dollars. Under the description line, written in sloppy blue ballpoint ink: *Men's signet ring, 14k white gold, engraved phoenix crest, interior initials: J.C. to S.M.*
Daniel stared at the faded ink.
The phoenix crest was the exclusive seal of the Carter family estate, designed by Daniel's grandfather. Only three rings had ever been cast with that mold: one for Daniel's father, one for Daniel, and one for Julian.
And Julian's ring had vanished the night of his presumed death eleven years ago.
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Daniel looked up into Lucy’s delicate, innocent face, noticing for the first time the striking curve of her jawline and the intense shade of her blue eyes.
They were the exact same eyes that looked back at Daniel in family portraits every single day.
