Chapter 2: The Man Who Should Be Dead
Nobody moved.
The stranger outside didn’t knock.
He didn’t wave.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
The diner’s front windows separated him from everyone inside, but somehow that thin layer of glass felt like the only thing keeping them alive.
Marcus slowly stepped closer to Cole.
“Who is that?””
Cole didn’t answer.
His eyes stayed locked on the figure.
Maya stood behind him, gripping the back of his vest.
Her small fingers trembled.
Tasha looked between them.
“You know him.””
It wasn’t a question.
Cole finally looked away.
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
Marcus noticed.
“You’re lying.””
Cole’s jaw tightened.
The man outside raised his hand.
Not waving.
Pointing.
Straight at Maya.
The little girl gasped.
She moved behind Cole completely.
That was enough.
Whatever doubt remained in the room disappeared.
Marcus backed away from the window.
“Call the police.””
Cole didn’t move.
“No.””
Marcus stared.
“No?””
Cole looked at him.
“Not yet.””
“That man is threatening a child.””
“I know.””
“Then why aren’t you doing anything?””
Cole looked back outside.
“Because if he wanted to take her, he would have already tried.””
Nobody understood.
But Cole did.
He understood because he knew the man.
Or at least he thought he did.
Twelve years earlier, Cole had watched him die.
He had stood beside the grave.
He had listened to the dirt hit the wooden box.
He had walked away believing that chapter of his life was over.
But the man outside wasn’t supposed to exist.
The door handle suddenly moved.
Everyone jumped.
The stranger tried opening it.
Locked.
His expression didn’t change.
He simply looked through the glass.
Then he smiled.
Maya began shaking.
Cole noticed.
“What did he do?”” he asked her.
She looked at him.
Her hands moved slowly.
Cole watched.
His face darkened.
“What?”” Marcus asked.
Cole didn’t answer.
“What did she say?””
Cole looked at Maya.
Then at the man outside.
“She said he called her by her mother’s name.””
The room became silent.
Marcus frowned.
“Her mother?””
Cole nodded.
Maya continued signing.
Cole watched each movement.
Then his expression changed.
“She said he told her…”
He stopped.
“What?””
Cole looked toward the door.
“He told her that her father was still alive.””
The words hit harder than anyone expected.
Tasha looked at Maya.
“Her father?””
Marcus shook his head.
“No. That doesn’t make sense.””
Cole didn’t respond.
Because it did make sense.
Too much sense.
Maya’s father was the reason Cole knew that man.
The reason he had spent twelve years trying to forget.
The reason he had changed his name.
His life.
Everything.
The stranger outside knocked once.
A calm, polite knock.
Almost friendly.
Then he spoke through the glass.
“Maya.””
The girl covered her ears.
Cole stepped in front of her.
The man smiled.
“I know you can hear me.””
Marcus looked horrified.
“You know this guy?””
Cole stared outside.
Finally, he answered.
“Yes.””
The entire diner waited.
Cole’s voice dropped.
“His name is Daniel Voss.””
Tasha frowned.
“Who is that?””
Cole looked at the people around him.
“A man who should have died twelve years ago.””
The stranger outside smiled wider.
Then he reached into his coat.
Several customers screamed.
Cole moved instantly.
But Daniel didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out a photograph.
He held it against the glass.
Cole saw it.
And everything inside him stopped.
Because the picture showed three people.
A younger Cole.
A woman he had loved.
And a baby.
Maya.
Marcus looked at Cole.
“What is that?””
Cole didn’t answer.
His eyes were fixed on the photograph.
Because written on the back, visible through the glass, were four words.
May you like
Four words that turned the impossible into reality.
Maya’s father is alive.
