Chapter 5 - The Phantom at the Door
Kane’s hand moved with lethal speed, drawing a suppressed pistol from beneath his leather vest. He shoved Rachel behind him, his body shielding her as he took aim at the splintered wooden door.
The door swung inward with a prolonged creak. A silhouette stood framed against the mist of the pine woods, wearing a drenched hooded coat, holding a heavy tactical flashlight.
""Kane?"" a strained, familiar voice rasped.
Rachel's breath caught in her throat. She stepped out from behind Kane, knocking the oil lamp slightly, sending shadows dancing across the walls.
The man lowered his hood. Beneath the rain-slicked hair and a deep scar running from his left temple to his jawline was Daniel. He was thinner, his cheekbones sharper, his eyes shadowed with sleepless years, but it was unquestionably her husband.
""Daniel..."" Rachel gasped, the room tilting beneath her feet.
Daniel stared at her, his lips parting in sheer disbelief. He dropped the flashlight to the floorboards; it rolled, casting light onto his combat boots. ""Rachel? God... Rachel, what did you do? Why did you bring her here, Kane?!""
""I didn't bring her, Danny,"" Kane breathed, lowering his weapon. ""She saved my life in the trauma bay, and Marcus showed up with a kill squad. We had nowhere else to go.""
Daniel lunged forward, closing the distance between them in two strides. His arms wrapped around Rachel with crushing force, burying his face into her hair. Rachel sobbed, clutching his soaked jacket, breathing in the scent of rain, pine, and the unmistakable trace of the man she had mourned for fourteen hundred days.
""You're alive,"" she cried against his neck. ""You let me believe you were ashes.""
""I had to protect you,"" Daniel choked out, tears running into his beard. ""I had to keep Marcus away from Ethan.""
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From the bedroom down the hall, a tiny voice called out into the tense silence: ""Mommy? Is that Daddy's voice?""
Daniel froze, his body going completely rigid.
