Chapter 8 - The Other SonThe man on the monitor moved through the garage with the confidence of someone who knew the house better than Daniel did.
He stopped beneath the security camera.
“Daniel,” he said again.
Evan whispered, “Don't answer.”
Daniel walked toward the screen anyway.
“Where is my father?”
The man smiled.
“You're still asking the wrong question.”
“Who are you?”
“Your father's solution.”
Daniel frowned.
The man turned his head slightly.
“Or perhaps his greatest mistake.”
The feed cut.
Evan rushed downstairs.
Daniel followed.
Vanessa stayed with Lily.
They reached the garage.
Empty.
Only a black coat lay on the concrete.
Inside one pocket was a photograph.
It showed Daniel as a child.
Beside him stood another boy.
Same age.
Same face.
Daniel stared.
“What is this?”
Evan took the photograph.
His expression changed.
“The other child.”
“What other child?”
“Richard's second son.”
Daniel went still.
“My father had another son?”
Vanessa appeared behind them.
“Yes.”
Daniel turned.
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
The boy beside him looked exactly like Daniel.
“That's impossible.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“They were identical twins.”
Daniel's mind struggled to catch up.
“My father never told me.”
“He couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian was the original Echo subject.”
Daniel stared.
Evan spoke quietly.
“Your grandfather wanted the system to recognize a specific genetic profile. Adrian had it.”
“What happened to him?”
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“He died when he was nine.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Why?”
“No one knows.”
Daniel felt suddenly cold.
“Where is the body?”
Silence.
That was the answer.
There was no body.
The man on the monitor had Adrian's face.
But Adrian had supposedly been dead for twenty years.
Daniel looked toward the house.
“Then who is that?”
Evan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel returned to the study.
He searched old family files.
Eventually, he found a sealed envelope hidden beneath a false drawer.
Inside was a letter from his father.
Daniel unfolded it.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, you have learned about Adrian.
You will probably believe your brother died.
He did not.
Daniel's hands trembled.
Adrian was taken by Orpheus. They believed they could force the Echo system to accept him as its administrator. They failed.
Then they discovered something worse.
Daniel turned the page.
You were born with a different variation of the same marker.
He stopped.
You were the backup.
Daniel stared.
A sound came from behind him.
Vanessa.
She stood in the doorway.
“I wanted to tell you.”
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“My entire life.”
“Yes.”
“And Adrian?”
“Alive.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why now?”
“Because he knows about Lily.”
The bedroom monitor suddenly switched on.
Lily was gone.
Daniel ran upstairs.
The room was empty.
The window was open.
A note lay on the bed.
YOU HAD TWENTY YEARS TO FIND YOUR BROTHER.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO FIND YOUR DAUGHTER.
Evan looked at the note.
“There's a location.”
On the bottom was a set of coordinates.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“Let's go.”
Vanessa blocked him.
“I'm coming.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You put Lily in danger.”
Vanessa's voice shook.
“I know.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Then why should I let you come?”
“Because Adrian took Lily for one reason.”
“What?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“To force you to open Echo.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“And if I refuse?”
Vanessa looked toward the dark window.
“He won't kill Lily.”
“Then what?”
“He'll make you choose which child lives.”
Daniel froze.
“Which child?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Lily.”
May you like
She paused.
“And Adrian's.”
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