Chapter 6: The Night Ava Remembered
I couldn't take my eyes off Serena.
Ava's words had barely left her mouth, yet they seemed to hang in the air like a verdict.
"Mommy was there."
Serena shook her head.
"No, sweetheart."
Ava backed away from her.
"Don't call me sweetheart."
The expression on Serena's face broke.
For the first time, she looked less like the woman who had raised my children and more like a stranger caught in the middle of a crime.
I turned toward my mother.
She was still sitting inside Thomas's SUV.
Alive.
After nine years of believing she was dead.
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to tear open that car door.
I wanted to demand every answer she'd stolen from me.
But Marcus grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"That's my mother."
"And that's exactly why this is dangerous."
Thomas smiled from across the road.
"Marcus is right."
I glared at him.
"You don't get to tell me what's dangerous."
Thomas shrugged.
"Then let me make this simple."
He raised his phone.
"One step toward me, and the woman in that car dies."
My mother shook her head desperately.
"Daniel, don't!"
Her voice was weak.
But it was definitely hers.
I felt my eyes burn.
"Mom?"
She pressed her hand against the window.
"I'm sorry."
That was all she said.
I'm sorry.
Nine years.
One sentence.
I looked at Serena.
"Why did you tell me she was dead?"
She couldn't answer.
Thomas did.
"Because she needed to disappear."
"From who?"
"Your father."
Again, that name.
My dead father.
The man I had mourned for eleven years.
The man who apparently wasn't dead.
The man whose secrets had somehow connected every person standing around me.
I looked at Thomas.
"Where is my father?"
Thomas's smile faded.
"He's dead."
"You just said he was alive."
"I said he disappeared."
"Where did he go?"
Thomas looked toward my mother.
She lowered her head.
Then Thomas said:
"Ask her."
I stared at my mother.
She slowly opened the SUV door.
Two armed men stepped forward.
Marcus immediately raised his gun.
"Back away."
Thomas laughed.
"You still think you're in control."
Marcus's finger tightened around the trigger.
I stepped between them.
"Nobody shoots."
Everyone froze.
I looked at Thomas.
"I'll come with you."
Marcus grabbed my arm.
"No."
"I have to."
"You'll be killed."
"Maybe."
I looked at Ava.
"But if I don't, he kills my mother."
Marcus stared at me.
Then he lowered his weapon.
"There's another way."
Thomas smiled.
"There isn't."
I looked at Serena.
She was crying silently.
"Tell me the truth."
She shook her head.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you, they kill you."
"Who?"
She looked toward Thomas.
Then toward my mother.
Then finally at Ava.
"They're not the only ones."
My stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Serena whispered:
"Thomas works for someone."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, a gunshot cracked through the night.
Everyone ducked.
The rear window of Thomas's SUV shattered.
My mother screamed.
I ran forward.
Marcus tackled me to the ground.
"Get down!"
Another shot.
Then another.
Thomas's men scattered.
The black SUVs erupted into chaos.
Someone was shooting from the trees.
Thomas shouted:
"Find the shooter!"
Marcus dragged me behind a vehicle.
"Who is that?"
"Not us."
"Not Thomas?"
"No."
I looked toward Serena.
She had pulled Ava behind a tree.
Noah wasn't with us.
The thought hit me.
"Where's Noah?"
Serena's face went blank.
"What?"
"Noah."
She looked around.
Ava grabbed my hand.
"Daddy..."
"Where's your brother?"
"He was in the house."
I turned toward the house.
My blood froze.
"Who was watching him?"
Nobody answered.
I ran.
Marcus shouted after me.
"Daniel!"
I ignored him.
I sprinted toward the back door.
The house was dark.
Every light had been turned off.
I called out.
"Noah!"
Nothing.
I ran upstairs.
His bedroom door was open.
The bed was empty.
His blanket was on the floor.
The window was open.
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"Noah!"
Then I saw something on his pillow.
A photograph.
My hands shook as I picked it up.
It showed Noah sleeping.
Taken from inside his bedroom.
On the back was one sentence.
"You should have come home earlier."
I nearly collapsed.
Someone had been inside my son's room.
While we were in the basement.
While we were running through the tunnel.
Someone had taken Noah.
I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned.
Serena stood in the doorway.
She was crying.
"Where is he?"
I grabbed her shoulders.
"Where is my son?"
"I don't know."
"You know something."
"I swear I don't."
"You've been lying to me for years!"
"I know."
"Then tell me now!"
She stared at me.
"I didn't take him."
"Who did?"
She whispered:
"The person I was protecting him from."
"Who?"
Serena looked toward the hallway.
Then she said:
"Claire."
I froze.
"Claire is alive?"
Serena nodded.
"She's been alive."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"No."
She shook her head desperately.
"Claire has been searching for Ava."
"Why?"
"Because Ava isn't the only child."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"There were twelve."
"Twelve what?"
"Children."
Her voice cracked.
"Twelve children were involved in your father's research."
I felt sick.
"Where are they?"
"Some died."
"And the others?"
"Some disappeared."
I looked at the photograph of Noah.
"And Noah?"
She swallowed.
"He was never supposed to be involved."
"What does that mean?"
Serena closed her eyes.
"Someone realized you had discovered the basement."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Claire."
My blood ran cold.
"Why would Claire take Noah?"
"She didn't."
Serena looked at me.
"Someone wants you to think she did."
I heard a sound behind us.
A faint electronic beep.
I turned.
There was a small device attached beneath Noah's bed.
A red light blinked.
Marcus rushed into the room.
"Don't touch it!"
Too late.
The device suddenly activated.
A video appeared on the wall.
Noah was sitting in a dark room.
His hands were tied.
His face was wet with tears.
I nearly stopped breathing.
"Daddy?"
I stepped toward the projection.
"Noah!"
He looked directly into the camera.
"Daddy, please..."
Then another voice came from behind him.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Cold.
"Hello, Daniel."
I knew that voice.
I had heard it before.
Not tonight.
Not in person.
On the recording.
The voice from the basement.
The voice that had said:
"You promised me they'd disappear."
My stomach turned.
The woman stepped into the frame.
Her face appeared.
And Serena whispered behind me:
"That's Claire."
The woman smiled at the camera.
Then she said:
"Now you finally know who I am."
She leaned toward Noah.
"Your son is safe."
Then her smile disappeared.
"For now."
The screen went black.
I turned toward Serena.
"Where is she?"
Serena was shaking.
"I don't know."
Marcus looked at the device.
"There's a tracker."
He pulled out his phone.
"She's nearby."
"How nearby?"
He looked at the screen.
Then his face changed.
"Very."
I looked at him.
"Where?"
He pointed toward the basement.
"Under this house."
My heart stopped.
"No."
Marcus nodded.
"There's another level."
Serena whispered:
"That's impossible."
Marcus looked at her.
"You knew there was a basement."
"I didn't know there was another one."
Marcus turned to me.
"Then we're going down."
We returned to the basement.
Behind the black door was a second staircase.
One we hadn't noticed.
It descended beneath the house.
As we reached the bottom, we heard something.
A child crying.
I ran toward the sound.
"Noah!"
The crying stopped.
Then came a woman's voice.
"Daniel."
I froze.
Claire.
"You came."
"Where is my son?"
"Right behind the door."
I reached for the handle.
Claire spoke again.
"But before you open it..."
A pause.
"You need to know something about Ava."
I looked at Serena.
She was trembling.
Claire continued:
"Your daughter isn't the victim in this story."
I felt my heart stop.
"Then what is she?"
Claire laughed softly.
"She's the reason all of this started."
May you like
The lock clicked.
And the door slowly opened.
