Chapter 10 - Thomas's Last NightThomas wasn't killed in a car accident.
He was killed in our garage.
I remembered.
It had been three years earlier.
I had walked downstairs because I'd heard shouting.
Thomas was standing beside his car.
Dr. Vale was there.
Another man stood beside him.
The Architect.
I couldn't see his face.
Thomas was holding a small metal device.
“The archive goes public,” Thomas said.
Vale laughed.
“You won't live long enough to send it.”
Then I stepped into the room.
Thomas turned.
His eyes widened.
“Go upstairs, Elena.”
But it was too late.
The Architect's son appeared behind me.
He held a gun.
Thomas moved between us.
The shot hit him.
He collapsed.
I screamed.
Then Vale injected something into my neck.
Everything blurred.
But before I lost consciousness, Thomas grabbed my hand.
“Remember me.”
That was the memory they had buried.
But there was more.
I saw myself waking inside the laboratory.
Oliver was a baby.
Thomas was beside me.
“You need to hide.”
I asked him why.
He said:
“They know about Oliver.”
I looked down at our son.
“What do we do?”
Thomas held my face.
“You will forget tonight.”
“No.”
“You must.”
“I won't.”
“You will.”
Then he whispered the one thing I remembered differently.
“Daniel will save you.”
But that wasn't true.
Daniel had not been there.
I opened my eyes.
I was back in the underground room.
Mara stood over me.
“What did you see?”
“My husband didn't tell me to trust Daniel.”
She froze.
“He told me to distrust him.”
Mara's face changed.
“Then we have a problem.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He was protecting you.”
“No.”
I stood.
“He knew.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You knew what happened that night.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Vale was there.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe Thomas died in an accident.”
“I had no choice.”
I stared at him.
“There is always a choice.”
He looked toward Oliver.
“I made the wrong one.”
Suddenly the screen behind us lit up.
A message appeared.
THOMAS BENNETT ARCHIVE: PHASE TWO
Then:
IDENTITY OF THE ARCHITECT REVEALED
The screen displayed a photograph.
I stared.
My heart stopped.
It wasn't a stranger.
It wasn't a government official.
It wasn't someone I'd never heard of.
It was someone I knew.
Someone who had attended Thomas's funeral.
Someone who had hugged me afterward.
Someone who had told me he was sorry for my loss.
I whispered his name.
“Michael.”
Mara stared.
“Who is Michael?”
I looked at her.
“My husband's brother.”
Daniel's face went pale.
“There is no Michael.”
I shook my head.
“There is.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“Thomas's brother died when he was twelve.”
I stared.
“That isn't what Thomas told me.”
Daniel whispered:
“Because the man you knew as Michael wasn't his brother.”
The screen changed again.
A final message appeared.
ARCHITECT IDENTITY: THOMAS BENNETT
My knees nearly gave out.
“No.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
Then at me.
“Your husband wasn't trying to destroy Black Meridian.”
May you like
He swallowed.
“He created it.”
