Chapter 6 - The Seventh NameThe tunnel beneath Blackthorn was older than the mansion itself.
David held Lily's hand as they moved through darkness.
Arthur walked ahead.
Karen followed behind them.
No one spoke until they reached an underground chamber.
Arthur closed the door.
Metal locks dropped into place.
“We have ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes for what?” David asked.
“For them to find the second entrance.”
David shoved the envelope into Arthur's chest.
“Explain everything.”
Arthur stared at him.
“Your son Benjamin was never legally declared dead.”
David's breathing changed.
“Then where was he taken?”
“A private medical facility.”
“Which one?”
“St. Orlan.”
David knew the name.
It had closed twenty-two years ago.
Arthur saw the question in his eyes.
“Officially.”
David stared.
“What happened there?”
“Children were being hidden. Families paid enormous sums to erase their existence.”
David looked at Karen.
“And she was involved?”
Karen's eyes filled with tears.
“I was twenty-four. I had no power.”
“You knew my son was alive.”
“I knew he survived.”
“You could have told me.”
“They would have killed him.”
“Who?”
Karen pointed at the seventh name.
“Your father.”
David went still.
“My father?”
Arthur nodded.
“Your father discovered Benjamin's existence.”
“Why would he want him dead?”
“Because Benjamin wasn't useful to him.”
Arthur's voice lowered.
“He wanted control of the trust.”
David suddenly remembered something.
His father had always insisted that Lily's mother avoid talking about the family records.
He had also been the last person to speak to Evelyn before her death.
David whispered, “My father's dead.”
“So he can't be the one controlling this.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Not directly.”
A metallic sound echoed from the tunnel.
Someone had found the outer door.
Arthur checked his watch.
“Too soon.”
Then the chamber lights came on.
David stared.
On the opposite wall was a bank of old monitors.
One monitor flickered.
A camera feed appeared.
Lily's bedroom.
Another screen.
The nursery.
Another.
The garage.
Then one showed a small boy sitting in a dark room.
Around ten years old.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
A silver bracelet around his wrist.
David stepped closer.
“Benjamin?”
The boy looked up.
He stared directly into the camera.
Then he smiled.
“Daddy?”
David stopped breathing.
Lily moved beside him.
“That is the boy.”
Arthur whispered, “Impossible.”
“What?”
“That footage is live.”
Karen covered her mouth.
A message appeared beneath the image.
YOU FOUND HIM.
Then another.
NOW FIND WHOSE BLOOD IS ON HIS HANDS.
The screen changed.
A hospital photograph appeared.
Benjamin was lying on a bed.
Beside him stood a nurse.
The nurse was holding a syringe.
David recognized her.
He had seen her in their family records.
She was dead.
Had died twenty years earlier.
Arthur stepped backward.
“No.”
David looked at him.
“What?”
Arthur's face had turned white.
“That woman wasn't a nurse.”
“Then who was she?”
Arthur whispered a name.
“Evelyn.”
David stared at the screen.
His dead wife.
Holding the syringe.
May you like
Then Lily screamed.
The chamber door began to open.
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