Chapter 7 - The Brother Who Came HomeI woke in a hospital room.White ceiling.
Beeping monitor.
Evan asleep in a chair beside me.
Elias stood at the window.
He turned when my eyes opened.
“You're awake.”
“What happened?”
“The cellar partially collapsed.”
“Victor?”
“Gone.”
“Daniel?”
His silence answered before his words.
“We found something.”
He placed a file on my bed.
Inside was a surveillance photograph.
A man leaving a train station.
Hat.
Dark coat.
Face partially covered.
But the posture was unmistakable.
Daniel.
My hands shook.
“Where?”
“South Station.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn't you know?”
“Because I didn't have this.”
He handed me another photograph.
Daniel standing outside a coffee shop.
Alive.
The date was two weeks later.
Then another.
A motel.
Another.
A church.
Another.
An apartment building.
Daniel appeared in all of them.
Always alone.
Always watching his surroundings.
I couldn't breathe.
“My brother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he now?”
“We don't know.”
Elias moved closer.
“But we found the person he was meeting.”
The door opened.
Gabriel entered.
He was pale.
Weak.
But alive.
Elias turned.
“You shouldn't be walking.”
Gabriel ignored him.
He looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For letting you believe your brother was dead.”
I stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“Never tell you unless the Black Harbor network was compromised.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at Elias.
“Because your brother believed someone close to him would eventually try to use you to find him.”
I turned toward Elias.
“You.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Not Elias.”
“Then who?”
Gabriel took a breath.
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father has been dead for twelve years.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“He wasn't the man you thought he was.”
Elias stared at Gabriel.
“Explain.”
“Your father built Black Harbor.”
Elias's face became unreadable.
“That organization began after his death.”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“It existed before him.”
He looked at me.
“Daniel discovered that your father had worked with Elias's father.”
My mouth went dry.
“What did our fathers do?”
“Money laundering. Arms transfers. Political blackmail.”
“And Daniel found evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then why kill him?”
“Because Daniel found the ledger.”
I remembered the message.
The ledger is a person.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel said:
“The ledger is a survivor.”
“Who?”
He reached into his coat.
Removed an old photograph.
A woman.
Middle-aged.
Standing beside a young Daniel.
I had never seen her.
“Her name is Evelyn Hayes.”
My heart stopped.
“That’s our mother.”
Gabriel nodded.
“No.”
I stared.
“My mother died before Daniel.”
“She disappeared.”
“What?”
“She was the first person to discover Black Harbor.”
I shook my head.
“No. We buried her.”
Gabriel's eyes filled with regret.
“You buried someone.”
I couldn't speak.
Elias stepped forward.
“Who?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Your father's wife.”
The room became ice.
Elias stared.
“My mother?”
“She was alive.”
“Where?”
Gabriel hesitated.
Then:
“Boston.”
Elias's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then he looked at me.
“There's a woman downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
He swallowed.
“She says her name is Evelyn Hayes.”
Evan woke immediately.
“What?”
The door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Older.
Gray hair.
Eyes I had seen in my own face every morning.
My knees almost gave out.
Mom.
Alive.
She looked at me.
Then at Elias.
May you like
And whispered:
“Daniel told me you would come.”
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