Chapter 12 - What My Father Had DoneThe truth was worse than I ever imagined
It was Gabriel Voss.
He stepped from the shadows slowly.
No gun raised.
No guards.
Just a smile.
“You finally found the photograph.”
Dad stared at him.
“You planted it.”
Voss shook his head.
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
He looked at me.
“Ask your father.”
I turned.
“Dad?”
Frank's face was gray.
Voss smiled.
“You deserved to know years ago.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“I was undercover.”
Voss laughed.
“That's what he tells himself.”
Then Voss began talking.
Twenty-five years ago, Frank Sullivan had infiltrated Voss's network.
He was supposed to destroy it from within.
But the operation lasted too long.
Frank became trapped.
He made deals.
He protected certain people.
He let crimes continue so he could reach the organization at its center.
Then one operation went wrong.
Five women disappeared.
Frank knew where they were.
But revealing the location would expose his identity and destroy the investigation.
So he waited.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became months.
By the time he acted, five women were gone.
Forty-three people followed.
I couldn't breathe.
“Is it true?”
Dad looked at me.
“Yes.”
I stepped away.
“You knew.”
“I knew some.”
“You let them suffer.”
“I was trying to end something bigger.”
“You sacrificed them.”
His voice broke.
“I thought I could save more.”
I laughed through my tears.
“That is what monsters say.”
Dad flinched.
Voss smiled.
“Now you understand.”
He pointed toward Robert.
“Your husband was raised to continue the work.”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
“You were.”
“No.”
“Your father knew.”
Robert stared at Dad.
“What father?”
That sentence hung in the tunnel.
Voss smiled.
“Leonard Hale was never your father.”
Robert looked confused.
“I told you that already.”
“No.”
Voss shook his head.
“Your real father was Frank Sullivan.”
Silence.
I stared at my father.
Robert stared at me.
Dad didn't move.
The world seemed to tilt.
“What did you say?”
Voss laughed softly.
“Robert is your half-brother.”
I couldn't understand the words.
Diane had been with Frank.
Robert was Frank's son.
Then why?
Dad finally spoke.
“One night.”
His voice was barely audible.
“I was with Diane while undercover.”
Robert's face crumbled.
“You knew?”
Dad looked at him.
“I didn't know you were my son until years later.”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
Voss continued.
“You married his daughter.”
Robert stepped backward.
“No.”
“You were ordered to spy on your sister.”
Robert looked physically sick.
He turned toward me.
Every memory shattered again.
Dad had known.
Diane had known.
Voss had known.
And Robert had unknowingly been used to destroy his own family.
I couldn't speak.
Then Dad walked toward Robert.
“I am sorry.”
Robert punched him.
Dad didn't defend himself.
Robert hit him again.
Then he collapsed against the wall.
Voss watched.
“You see?”
He looked at me.
“This is why families are useful.”
Then alarms sounded.
Police.
Hundreds of footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Voss smiled.
“We don't have much time.”
He pulled a remote from his pocket.
“If I press this, the archive burns.”
Dad looked at him.
“What do you want?”
Voss looked at me.
“Her.”
My heart stopped.
“Come with me.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
Voss lifted the remote.
“Then your father's history disappears forever.”
Dad whispered:
“Elena, don't.”
I looked at the files.
At Maya.
At Robert.
At my father.
Then I stepped forward.
“Fine.”
I raised my hands.
“I'll go.”
Voss smiled.
But he didn't notice what I had taken from the archive.
May you like
The original case file.
And inside it was the one piece of evidence that could destroy him.
