Chapter 13: The Brother Raised by the Enemy
No one in the ballroom breathed.
The young man on the screen continued looking directly into the camera.
Into my eyes.
His apology lingered in the silence.
Victor's hand remained on his shoulder, but something had changed.
The confidence that had never left Victor's face flickered for just an instant.
It was enough.
Grandfather saw it.
So did my father.
Grandfather stepped closer to the monitor.
"What is your name?"
Victor smiled.
"He has many."
"His instructors called him Raven."
"The organization knows him as A-17."
Nathan's eyes widened.
"The code..."
The analyst nodded slowly.
"A-17 wasn't a bank account."
"It was a person."
Victor chuckled.
"Very good."
He looked at the young man beside him.
"But once..."
"...he had another name."
The young man closed his eyes.
Victor leaned toward him.
"Tell them."
Several seconds passed.
Finally...
The young man spoke.
"My name..."
His voice almost failed him.
"...was Alexander Sterling."
My knees weakened.
Alexander.
My brother had a name.
Not just a secret.
Not just a ghost.
A name.
Grandfather whispered it softly.
"Alexander..."
It sounded less like a greeting and more like a prayer that had finally been answered.
For the first time since the transmission began...
Emotion crossed Alexander's face.
Recognition.
He remembered the name.
Not completely.
But enough.
Victor noticed.
His expression hardened.
"Careful."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
"I answered your question."
Victor smiled again.
"Indeed."
"But memories are dangerous."
Nathan frowned.
"What did you do to him?"
Victor looked toward the camera.
"I educated him."
Grandfather answered coldly.
"You erased him."
Victor shrugged.
"Identity is merely repetition."
"If a child hears the same story for twenty-eight years..."
"...it becomes truth."
Alexander remained silent.
But his clenched fists betrayed him.
The FBI behavioral analyst whispered to the commander,
"He's conflicted."
"What makes you think that?"
"He apologized before receiving permission to speak."
The analyst watched Alexander carefully.
"That wasn't planned."
My father leaned toward the microphone.
"Alexander."
The young man slowly looked up.
"I'm your father."
Victor laughed.
"No."
"He already has one."
Alexander said nothing.
My father continued.
"When you were born..."
"...your mother held you before anyone else."
Alexander's breathing changed.
"You were wrapped in a blue blanket."
"You stopped crying only when your sister touched your hand."
Victor's smile disappeared.
Alexander frowned.
Fragments.
Tiny fragments.
Something was surfacing.
A feeling.
A memory.
Not clear enough to understand.
But impossible to ignore.
He instinctively looked at his own right hand.
As if searching for something he'd lost.
Victor stepped in front of the camera.
"Enough nostalgia."
He looked directly at Grandfather.
"You have five minutes."
"Five minutes for what?"
Victor smiled.
"Bring Evelyn to the Archive."
"No."
Grandfather answered immediately.
Victor sighed.
"I expected that."
He snapped his fingers.
One of the masked operatives placed a laptop in front of Alexander.
The screen displayed dozens of surveillance feeds.
Hospitals.
Sterling offices.
Private residences.
Family homes.
Victor spoke calmly.
"I have teams in nine countries."
"Every location belongs to your family."
He looked toward me.
"If you refuse..."
"I start making phone calls."
Nathan whispered,
"He's bluffing."
The FBI cyber chief shook his head.
"No."
"The video feeds are live."
I looked at Grandfather.
He already knew what I was going to say.
"No."
He said firmly.
"I won't allow it."
I stood despite the pain.
The medic reached toward me.
I gently moved his hand away.
"If I don't go..."
"...people die."
Grandfather shook his head.
"If you go..."
"...everyone dies."
The room erupted into argument.
"We need more time."
"We storm the tunnels."
"We negotiate."
"We cut communications."
Every voice overlapped.
Only Alexander remained silent.
Watching.
Listening.
Then...
Something unexpected happened.
Alexander spoke.
Quietly.
"So..."
Victor looked at him.
"...this is my family."
Victor answered without hesitation.
"No."
"They abandoned you."
Alexander looked at the screen again.
His eyes settled on Grandfather.
Then my father.
Finally...
On me.
"They look..."
He hesitated.
"...familiar."
Victor's expression darkened.
"Memories are unreliable."
Alexander asked another question.
"Did they search for me?"
Silence.
Victor didn't answer.
Grandfather did.
"Every day."
Alexander blinked.
"For twenty-eight years."
My father stepped forward.
"We buried empty coffins."
"We hired investigators on five continents."
"I refused to declare you dead."
Alexander stared at him.
Victor interrupted.
"They're manipulating you."
Alexander didn't move.
He simply asked,
"Are they lying?"
Victor remained silent.
It was the first direct question he hadn't answered.
The FBI analyst whispered,
"He's losing control."
Grandfather nodded almost imperceptibly.
He saw it too.
Alexander wasn't merely listening anymore.
He was thinking.
Suddenly...
A loud alarm echoed through Victor's corridor.
One of the masked operatives rushed into view.
"Sir!"
Victor turned sharply.
"What happened?"
"The western tunnel."
"What about it?"
"We've lost contact with Team Four."
Victor frowned.
"How?"
"No response."
Victor's calm mask cracked for the first time.
He turned back toward the screen.
"William..."
"What have you done?"
Grandfather smiled.
It was the first genuine smile he'd shown all night.
"I was wondering..."
"...when you'd notice."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"You planned this."
Grandfather nodded.
"Thirty years ago."
Nathan frowned.
"What is he talking about?"
Grandfather looked toward the monitor.
"You always believed Blackthorn Manor had nine entrances."
Victor remained silent.
Grandfather's smile widened.
"It has ten."
The room froze.
Even my father looked surprised.
"What?"
Grandfather nodded.
"I never told anyone."
"Not even you."
Victor's face darkened.
"Impossible."
Grandfather calmly reached into his pocket.
From an old leather case...
He removed a tarnished brass key.
Small.
Plain.
Nothing special.
Yet everyone stared at it.
"The tenth passage..."
He looked directly at Victor.
"...doesn't lead into the Archive."
"It leads..."
He paused.
"...behind you."
Alexander's eyes widened.
Slowly...
He turned around.
The stone wall behind him...
Moved.
A narrow doorway silently opened.
Out of the darkness stepped a lone figure dressed entirely in black.
Victor spun around.
For the first time in thirty years...
Someone had reached him.
And when the stranger removed their mask...
Grandfather whispered a name that no one else in the room recognized.
"Eleanor..."
"My daughter."
The entire ballroom fell silent.
May you like
Because the woman Victor claimed to have murdered twenty-eight years earlier...
Had just walked out of the shadows alive.
