Chapter 7 - The Dead Man's MessageThe man stood at the edge of the driveway.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar crossed his left cheek.
But the face was unmistakable.
Jaylen ran toward him.
“Dad?”
The man stepped backward.
“No.”
Jaylen froze.
Wendell approached carefully.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him.
“Someone who owes Daniel a debt.”
“You aren't Daniel.”
“No.”
“Then how do you know him?”
The stranger looked toward Jaylen.
“Because I helped him disappear.”
Jaylen stared.
“My father was alive?”
“For a while.”
Wendell's voice sharpened.
“Where is he?”
The man shook his head.
“He died three years ago.”
Jaylen's breathing stopped.
“How?”
“Cancer.”
Jaylen covered his mouth.
The stranger continued.
“He spent his final years protecting you.”
Wendell asked:
“Why fake his death?”
“Because Richard Voss was closing in.”
“What was Daniel hiding?”
The man looked at Wendell.
“Not hiding.”
“Then what?”
“Building.”
He handed Wendell a key.
“Your company archives.”
Wendell looked at it.
“What's this?”
“Locker 317.”
“Where?”
“Old Hayes Research Facility.”
“That building was demolished.”
“Not the lower level.”
Wendell's eyes narrowed.
“What will I find?”
The man looked at Jaylen.
“His father's last work.”
Then he walked away.
Marcus followed, but the stranger disappeared into the woods.
Wendell returned inside.
Jaylen sat silently.
“He was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he come home?”
“Because he believed someone would use you to reach him.”
Jaylen stared at the floor.
“He should have trusted me.”
Wendell sat beside him.
“He was trying to protect you.”
Jaylen wiped his eyes.
“Did he know about Orion?”
“Yes.”
“Did he finish it?”
The question hung in the room.
Wendell looked at the key.
“I think he did.”
They returned to the abandoned research facility after midnight.
The building was condemned.
Broken windows.
Rusting doors.
Dust everywhere.
But the elevator still worked.
Locker 317 was underground.
Wendell opened it.
Inside was a metal case.
A single note sat on top.
WENDELL HAYES: OPEN ONLY IF JAYLEN IS WITH YOU.
Wendell looked at Jaylen.
“It's for you too.”
They opened the case.
Inside was a prototype no larger than a lunchbox.
Jaylen touched it.
“My dad's final design.”
Wendell found a note.
The machine is not the breakthrough.
He read the next line.
The child is.
Wendell slowly looked at Jaylen.
“What does that mean?”
Jaylen didn't know.
Beneath the note was another folder.
Inside were photographs of Jaylen as a child.
Building circuits.
Repairing motors.
Drawing equations.
But one photograph made Wendell stop.
Jaylen was six years old.
Standing beside Daniel.
And behind them stood Richard Voss.
Alive.
Smiling.
Holding his hand on Jaylen's shoulder.
On the back Daniel had written:
Richard found him first.
Wendell's heart sank.
May you like
Because the conspiracy had started years earlier.
And Jaylen had been watched since childhood.
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