Chapter 5 - THE MAN I CALLED MY FRIENDI called Ethan that night.
He answered on the second ring.
“Tom?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“At home.”
“Are you alone?”
Another pause.
“Why?”
“I found a photograph.”
Silence.
“You need to come over.”
“What's wrong?”
“Julian Cross.”
Nothing.
Then Ethan said,
“I told you to stay away from that name.”
I looked at Daniel.
He heard it too.
“You've known about Julian's connection to Caleb?”
“I know enough to tell you this isn't safe.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Tom, where's Claire?”
I looked toward the kitchen.
“Why?”
“Because she should not be there.”
I felt my pulse rise.
“What does that mean?”
“Listen carefully. You have twenty minutes.”
“Until what?”
“The people who buried this story realize you've opened it.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Rachel.
“You know Ethan?”
She nodded.
“He worked for Julian.”
“Doing what?”
“He handled security.”
Daniel stood.
“Then he knows about the vault.”
“What vault?”
Rachel stared at him.
“The one this key opens.”
We left the house.
Not because I wanted to.
Because Daniel insisted.
He drove.
Rachel sat beside him.
Caleb sat with me in the back seat.
Claire remained behind.
I told her she could come with us.
She refused.
That was a mistake.
At seven sixteen, Ethan called again.
His voice was different.
Low.
“We need to talk.”
“You said twenty minutes.”
“You have ten.”
“Where?”
“The old Cross warehouse.”
“Why there?”
“Because that's where the original records are.”
I looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
“Send me the address.”
Ethan did.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into an abandoned warehouse near the river.
The building looked empty.
Too empty.
No lights.
No security.
No cars.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“This feels wrong.”
Ethan appeared from inside.
He looked exhausted.
“Where's Claire?”
“At home.”
“That's a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because she was supposed to come.”
“Why?”
Ethan looked at Caleb.
“Because this started with her.”
I stepped in front of my son.
“Explain.”
Ethan took a breath.
“Julian had three rules.”
“What rules?”
“Never trust the mother.”
“Rachel?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Claire.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
“Maybe.”
He pointed to Caleb.
“But the boy is proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Julian was not trying to hide him from the world.”
“Then what?”
“He was hiding the world from him.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan pulled an old file from his coat.
Inside were medical evaluations.
Psychological reports.
School records.
Photographs.
“He wanted Caleb to forget.”
“Forget what?”
“Where he came from.”
Rachel grabbed the file.
“No.”
She flipped through the pages.
Her hands shook.
“I knew this program existed.”
“What program?”
Ethan answered.
“Conditioning.”
The word made my stomach turn.
“Julian used private doctors.”
“For what?”
“To erase memories.”
Caleb suddenly spoke.
“I remember.”
Everyone looked at him.
He stared at the floor.
“I remember a room.”
“What room?”
“A white room.”
Rachel crouched.
“What happened there?”
Caleb closed his eyes.
“A man told me to sleep.”
“What else?”
“He said Mom was dead.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
“Who told you that?”
Caleb opened his eyes.
“Dad.”
Rachel looked at me.
“His father?”
Caleb nodded.
“He used to come sometimes.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“Julian saw Caleb after the adoption?”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He owned the house.”
I turned toward Daniel.
“What does he mean?”
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“Thomas.”
“What?”
“The property records.”
He pulled out his phone.
“The house was purchased by a holding company.”
“Whose?”
He showed me.
Cross Holdings.
Julian Cross.
I stared at the screen.
We had been living in a house owned by the man who supposedly had nothing to do with Caleb.
For six years.
Then every light in the warehouse came on.
All at once.
A dozen armed men stepped from the shadows.
Ethan swore.
Daniel shoved Caleb behind him.
Rachel whispered,
“Thomas…”
I looked at Ethan.
He raised both hands.
“I told you we were out of time.”
A man stepped forward.
He looked at Caleb.
Then at me.
“My employer wants the boy.”
“Who is your employer?”
He smiled.
“You already know him.”
He held up a photograph.
May you like
Julian Cross.
Alive.
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