Chapter 13 - My father was alive.The words made no sense.
Yet there he stood.
Daniel Bennett.
The man I had buried five years ago because my mother told me he had died before I was born.
I couldn't move.
He took one step forward.
"Nora."
"Don't."
My voice broke.
He stopped.
"You died."
"I needed everyone to believe that."
"Everyone?"
His eyes shifted to Adrian.
"Especially him."
Adrian's gun was already raised.
Daniel looked amused.
"You haven't changed."
"I should have killed you six years ago."
"You tried."
Leo stepped behind me.
"Who is he?"
I couldn't answer.
Daniel looked at him.
"That is my grandson."
Adrian moved.
"Stay away from him."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"You still think this is about your son."
"What is it about?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Her."
I felt cold.
"Why?"
"Because Echo was never designed to control governments."
"Then what?"
"It was designed to control memory."
I shook my head.
Daniel continued.
"Money can be stolen. Weapons can be destroyed. But information stored inside the human brain cannot be hacked like a computer."
He pointed toward me.
"Your mother figured out how to hide an entire database inside one person's neural patterns."
"And that person was me."
"Yes."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because Elena erased the access path."
I touched my temple.
"Then why can Alex find me?"
"Because he has the other half."
"What other half?"
Daniel looked at Leo.
"The biological key."
Everything clicked.
Leo.
The archive.
My memories.
Echo.
They weren't separate.
They were two halves of the same system.
Daniel's voice lowered.
"Hale wants access."
"So does Alex."
"They're working together."
"No."
Daniel shook his head.
"They were."
"What changed?"
"Alex wants something else."
"What?"
Daniel looked at Adrian.
"Revenge."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"For what?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"For killing his family."
Adrian's eyes became dangerous.
"I never killed his family."
Daniel shook his head.
"Your father did."
Silence.
The Voss family had a history neither Adrian nor Maya had told me.
Daniel pulled a photograph from his coat.
Two boys.
Alex and Adrian.
Their father stood behind them.
And beside him was my mother.
"Elena worked for your family?"
Daniel nodded.
"She discovered your father was using Echo to manipulate witnesses."
Adrian stared at the photograph.
"My father."
"He ordered the destruction of an entire medical facility."
"Why?"
"Because patients had seen something."
"What?"
Daniel looked at me.
"An experiment."
My stomach twisted.
"What experiment?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he handed me the black drive.
"Open it."
Adrian stopped him.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"You've been protecting Leo from the truth for six years."
"Because he's a child."
"And now?"
Adrian glanced at his son.
"Now I protect him from you."
Daniel smiled.
"Then perhaps you'll finally understand."
A gunshot exploded.
Daniel jerked.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Adrian grabbed me.
Leo screamed.
Another shot.
The lights went out.
When they came back, Daniel was gone.
Only the black drive remained.
I picked it up.
A message appeared.
COME TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE ELENA WORKED. ALONE.
Below it:
BRING LEO.
Adrian looked over my shoulder.
"No."
"We have to."
"No."
"He wants Leo."
"Exactly."
"We need to know why."
"I said no."
I turned to him.
"You can't keep protecting us by locking us in rooms."
His expression hardened.
"I can try."
"Adrian."
He stepped closer.
"Every person who gets close to you ends up dead."
My chest tightened.
"Then maybe I'm not afraid of dying."
He stared at me.
"You should be."
"Are you?"
His expression shifted.
"Terrified."
The word hung between us.
Then his hand touched my face.
For a moment, everything disappeared.
The alarms.
The weapons.
The lies.
Only his eyes remained.
"I was terrified the moment you threw yourself over Leo."
I whispered,
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because I knew I would never be able to watch you die."
Before I could answer, he kissed me.
It wasn't gentle.
It was desperate.
A confession without words.
Then Leo's voice came from the doorway.
"Papa?"
Adrian stepped back.
We both turned.
Leo was holding the black drive.
His face was pale.
"I know where Mama is."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
Leo pointed toward the window.
"The hospital."
May you like
Then he whispered,
"She's waiting for me."
