Chapter 3 - The EscapeThe blast threw me backward.
My shoulder struck the wall.
Wood splintered across the room.
Three men rushed through the doorway wearing dark jackets.
Dad shoved me behind the couch.
"Stay down!"
A gunshot shattered the television.
I screamed.
Dad moved with terrifying speed.
He grabbed a heavy lamp and swung it into the first man's face.
The attacker dropped.
The second raised his weapon.
Dad tackled him.
I crawled toward the kitchen.
Another shot.
Glass exploded above my head.
I reached for the fire extinguisher.
I had no idea why.
Fear had taken over.
I ripped it from the wall and slammed it into the man's shoulder.
He staggered.
Dad kicked the gun away.
"RUN!"
We went through the back door.
Down the fire escape.
Cold air hit my face.
We landed in the alley.
Sirens began somewhere in the distance.
I turned toward Dad.
"Who are they?"
"Not here."
"You owe me answers."
"You'll get them."
"When?"
"When you're somewhere safe."
He grabbed my arm.
I pulled free.
"You said Mom was dead."
He stopped.
"I know."
"You let me believe that for ten years."
"I know."
"My brother called me."
"I know."
"Maya called me."
"I know."
"And you still expect me to follow you?"
Dad looked at me.
Then he said something I would never forget.
"If you don't come with me, you'll die before morning."
We reached a dark sedan.
He opened the passenger door.
I hesitated.
Then I got in.
We drove.
For twenty minutes neither of us spoke.
Finally I asked, "Where are we going?"
"Bellwether."
The old hotel.
My hands tightened.
"Why?"
"Because that's where Jake wanted you to start looking."
He handed me the burned phone.
"There's a file."
I opened it.
One folder.
One video.
Timestamped six days earlier.
Jake appeared on screen.
His face looked exhausted.
Behind him was a concrete wall.
"Evan, if you're watching this, Dad came to you."
He gave a humorless smile.
"I knew he would."
Jake leaned closer.
"There are things I didn't tell you."
My chest tightened.
"The story Dad told us about Maya's death is false."
He paused.
"Her death was staged."
I watched in silence.
"Ten years ago, our father found out something about her family. Something he wasn't supposed to find."
Jake glanced over his shoulder.
"She wasn't just a girl with a scar."
A metallic sound echoed somewhere behind him.
Jake looked terrified.
"She saw something."
The screen flickered.
"Something that happened the night Mom disappeared."
The video cut to black.
I looked at Dad.
"What happened that night?"
He stared through the windshield.
"You don't want to know."
"That isn't your decision."
He finally answered.
"Your mother found out I had been investigating a company called Halcyon."
"What company?"
"Security. Private investigations. Government contracts."
"And?"
"They were running operations that didn't officially exist."
I felt a chill.
"What does that have to do with Maya?"
Dad's jaw tightened.
"Her father worked for them."
"And Mom?"
"Your mother discovered what they were doing."
The hotel appeared ahead through the rain.
Its windows were dark.
Its sign flickered.
Dad parked.
Before we got out, he looked at me.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"When we go inside, you will see things that make you hate me."
I stared at him.
"I already hate you."
His eyes filled with tears.
May you like
"You haven't seen why yet."
Then the hotel doors opened by themselves.
