Chapter 12 - The Girl in the PhotographI stared at the photograph until my eyes hurt.
Three children.
Noah.
Evan.
And a little girl with dark hair.
She was maybe six.
I recognized her face.
Not from memory.
From somewhere deeper.
A childhood photograph.
A woman standing outside our old house.
My mother holding a baby.
The image had been burned into my memory because it was the only photograph I had of myself as a toddler.
I had always believed the baby beside me was a cousin.
It wasn't.
It was my sister.
"What was her name?"
Daniel looked down.
"Lena."
"Why didn't Mom tell me?"
"Because she was afraid."
"Afraid of Dad?"
"Afraid of Meridian."
I shook my head.
"You knew about her."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
I turned away.
For years I had believed my family had been destroyed by one disappearance.
Now I realized disappearance was the weapon itself.
People weren't lost.
They were hidden.
Renamed.
Rewritten.
Daniel handed me a map.
"Blackwater is an underground facility beneath an abandoned railway terminal."
"Who's inside?"
"Children."
"How many?"
"At least thirty."
My heart tightened.
"We're going."
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because Meridian knows you've found them."
"Then what's the plan?"
Daniel looked at me.
"We let them think they captured Evan."
I stared.
"No."
"They will come for him."
"Absolutely not."
"Evan is the only person who can open the final archive."
I went cold.
"How?"
Daniel's voice became quieter.
"They trained his memory."
"What does that mean?"
"He remembers things other children don't."
"Like what?"
"Faces."
"Names?"
"Codes."
"The key."
Daniel nodded.
"The key opens the archive."
I looked at the brass key.
"Then why couldn't they take it from him?"
"Because Evan swallowed it."
I stared.
"What?"
Daniel almost smiled.
"He's smarter than they think."
I laughed once despite everything.
Then a red laser dot appeared on Daniel's chest.
I shouted.
"Down!"
The shot came.
Daniel fell.
I fired toward the trees.
Nothing.
I dragged him behind the car.
Blood stained his shirt.
"You okay?"
He nodded.
"Armor."
I exhaled.
Then I saw movement.
A convoy.
Black SUVs.
Six.
Ten.
More.
Daniel stared.
"They're here."
"How did they find us?"
He looked at me.
"They didn't."
"What?"
"They followed you."
My stomach dropped.
"How?"
Daniel pointed at my phone.
"That's how."
I threw it onto the ground.
Daniel crushed it.
"Too late."
A loudspeaker came from the nearest SUV.
"Detective Miller."
I recognized the voice.
The same voice from the hospital.
"You have something that belongs to us."
Daniel whispered:
"Don't answer."
The loudspeaker continued.
"We have Claire."
Then another voice.
Evan.
"Jack!"
My blood froze.
They had him.
The speaker crackled.
"Bring the key."
A pause.
"Bring Daniel."
Then:
"Or the boy dies."
Daniel grabbed my arm.
"Whatever happens, don't give them the key."
I stared at him.
"What are you hiding?"
He hesitated.
Then he said:
"The key doesn't open the archive."
"What does it open?"
May you like
Daniel looked toward the black SUVs.
"The cage."
