Chapter 7 - The Man Who Made Me a CopI couldn't hear anything for several seconds.
"They built me?"
Reed nodded.
"Your career."
He pointed at the note.
"Your path into law enforcement."
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
He pulled out another file.
My academy application.
My background investigation.
Letters of recommendation.
One name appeared again and again.
Harold Vance.
My captain.
My mentor.
The man who had told me that my brother's disappearance was the worst thing that could happen to me.
Maybe he had been right.
Because he was the reason I became a police officer.
I stood.
"I'm going to see Vance."
Reed grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because if he knows you found this room, he'll know the entire operation is exposed."
"Good."
"You don't understand."
Reed leaned closer.
"Everyone who has ever tried to expose them has died."
I looked at him.
"Then I guess they have one more problem."
I left.
Bennett followed.
He said nothing until we reached the car.
"You trust me?"
I looked at him.
"More than I trust anyone else."
"Good."
He handed me his phone.
"Because Vance just called."
My stomach dropped.
"What did he say?"
"That Ryan Carter escaped."
I stared.
"Again?"
Bennett nodded.
"And he wants you at the station immediately."
I knew it was a trap.
We went anyway.
When we arrived, Vance was waiting in the briefing room.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
"Jack."
"Captain."
"You've had a difficult night."
"I've had a strange nine years."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Explain."
I placed a photograph on the table.
Daniel.
Vance looked at it.
No surprise.
That was enough.
"You knew."
He said nothing.
"You knew he was alive."
"Jack."
"You knew about Subject 01."
Still nothing.
"You knew about Evan."
His face hardened.
"Where did you hear that name?"
There it was.
The confirmation.
I stepped closer.
"Who are they?"
"You need to leave this alone."
"You stole my brother."
"No."
"You covered up his disappearance."
"I protected you."
"From what?"
"From the truth."
I laughed bitterly.
"You don't get to decide what I deserve to know."
He looked exhausted.
For the first time, I saw something resembling regret.
"I was ordered to make you a police officer."
My blood ran cold.
"Why?"
"Because your brother needed someone inside."
"Inside what?"
"The organization."
"What organization?"
Vance looked toward the door.
Then he said four words.
"The Meridian Foundation."
The name meant nothing.
But Bennett reacted.
"You've heard of it?"
"Charity organization," he said. "Runs hospitals. Children's programs. Scholarship funds."
Vance nodded.
"That's the public face."
"And the real face?"
"Identity trafficking."
I stared at him.
"Children."
"Yes."
"Why me?"
Vance's voice dropped.
"Because Daniel believed the only person who could destroy them was you."
I felt my chest tighten.
"Then why did you tell me he was dead?"
"Because Daniel ordered me to."
I froze.
"Why?"
"Because he was afraid you would find him."
"Where is he?"
Vance closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I last saw him seven years ago."
"Where?"
"Blackwater."
That word meant something.
A prison?
A facility?
Vance continued.
"Daniel was being transferred when someone attacked the convoy."
"Who?"
He looked directly at me.
"Your brother escaped."
"Then why didn't he come home?"
Vance's face changed.
"Because he wasn't alone."
A gunshot exploded through the window.
Vance dropped.
Bennett tackled me to the floor.
Glass rained across the room.
I crawled toward Vance.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He grabbed my sleeve.
"Find..."
He coughed.
"Find the boy."
"Evan?"
"No."
His eyes widened.
"Find Daniel's first child."
I stared.
"Evan is his first child."
Vance shook his head weakly.
"No."
His lips barely moved.
May you like
"Evan is the second."
Then his hand went limp.
