Chapter 11 - The House With No LightsAlex drove toward his mother's house.
Megan sat beside him.
Daniel followed in another vehicle.
Noah was in the back with Jet.
The house appeared dark.
Too dark.
Alex grabbed his weapon.
“Stay in the car.”
Megan shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“This time, you listen.”
She stared back.
“This started with my family.”
Then Jet barked.
Alex opened the rear door.
The dog jumped out.
He ran toward the house.
Alex followed.
The front door was open.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
A lamp lay shattered.
No sign of his mother.
“Mom!”
Nothing.
Jet disappeared into the hallway.
Alex found blood on the floor.
His heart sank.
Then his mother stepped from the kitchen.
Alive.
Holding a kitchen knife.
Alex nearly collapsed from relief.
“Mom.”
She stared at him.
“Who is the boy?”
Alex froze.
“What?”
She looked behind him.
Noah stood in the doorway.
His mother's face changed.
“You brought him here.”
“Mom, what's going on?”
She whispered:
“Your father told me never to trust anyone.”
“Did you know about the railroad?”
“Yes.”
“About the children?”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew some of it.”
Alex's voice broke.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father was trying to keep you alive.”
Jet growled.
Alex turned.
The dog was staring at his mother.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
His mother noticed.
Her face went pale.
“Jet.”
The dog's ears lifted.
She stepped backward.
“That's impossible.”
Alex stared.
“You know him?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She looked at Jet.
Then whispered:
“He belonged to Claire.”
Megan walked forward.
“You knew my sister.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
Alex's mother began to cry.
“She trusted the wrong person.”
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the windows shattered.
Gunfire.
Alex tackled his mother to the floor.
Megan pulled Noah into a closet.
Daniel fired back from the hallway.
Jet barked toward the backyard.
The attackers moved fast.
One entered through the kitchen.
Alex fired.
The man dropped his weapon and fled.
Another shot came from outside.
Then silence.
Alex checked his mother.
She was shaking.
“Who are they?”
She looked at Noah.
“They're not here for me.”
Alex crouched.
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“The boy.”
Noah stared.
“Why?”
His mother looked at him.
“Because Noah remembers the face.”
“What face?”
“The man who ordered the children taken.”
Alex swallowed.
“Elias?”
She shook her head.
“Elias was only the businessman.”
“Then who?”
She stepped closer.
“There is someone above him.”
The lights suddenly came on.
Every light in the house.
The television turned on by itself.
A live video appeared.
A man in a dark suit sat in a chair.
Alex knew that face.
He had seen it on television countless times.
The state's most respected federal prosecutor.
The man everyone trusted.
The man who had spoken publicly about protecting missing children.
The prosecutor smiled.
“You've done well, Alex.”
Alex stared.
“You killed my father.”
The prosecutor's smile vanished.
“No.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“Your father discovered me.”
A pause.
“I killed the man who found out too late.”
Alex's mother whispered:
“Your father wasn't investigating the network.”
She looked at Noah.
“He created it.”
Alex froze.
The room seemed to tilt.
His father.
The man he had worshiped.
Had created the system?
Then the prosecutor said something that made everyone silent.
“Ask Noah what his father was called.”
Alex turned.
Noah was trembling.
“What was your father's name, Noah?”
The boy whispered:
“Thomas Warren.”
Alex's heart stopped.
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Noah wasn't Eva's brother.
He was Alex's brother.
