Chapter 13 - Eva Comes HomeThe front door opened slowly.
Eva entered.
She was fifteen now.
Older than the photograph.
Dirt covered the sleeves of her jacket.
Her eyes were harder than any child's should be.
Jet ran to her.
She dropped to her knees and hugged him.
“You remembered.”
The dog's tail moved wildly.
Alex watched.
“Eva?”
She looked at him.
“You're Alex.”
“How do you know me?”
“Your father talked about you.”
Alex's jaw tightened.
“What did he say?”
Eva hesitated.
“He said you would never believe him.”
Then she looked at Claire.
“He was right.”
Outside, engines continued running.
Alex asked:
“Who are the people with you?”
Eva stood.
“Witnesses.”
“Witnesses to what?”
She opened the backpack.
Inside were hard drives.
Documents.
Photographs.
Names.
Thousands of names.
Every person connected to the network.
The entire operation.
Alex flipped through a file.
His own commanding officer.
The prosecutor.
Railway officials.
Judges.
Businessmen.
Then he saw another name.
His mother.
He looked up.
“No.”
Eva said quietly:
“She helped your father hide Noah.”
Alex turned toward his mother.
“Is this true?”
“Yes.”
“Were you involved?”
“Only once.”
“Doing what?”
“Saving him.”
Alex looked at Noah.
Eva spoke again.
“The network didn't only move children.”
“What else?”
“They moved people.”
“Adults?”
“Children, too.”
“Why?”
“To make people disappear.”
Alex studied the documents.
“This is enough to bring them all down.”
Eva shook her head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because these aren't the originals.”
Alex looked at her.
“What?”
“The originals are at Platform 9.”
Megan stepped closer.
“The station?”
“Yes.”
“Why would anyone keep the originals there?”
“Because that's where the first transaction happened.”
Alex looked at Claire.
“Who was there?”
Claire's eyes darkened.
“Thomas.”
“And Elias?”
“Yes.”
“And the prosecutor?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Claire whispered the name.
“The governor.”
Alex froze.
The entire room went silent.
Eva looked at him.
“He comes tonight.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the evidence.”
Alex looked outside.
One of the vehicles moved closer.
Then another.
The house was surrounded.
Eva's expression didn't change.
“There's a tunnel behind the fireplace.”
Alex blinked.
“How do you know?”
“Because I escaped through it.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Alex suddenly understood.
The little boy.
The missing reports.
The red mitten.
The railroad crossing.
The dog.
Everything connected.
Jet hadn't been trying to save only Megan's baby.
He had been following the trail back to Eva.
Eva touched his head.
“He knew I was still alive.”
Alex looked at the dog.
“And now?”
Eva smiled faintly.
“Now he wants you to finish what your father started.”
Gunfire erupted outside.
The windows shattered.
Alex shouted:
“Everyone down!”
They dropped.
Claire grabbed Noah.
Megan covered the baby.
Eva pulled a handgun from the backpack.
Alex stared at her.
“Where did you learn to use that?”
Eva looked toward the door.
“From the people who taught me why I needed one.”
Then Jet began barking toward the fireplace.
Alex moved the furniture.
A hidden passage opened.
Cold air rushed through.
Eva smiled.
“That's the way to Platform 9.”
Alex grabbed his radio.
“We move now.”
Behind them, the house door exploded inward.
The prosecutor's men entered.
Alex led everyone into the tunnel.
The last thing he saw before the door closed was the photograph of his father.
Thomas Warren.
Standing beside the governor.
And beside them was Elias Cross.
May you like
The date was twenty-two years old.
The network had existed far longer than anyone imagined.
