Chapter 9 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be DeadAlex spent the next hour trying to make sense of the impossible.
Elias Cross was dead.
Every official document said so.
Every newspaper.
Every photograph.
Every obituary.
Yet the photograph in Alex's hand showed him alive.
Recently alive.
Standing beside a freight train.
The timestamp was from six months ago.
Alex called his commanding officer.
“Sir, I need everything on Elias Cross.”
A pause.
“Warren, that case is closed.”
“It isn't.”
“You're too close to this.”
“I found evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Alex hesitated.
“My father's files.”
Silence.
Then:
“Bring them in.”
“No.”
“Alex.”
“I can't.”
The line went dead.
Megan looked at him.
“They know.”
“Who?”
“The people who were watching us.”
Noah sat beside Jet's empty collar.
The boy suddenly looked up.
“He's not dead.”
Alex turned.
“Who?”
“Jet.”
Noah pointed toward the floor.
“He always comes back.”
A metallic sound came from beneath the room.
Alex crouched.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Someone was knocking from underground.
He moved the rug.
A trapdoor.
Locked.
He broke it open.
A ladder descended.
Below was an old service tunnel.
Alex climbed down.
Megan followed.
Noah stayed above.
The passage smelled like oil.
At the end was a steel door.
Alex opened it.
Inside stood rows of shelves.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Files.
Hundreds.
A private archive.
Megan stared.
“They kept records of everything.”
Alex pulled a folder.
Elias Cross.
Inside were bank transfers.
Railway contracts.
Police payments.
Private security agreements.
Then something even stranger.
A hospital document.
Patient:
Elias Cross.
Date:
Six months after his reported death.
Status:
Alive.
Alex looked at Megan.
“He faked it.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Not exactly.”
They turned.
Daniel stood there.
Alive.
Megan gasped.
“You were shot.”
Daniel touched his side.
“Bullet grazed me.”
Alex stared.
“You disappeared.”
“I was taken.”
“By whom?”
Daniel looked toward the files.
“By the people your father was investigating.”
“Why are you helping them?”
“I'm not.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I've been trying to get to this room for two years.”
Alex pointed his weapon.
“Then explain Jet.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“He isn't just a dog.”
Megan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Jet belonged to Eva.”
Alex blinked.
Daniel continued.
“Before she disappeared, she trained him to respond to a sound.”
“What sound?”
Daniel pulled out a small device.
He pressed a button.
A high-pitched tone filled the room.
Jet's bark echoed from somewhere in the tunnel.
Megan's eyes widened.
“He's alive.”
Alex ran toward the sound.
They found Jet at the end of the passage.
He was standing in front of a wall.
Scratching.
Alex examined it.
A hidden panel.
Behind it was a room.
Inside sat a man tied to a chair.
Older.
Bruised.
Alive.
He lifted his head.
Alex recognized him.
Elias Cross.
Elias smiled.
“You finally came.”
Alex approached.
“You're dead.”
Elias laughed.
“That's the problem with rumors.”
Alex stared at him.
“Where is Eva?”
Elias's smile disappeared.
He looked at Jet.
Then at Noah.
“The girl isn't the one you should be searching for.”
Alex's voice hardened.
“Then who?”
Elias whispered:
“The child she was protecting.”
Noah froze.
Megan grabbed his hand.
“What child?”
Elias looked toward the wall.
“There's another one.”
Then the lights flickered.
A timer appeared on the wall.
05:00
04:59
Alex stared.
“What is that?”
May you like
Elias smiled.
“The truth.”
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