Chapter 10 - The convoy surrounded the sanatorium.Dozens of armed men stepped out.
Grant recognized the symbol on their jackets.
Black Veil.
But something was wrong.
They weren't attacking.
They were waiting.
Evelyn looked through the shattered window.
“They came for Lily.”
Grant shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“They came for the Archive.”
Claire whispered:
“What's the difference?”
Grant checked his ammunition.
“They'll kill everyone if they have to.”
He turned to Atlas.
The dog stared toward the western corridor.
Someone was coming.
Then the door exploded.
Grant fired.
Three men fell.
Atlas attacked another.
Claire pulled Lily behind a concrete pillar.
Evelyn moved toward the basement.
“Where are you going?”
“To destroy the Archive.”
Grant caught her arm.
“You said it was a witness.”
“It can become a weapon.”
“Then we need it.”
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You're thinking like your father.”
That stopped him.
She pulled away.
“My mother died trying to stop him.”
“So did your mother.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“She died because she trusted him.”
A gunshot struck the wall.
The battle intensified.
Grant moved Lily through the corridor.
“Stay close.”
Atlas guarded their rear.
They reached the basement.
A hidden tunnel opened.
Claire followed.
Evelyn remained behind.
“No!”
Grant turned.
She smiled.
“Go.”
Then the door closed.
“Evelyn!”
Gunfire exploded behind them.
Grant tried the handle.
Locked.
Claire pulled Lily away.
“She chose to stay.”
Grant's jaw tightened.
They moved through the tunnel.
It ended beneath a farmhouse.
Grant emerged into daylight.
The old Whitmore property.
His childhood home.
The house looked exactly as he remembered.
Except one window was broken.
Atlas entered first.
Grant followed.
The living room was covered in dust.
A family portrait hung above the fireplace.
Grant remembered that portrait.
But something had changed.
The eyes of his mother had been scratched out.
Claire stared.
“Who did this?”
Grant touched the frame.
Behind it was another hidden compartment.
Inside was a key.
A small brass key.
Lily reached for it.
Grant stopped her.
“Don't.”
But Atlas sniffed it.
Then licked Lily's hand.
Grant hesitated.
He gave Lily the key.
A door appeared in the floor.
Grant opened it.
Stairs descended.
At the bottom was an enormous circular chamber.
No computers.
No screens.
Only walls covered with photographs.
Every photograph was a secret.
Grant saw politicians.
Police.
Businessmen.
His father.
His mother.
Evelyn.
Claire.
Lily.
And himself.
Then he saw something that made him stop.
A photograph of him at age nine.
Standing beside a burning warehouse.
Atlas beside him.
And behind them...
A young woman.
Evelyn.
Grant whispered:
“She was there.”
Claire looked.
“During the fire?”
“Yes.”
Grant walked closer.
Another photograph.
His mother holding young Evelyn.
Then another.
Evelyn handing baby Lily to Claire.
Grant's face changed.
Claire whispered:
“She didn't abandon Lily.”
“No.”
“She hid her.”
From the darkness came a voice.
“Yes.”
Grant turned.
A man stepped forward.
Marcus Hale.
Alive.
Grant raised his gun.
“You were shot.”
Marcus smiled.
“Bulletproof vest.”
Grant aimed at his head.
“Why?”
Marcus raised both hands.
“Because your father isn't the real enemy.”
Grant narrowed his eyes.
“Then who is?”
Marcus looked toward the photographs.
“The woman in charge of the Black Veil.”
Claire whispered:
“Who?”
Marcus stared at Lily.
“Your grandmother.”
Grant froze.
“My mother?”
Marcus nodded.
“She never died.”
Grant looked at the portrait.
Then at Lily.
Then at the chamber.
“No.”
Marcus's expression was grim.
“She designed the Archive.”
Grant whispered:
“Then why did she disappear?”
Marcus answered:
“Because she knew your father would use it.”
“And now?”
Marcus looked at Lily.
“Now she wants her granddaughter back.”
Lily suddenly screamed.
Atlas spun.
The lights went out.
A woman's voice echoed through the chamber.
“Hello, Lily.”
Grant grabbed the child.
The voice continued.
“I've been waiting three years.”
May you like
A soft laugh.
“Call me Grandma.”
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