CHAPTER 13 The Brother Who Never Existed
The wind carried the smell of smoke across the rose garden.
Behind them, firefighters battled the flames consuming the Westwood mansion.
Ahead of them, Daniel Mercer stood motionless.
No weapon.
No threats.
Only a photograph that had just rewritten everything Adrian believed about Claire's past.
Adrian looked down at the faded picture again.
Claire looked no older than twenty-five.
Daniel stood on her right.
The gray-haired man stood on her left.
All three were smiling.
Not the forced smiles of strangers.
The relaxed smiles of family.
"If that's Claire's brother..." Adrian said quietly, "...why did she never tell me?"
Daniel answered without hesitation.
"Because she wasn't allowed to."
Natalie folded her arms.
"Not allowed by whom?"
"Blackridge."
Rachel frowned.
"How can someone erase an entire person?"
Daniel's eyes drifted toward the burning mansion.
"They don't erase people overnight."
"They erase records."
"School files."
"Hospital records."
"Birth certificates."
"Employment history."
"They convince enough people that the missing pieces never existed."
He paused.
"Eventually..."
"...memory does the rest."
Emma looked up from Bunny.
"So everyone forgets."
Daniel smiled sadly.
"Almost everyone."
Adrian slipped the photograph into his jacket.
"I want proof."
"You'll have it."
Daniel nodded toward the old gardener's cottage at the far end of the estate.
"But not here."
Before Adrian could respond, several black SUVs rolled through the front gates.
They weren't marked.
No company logos.
No government seals.
Just polished black vehicles.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"We're out of time."
One SUV stopped near the main driveway.
Three men stepped out.
Each wore a dark charcoal suit.
None carried visible weapons.
That made them more dangerous.
The tallest man adjusted his gloves and calmly looked toward the rose garden.
Straight at Adrian.
"They found us," Rachel whispered.
Daniel didn't answer.
He was already scanning the grounds.
"They're blocking every road."
The tallest man began walking across the lawn.
Not hurrying.
Not hiding.
As though he had been invited.
Halfway across the grass, he stopped.
Then he applauded.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Three claps.
"Mr. Westwood."
His voice carried easily across the distance.
"You've made remarkable progress."
Adrian remained silent.
The man smiled.
"My name is Victor Hale."
"I represent Blackridge."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You shouldn't have come yourself."
Victor glanced toward him.
"You failed."
"I adapted."
Victor laughed softly.
"That's one way to describe it."
Then he looked back at Adrian.
"I'd like to make you an offer."
Natalie scoffed.
"We're not interested."
Victor ignored her.
"Mr. Westwood..."
"Return everything Claire hid."
"The journal."
"The memory card."
"The letters."
"The ring."
"And we'll leave."
Adrian's voice was calm.
"And if I refuse?"
Victor smiled.
"I expected that question."
He reached into his coat.
Rachel instinctively pulled Emma behind her.
Victor removed...
A tablet computer.
He tapped the screen once.
Then held it up.
The display showed a live video feed.
A hospital room.
Inside...
Natalie's elderly father lay asleep in a hospital bed.
A man in a nurse's uniform stood beside him.
Holding a syringe.
Natalie gasped.
"Dad..."
Victor lowered the tablet.
"You see our dilemma."
His tone remained polite.
"We dislike unnecessary violence."
"But we're very efficient."
Daniel took one step forward.
"You touch him..."
Victor interrupted.
"I already have."
Silence.
Victor continued.
"The syringe contains nothing... yet."
"But instructions travel quickly."
Rachel whispered,
"He's bluffing."
Victor looked at her.
"I rarely do."
He tapped the tablet again.
The screen changed.
Now it showed a daycare playground.
Children running.
Parents chatting.
Emma's photograph appeared in the corner.
Rachel's face drained of color.
"No..."
Victor nodded pleasantly.
"You understand."
Adrian felt rage rising inside him.
Claire had spent years trying to expose these people.
Now he understood why.
Blackridge didn't simply threaten lives.
They weaponized the people you loved.
Victor spread his hands.
"I'm not asking for an answer immediately."
"I'm giving you until sunset."
He smiled again.
"After that..."
"...events become difficult to reverse."
He turned to leave.
Then paused.
"One more thing."
He looked directly at Emma.
For the first time...
His smile disappeared.
"You've grown."
Rachel instinctively stepped in front of her daughter.
Victor continued walking toward the SUVs.
Daniel watched him go without speaking.
Only after the vehicles disappeared beyond the gates did Adrian turn.
"You know him."
Daniel nodded.
"For fifteen years."
"Can he really do what he threatened?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
He pulled a small leather wallet from his pocket.
Inside was an old newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
Local Judge Dies of Sudden Heart Attack
Daniel flipped it over.
On the back, Claire had written in blue ink:
He refused Blackridge's offer at 5:12 p.m.
Daniel looked at Adrian.
"He died at 5:19."
A heavy silence settled over the garden.
Rachel held Emma tighter.
"What do we do now?"
Daniel took a deep breath.
"We stop running."
Adrian frowned.
"How?"
Daniel looked toward the smoking ruins of the mansion.
"Claire wasn't collecting evidence to give it to the police."
"She already knew they couldn't protect it."
"Then who?"
Daniel reached into his jacket once more.
This time he removed a small brass coin.
A bluebird was engraved on one side.
A compass on the other.
He placed it in Adrian's palm.
"She was trying to reach someone else."
"Who?"
Daniel's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"The only people Blackridge has never managed to erase."
He met Adrian's eyes.
"The Archivists."
Natalie frowned.
"I've never heard of them."
"Almost no one has."
Daniel looked at the coin.
"They don't investigate crimes."
"They preserve truth."
"They keep records that no government can alter."
Rachel blinked.
"Where are they?"
Daniel smiled faintly.
"That's the wrong question."
Adrian looked down at the strange brass coin.
"What should I be asking?"
Daniel answered with a seriousness Adrian had never seen before.
"You should be asking..."
"...why Claire trusted them..."
"...more than she trusted you."
Before Adrian could respond, Emma quietly picked up the brass coin.
She turned it over once.
Then whispered five words that made Daniel's face go completely white.
May you like
"They're already watching us."
END OF CHAPTER 13
