Chapter 5: The Brother I Never Knew
The darkness lasted only a few seconds.
Emergency lights flickered on, bathing the corridor in red.
Someone shouted from the stairwell.
"Chief! We've got a problem!""
Brennan released my wrist.
"What now?""
"Smoke in the evidence room. Fire alarm's going off.""
Brennan swore under his breath.
He looked at the officers.
"Get them upstairs. I'll handle this.""
One officer grabbed my arm.
The other pulled Daniel toward the staircase.
I stumbled deliberately, knocking my shoulder against the wall.
The officer cursed.
"Watch it!""
"Sorry," I muttered.
As he bent to adjust his grip, I slipped the small metal hairpin from beneath my sleeve.
It was something I had carried since my first undercover assignment.
Within seconds, the handcuff mechanism clicked.
I kept my wrists together.
The officer didn't notice.
Daniel did.
His eyes met mine.
A tiny nod.
We were still alive.
That was enough for now.
At the top of the stairs, smoke drifted through the hallway. The fire alarm screamed overhead.
Brennan was shouting into his phone.
"Seal the building! Nobody leaves until I say so!""
The officer pushed Daniel toward a side office.
I recognized the room.
It had once been the station's records office.
"Put him inside," Brennan ordered.
Daniel was shoved through the doorway.
I was taken toward the main corridor.
As soon as the officer's back turned, I released my hands.
I struck his wrist, drove my shoulder into his chest, and pulled the handcuff chain over his arm.
He crashed against the filing cabinet.
Before he could recover, I grabbed his radio.
"Federal agent! Hands where I can see them!""
He froze.
I ran toward the records office.
Daniel was fighting the second officer.
I entered just as the officer raised his baton.
"Daniel!""
He turned.
I threw him my recovered weapon.
He caught it.
The officer dropped his baton and raised both hands.
Daniel breathed heavily.
"Remind me never to underestimate a woman with a hairpin.""
"You're welcome.""
We locked the officer inside the office and moved toward the back exit.
Outside, the night air smelled of smoke.
Two FBI vehicles were parked near the alley.
Daniel's radio came alive.
"Agent Grant, this is Mercer. Where are you?""
"Behind the building. We need extraction.""
"Copy. Two minutes.""
I looked toward the main road.
A black sedan was parked beneath a streetlight.
Someone sat behind the steering wheel.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
He was tall, with dark hair and a scar running from his left eyebrow toward his cheek.
I recognized him immediately.
He was the younger officer in the old photograph.
The man standing beside Trevor.
He walked toward us with his hands visible.
"Kendra Hayes?""
I raised my weapon.
"Identify yourself.""
"Michael Rock.""
Daniel looked at me.
"Rock?""
Michael nodded.
"Trevor's older brother.""
I didn't lower my weapon.
"What do you want?""
He looked toward the burning building.
"To get you out of here.""
"Why should I trust you?""
"Because if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have walked up with my hands empty.""
Daniel stepped between us.
"You're part of Operation Silent House.""
Michael's face tightened.
"I was.""
"That's not an answer.""
"I was twenty-two when they recruited me. My father told me I was helping protect the town. By the time I understood what they were doing, people had already disappeared.""
"Emily Carter?"" I asked.
He looked down.
"Yes.""
"Jonah Price?""
Another nod.
"Rebecca Shaw?""
His eyes lifted.
"She's alive.""
My pulse quickened.
"Where?""
"Not here.""
"Where is my mother?""
Michael looked at me for several seconds.
Then he said something I hadn't expected.
"Your mother saved my life.""
Daniel's expression remained suspicious.
"Explain.""
Michael glanced toward the street.
"Not here. We have maybe thirty seconds before Brennan sends someone after us.""
He opened the sedan's rear door.
I didn't move.
"Why did you call me Kendra? How do you know my name?""
He looked almost offended.
"Because I've known your name since you were born.""
I felt a chill.
"What?""
Michael reached into his jacket and removed a small photograph.
It showed my mother holding a newborn baby in a hospital room.
A younger man stood beside her.
He had dark hair, broad shoulders, and the same eyes I saw in my own reflection.
On the back was a handwritten message.
My little girl. January 1994.
I stared at the photograph.
"Who is that man?""
Michael swallowed.
"Your father.""
"My father died before I was born.""
"That's what they told you.""
I looked at the man's face again.
"Who is he?""
Michael hesitated.
Then he whispered:
"Robert Rock.""
For a moment, the street seemed to disappear.
Robert Rock.
Trevor's father.
The former Ashborne sheriff.
The man who had allegedly ordered my mother's disappearance.
I shook my head.
"No.""
Michael stepped closer.
"Kendra, listen to me.""
"You're saying Trevor and I have the same father?""
"Yes.""
"Then why does everyone think Trevor is my brother?""
Michael's face twisted.
"Because he is.""
I looked at the photograph.
The baby in my mother's arms.
The young man beside her.
My entire childhood seemed to rearrange itself around that single image.
Daniel interrupted.
"We need to move.""
Michael nodded.
He started the car.
I remained standing.
"One more question.""
Michael looked at me.
"Did my father know I existed?""
His silence answered before his words did.
"Yes.""
"Did Trevor?""
Michael glanced toward the burning station.
"Trevor was the one who found out first.""
I felt my fingers tighten around the photograph.
"Then why did he let me come to Ashborne?""
Michael looked directly at me.
"He didn't.""
My stomach dropped.
"What?""
Michael leaned across the passenger seat.
"Trevor has been waiting for you.""
"Why?""
He looked at the photograph in my hand.
"Because your mother left something behind. Something your father hid before he died.""
Daniel opened the car door.
"What did Robert hide?""
Michael turned toward him.
"A list.""
"What kind of list?""
"The names of every person who participated in Operation Silent House.""
I stared at Michael.
"Where is it?""
He looked at me.
"Your mother's old house.""
Then he added quietly:
"And Trevor already knows you're going there.""
A phone began vibrating inside my handbag.
I pulled it out.
Unknown number.
One message.
*I KNOW WHAT MICHAEL TOLD YOU. DON'T GO TO THE HOUSE.*
A second message appeared.
*ASK HIM WHY YOUR MOTHER WAS ARRESTED THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN.*
I slowly turned toward Michael.
His face had gone white.
"Is that true?""
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked over my shoulder.
A police cruiser had just turned into the alley.
Its headlights illuminated the three of us.
Michael whispered:
"Get down.""
May you like
Then the cruiser door opened.
And Trevor Rock stepped out.
