Chapter 9: The Red Door
Daniel stared at the message.
Marcus reached for the phone.
“Don't answer.””
Daniel pulled it away.
“They have my son.””
“And they want you separated from everyone.””
“I don't care.””
“You should.””
Leah stepped between them.
“He's not going alone.””
Daniel looked at her.
“They specifically said alone.””
Leah's voice hardened.
“Then we'll make sure they regret saying it.””
Walter nodded.
“She's right.””
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
“We have maybe five minutes before they realize we've found the room.””
Daniel grabbed the file.
“Then we move.””
They climbed out of the hidden basement and slipped through the back alley.
The city had changed.
The afternoon sun was gone.
Rain had begun falling, turning the pavement black and glossy beneath the streetlights.
Daniel drove.
Leah sat beside him.
Ava was in the back seat.
Marcus and Evelyn followed in Walter's car.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Ava asked quietly:
“Dad?””
Daniel looked at her in the rearview mirror.
It was the first time she'd called him that without fear.
“Yes?””
“Did you love my mom?””
Daniel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“I didn't know your mom.””
“But she loved you.””
Daniel swallowed.
“I wish I'd known her.””
Ava looked out the window.
“She said you weren't bad.””
Daniel's eyes burned.
“What else did she say?””
“She said you were lied to.””
The words stayed between them.
Then Ava added:
“She said if I ever found you, I should tell you she was sorry.””
Daniel's voice cracked.
“For what?””
Ava shook her head.
“She wouldn't say.””
The boys' residential school appeared ahead.
A massive brick building surrounded by iron fencing.
Most windows were dark.
One light burned at the far end.
A red door.
Daniel stopped the car.
Leah looked at it.
“That door.””
Ava nodded.
“My brother is inside.””
They entered through the side gate.
The building smelled of bleach and wet concrete.
Their footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Daniel called out.
“Isaiah!””
No answer.
“Eli!””
Silence.
Ava suddenly pulled away from Leah.
She ran toward the red door.
“Ava!””
Daniel caught her before she reached it.
“Wait.””
Ava pointed.
“That's his room.””
Daniel stared at the handle.
He slowly opened it.
The room was empty.
A bed.
A desk.
A stack of books.
A torn drawing taped to the wall.
Daniel walked toward it.
It showed a family.
A father.
A mother.
A boy.
A girl.
Four people.
No empty space.
Daniel touched the drawing.
“He knew.””
Leah found something beneath the pillow.
A folded note.
She opened it.
*Dad,*
*If you're reading this, they moved me again.*
*Don't trust Marcus.*
Daniel looked at his brother.
Marcus had just entered the room.
He stopped when he saw the note.
Daniel held it up.
“Why does Eli say not to trust you?””
Marcus's face fell.
“I don't know.””
Leah looked at the signature.
There was more.
*The man who says he saved me is the man who knows where they took Mom.*
Daniel froze.
“Mom?””
Ava stepped closer.
“My mom?””
“No,” Daniel whispered.
“Monica.””
The name seemed to echo.
Leah's eyes widened.
“Daniel…”
A sound came from the hallway.
A slow scrape.
Then footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Marcus turned.
“Everyone out.””
Daniel grabbed Ava.
“No.””
The hallway lights went off.
A woman's voice came through the darkness.
“Daniel?””
He froze.
Leah recognized the voice from the old recording.
Monica.
Daniel's dead wife.
“Monica?””
The voice came again.
“Daniel, don't let them take Ava.””
A door slammed somewhere nearby.
Then a figure stepped into the emergency light.
Black woman.
Late thirties.
Long braids.
Hospital coat.
Daniel's face drained of color.
It was Monica.
Alive.
Ava stared at her.
“That's my mom.””
The woman began crying.
“No, sweetheart.””
She looked directly at Daniel.
“I am not Monica.””
Daniel couldn't move.
The woman slowly raised both hands.
“My name is Renee.””
Leah stared.
“But Renee died three weeks ago.””
The woman shook her head.
“That wasn't me.””
Daniel's breathing stopped.
“What?””
Renee stepped closer.
“The woman who died was my sister.””
She looked at Ava.
“And she spent eight years protecting you from the truth.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Where is Eli?””
Renee's expression changed.
“He's safe.””
“Where?””
She pointed toward the red door.
“Behind you.””
Daniel turned.
The door was open.
A teenage boy stood in the doorway.
Sixteen years old.
Tall.
Thin.
Terrified.
Ava whispered his name.
“Eli.””
The boy looked at her.
Then at Daniel.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Dad?””
Daniel couldn't answer.
He simply stepped toward him.
But before they could touch, Renee whispered:
“You need to know who really ordered your children taken.””
Daniel stopped.
Renee looked past him.
Toward Marcus.
Marcus's face had gone completely white.
Renee said:
“It wasn't your mother.””
“It wasn't Marcus.””
“It wasn't the adoption network.””
She took one trembling breath.
“It was Monica.””
Daniel stared at her.
His entire world seemed to stop.
Then Eli spoke from behind the red door.
“She's lying.””
Everyone turned.
Eli's face was terrified.
He pointed at Renee.
May you like
“That isn't Renee.””
And the woman standing before them slowly smiled.
