Chapter 6: The Brother Who Came Back
The approaching headlights flooded the garage.
Adrian lifted his gun.
Martin slammed the car into reverse.
“Get in!””
Evelyn climbed into the back seat, and Adrian threw himself into the passenger side just as another vehicle shot into the garage entrance.
Martin accelerated.
The sedan fishtailed across the concrete floor.
A gunshot cracked behind them.
Then another.
Adrian ducked.
“Who are they?””
Martin gripped the steering wheel.
“People who don't want you to reach your mother.””
“That's not an answer!””
“It’s the only one you get while we're being shot at.””
A bullet punched through the rear windshield.
Evelyn screamed.
Adrian twisted around.
“Are you hurt?””
“No.””
“Stay down!””
Martin swerved between two concrete pillars.
The pursuing SUV slammed into one of them.
Metal screamed.
For half a second, Adrian thought they had escaped.
Then a motorcycle roared into the lane ahead.
The rider raised one arm.
Martin braked hard.
The sedan stopped inches from the motorcycle.
The rider jumped aside.
Adrian opened his door.
“Wait!””
Martin grabbed his jacket.
“Don't!””
But Adrian was already out.
He raised the gun toward the rider.
The helmet came off.
Adrian froze.
The man looked directly at him.
Older.
Bearded.
Gray beginning at the temples.
A thin scar ran from beneath his left ear toward his jaw.
But those eyes—
Adrian knew them.
He had known them before he knew his own name.
The man didn't move.
Neither did Adrian.
Evelyn whispered from the car.
“Daniel.””
Adrian's gun lowered by an inch.
The man looked at him.
“Adrian.””
The world seemed to stop.
Adrian stared.
“No.””
Daniel took one step forward.
“You're taller than I remember.””
Adrian’s throat tightened.
“You’re dead.””
Daniel gave a tired smile.
“That's what everyone was supposed to believe.””
Adrian raised the gun again.
“Don't come closer.””
Daniel stopped.
“That’s fair.””
Martin got out of the car.
“Daniel, you shouldn't be here.””
Daniel glanced at him.
“Neither should you.””
“You're going to get us all killed.””
Daniel looked back at Adrian.
“They already know.””
Adrian couldn't take his eyes off his brother.
He searched Daniel’s face for the younger man he remembered.
The boy who used to steal the blankets.
The teenager who taught him how to ride a bike.
The brother who promised he would always come back.
Adrian swallowed.
“You let me bury you.””
Daniel’s expression broke.
“I didn't know you were there.””
“I was.””
“I know.””
“You let me mourn you.””
“I know.””
“You let me think I was alone.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I know.””
Adrian's hand shook.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Because if you knew I was alive, they would have used you to get to me.””
“You could have told me when they were gone.””
“They were never gone.””
Martin stepped between them.
“We need to move.””
Adrian ignored him.
“Where is Mom?””
Daniel looked toward Evelyn.
She was crying silently.
“She isn't with Father.””
Adrian stiffened.
“The video.””
Daniel shook his head.
“It was recorded.””
“When?””
“Six months ago.””
Adrian felt the same cold fear return.
“You said you found her.””
“I did.””
“Where is she now?””
Daniel looked away.
“That's complicated.””
Adrian grabbed his brother's coat.
“No more secrets.””
Daniel didn't fight him.
“She’s alive.””
“Where?””
Daniel's eyes met his.
“With our father.””
Adrian released him.
“What?””
“She was captured after I found her.””
“You said she was with him.””
“She is.””
“Then you lied.””
“I didn't know if she'd survived.””
Martin cut in.
“We need to leave.””
Adrian turned on him.
“No. Nobody moves until someone tells me the truth.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“You're right.””
He looked at Evelyn.
“You owe him everything.””
Evelyn wiped her tears.
“I know.””
Daniel removed a small key from around his neck.
He held it out to Adrian.
“Your mother left this for you.””
Adrian stared at it.
A brass key.
Tiny.
Old.
Stamped with one word.
*MERCER.*
“What does it open?””
“A safety deposit box.””
“Where?””
“First National.””
Adrian frowned.
“The bank closed years ago.””
“The branch did.””
“The records didn't.””
Martin looked sharply at Daniel.
“You brought the key?””
“Yes.””
“You were supposed to destroy it.””
Daniel's eyes hardened.
“I changed my mind.””
“This isn't your decision.””
“It became my decision when they took Mom.””
Adrian looked between them.
“What is inside?””
Daniel met his eyes.
“Everything.””
“Everything what?””
“Every payment. Every name. Every account your father used.””
Adrian looked at the key.
“And what does that prove?””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“That Dad didn't just steal money.””
Adrian waited.
“He built the operation.””
A distant siren sounded.
Daniel looked toward the garage entrance.
“We need somewhere safe.””
“Where?””
Daniel answered immediately.
“Your penthouse.””
Martin shook his head.
“No.””
Adrian looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because that’s the first place they’ll search.””
“My security system is state-of-the-art.””
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“So was your mother's.””
Adrian stared at him.
“You've been inside my building.””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Last week.””
His blood turned cold.
“What did you do?””
“I watched.””
“For what?””
“To make sure they hadn't reached you yet.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You've been watching me.””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
Daniel hesitated.
“Three years.””
Adrian's face tightened.
“You watched me for three years and never came forward?””
“I wanted to.””
“Then why didn't you?””
“Because someone else was watching you first.””
“Who?””
Daniel looked at Martin.
Martin didn't speak.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Who?””
Daniel finally said, “Our father.””
Adrian shook his head.
“That’s impossible.””
“Nothing about this is impossible anymore.””
Daniel reached into his jacket.
Adrian immediately raised his gun.
“Slowly.””
Daniel withdrew a photograph.
He handed it to him.
Adrian looked.
It showed Adrian leaving his office.
The date was from four months ago.
Another showed him entering his apartment.
Another showed him at a charity gala.
Another showed him sitting alone in his car.
All taken from a distance.
Adrian's stomach twisted.
“How long?””
“Like I said. Three years.””
“Why?””
Daniel looked directly at him.
“Because Dad wanted to know whether you had found anything.””
“I hadn't found anything.””
“I know.””
“Then why watch me?””
“Because he was waiting for you to inherit something.””
Adrian stared.
“My company?””
“No.””
“What, then?””
Daniel's expression became grim.
“The family archive.””
Adrian frowned.
“I don't have a family archive.””
Daniel looked at him.
“You do.””
“Where?””
“Your mother's house.””
“She didn't have a house.””
“She did.””
Adrian felt a strange pressure behind his eyes.
“I've never seen it.””
“You lived there.””
“No.””
Daniel shook his head.
“You lived in the front house.””
Adrian waited.
“She had another one.””
A terrible thought surfaced.
“The shed?””
Daniel nodded.
Adrian turned toward the tunnel entrance.
“The shed was a decoy.””
“Exactly.””
Evelyn spoke quietly.
“There was a second room beneath it.””
Adrian looked at her.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your mother made me promise.””
“She's not here to make promises anymore.””
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“I still have to keep them.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“She left instructions.””
“For me?””
“For both of us.””
Adrian looked between them.
“What instructions?””
Daniel took a folded note from his pocket.
The paper was old and creased.
He opened it.
The handwriting made Adrian's chest tighten.
Their mother.
Daniel read aloud.
“‘If my sons ever stand together again, they must open the room beneath the room.’”
Adrian stared at him.
“Both sons.””
Daniel nodded.
“She knew we'd survive.””
“No,” Adrian said quietly.
“She knew you would survive.””
Daniel folded the note.
“She knew one of us would have to find the other.””
Adrian looked at his brother.
“Why did she believe we'd be enemies?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Martin did.
“Because your father spent twenty-five years making sure you would be.””
Silence.
Adrian suddenly remembered something.
A conversation from childhood.
His father standing in the kitchen.
Daniel upstairs.
His father telling Adrian, “Your brother is dangerous. Never trust him.””
He had believed it.
Daniel had heard similar things about Adrian.
Each brother had grown up carrying a different lie about the other.
Adrian looked at Daniel.
“We were separated on purpose.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“And Mom knew.””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't she stop it?””
“Because she was trying to keep us alive.””
Adrian looked away.
For the first time since the restaurant, his anger became grief.
“My whole life was built on lies.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“So was mine.””
They stood facing each other.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Adrian lowered his gun completely.
Daniel exhaled.
Adrian whispered, “I don't know how to do this.””
Daniel's eyes softened.
“Neither do I.””
A loud crash erupted somewhere beyond the garage.
Martin looked toward the entrance.
“They're here.””
Daniel's expression sharpened.
“Then we go now.””
Adrian opened the car door.
Before getting inside, he looked at the key again.
“MERCER.””
Daniel nodded.
“The box is the beginning.””
“Of what?””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Of finding Mom.””
They drove through the city without speaking.
Ten minutes later, Adrian’s phone buzzed.
A new message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
One photograph.
Adrian's childhood bedroom.
The bed.
The window.
The old wooden desk.
And written across the image:
*YOUR BROTHER IS TELLING YOU HALF THE STORY.*
Another message appeared.
*ASK HIM WHO KILLED DANIEL CROSS.*
Adrian slowly turned toward the man driving beside him.
Daniel saw his expression in the rearview mirror.
“What happened?””
Adrian locked the phone.
“Nothing.””
But Daniel knew immediately that he was lying.
Then Adrian noticed something else.
The silver ring was no longer on Evelyn's finger.
May you like
It was sitting in Daniel's hand.
And Daniel was staring at it like he had just seen a ghost.
