Chapter 6 - the dead brother came home)
Daniel had imagined this moment thousands of times when he was younger.
In dreams, Peter walked through the front door.
Sometimes he was wet from the lake.
Sometimes he laughed and said the entire disappearance had been a joke.
Sometimes Daniel punched him.
Sometimes Daniel hugged him.
In reality, Daniel did neither.
He stood motionless.
Peter did too.
Torres aimed her weapon at Peter’s chest.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Peter raised them.
“I’m not armed.”
Daniel finally found his voice.
“You took my children.”
Peter’s expression tightened.
“I tried to take them.”
“That distinction does not help you.”
“I know.”
“You entered my house.”
“Yes.”
“You let that doctor go after my family.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Ruth said Voss was with you.”
Peter glanced toward Torres.
“So she finally chose a side.”
Daniel grabbed Peter by the jacket.
Torres ordered him to release him.
Daniel ignored her.
“You put your hands on my sons.”
Peter did not resist.
“You should hit me.”
Daniel stared into his face.
“You think that fixes this?”
“No.”
“Where have you been?”
“Running.”
“For eighteen years?”
“For the first year, surviving. After that, learning.”
“Learning what?”
“How deep it went.”
Daniel released him.
Claire studied Peter.
She had seen photographs from his youth.
The resemblance between the brothers was unmistakable now that they stood together.
Peter looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire’s voice was cold.
“You don’t get to say that yet.”
“I know.”
“Did you plan to kidnap my children?”
“Yes.”
Daniel moved again, but Claire stopped him.
She kept her eyes on Peter.
“Why?”
“To get Daniel here.”
“You could have called.”
Peter gave a tired laugh.
“Would he have believed me?”
Daniel answered, “No.”
“Exactly.”
Claire said, “So you terrorized two children.”
“I thought I could remove them without hurting them.”
“And then?”
“I would have brought them here.”
Daniel stared.
“To the archive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles hid something I have been searching for since he died.”
“What?”
Peter looked around the underground room.
“The original trial registry.”
Torres asked, “Registry of what?”
“Everyone Voss experimented on.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“How many people?”
Peter looked at her.
“Hundreds.”
No one spoke.
Peter explained that Mercer Behavioral Health had begun as legitimate neurological research.
Voss initially treated soldiers, accident survivors and victims of extreme trauma.
He developed methods intended to reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories.
Charles Whitmore funded the research after the death of his wife.
“He wanted grief erased,” Peter said.
Daniel looked at him.
“Mom?”
“Her death broke him.”
“So he funded Voss.”
“At first.”
Peter walked toward the cabinets.
“Then Charles realized memory could be used for more than treatment.”
Torres said, “Blackmail.”
“Control.”
Peter opened a file.
“Imagine a witness who becomes uncertain about what she saw. A business rival who suddenly remembers signing a contract he never signed. A victim who doubts the person who hurt her.”
Claire felt nauseated.
Peter continued.
“Voss believed identity was only a collection of memories. Change enough memories and you could change the person.”
Daniel asked, “Why did Dad let him experiment on you?”
“I discovered payments to Mercer. I followed them.”
“And confronted him.”
“Yes.”
Peter looked toward the old television.
“I told Charles I would expose everything. He begged me not to. Said thousands of employees would lose jobs. Said our mother’s name would be destroyed. Then Voss convinced him I could be treated.”
“Treated.”
“Made compliant.”
Daniel looked at the restraints on the screen.
Peter’s eyes hardened.
“Charles regretted it later.”
“You expect me to feel sorry for him?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Peter continued.
“He helped me escape.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
“After eleven months.”
“That recording said you escaped.”
“I did. With his help.”
“Then why didn’t you come home?”
“Because Voss was watching you.”
Daniel frowned.
“Me?”
Peter nodded.
“He told Charles that if I resurfaced, you would replace me.”
Claire whispered, “Replace you as what?”
“Subject P7.”
Daniel looked toward the file.
Peter continued.
“Charles gave me money and false documents. Told me to disappear until he destroyed Voss’s network.”
“He never did.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because by then Voss knew enough to destroy him.”
Torres asked about Adrian.
Peter’s expression changed.
“Adrian was recruited in college.”
Daniel stared.
“No.”
“He approached you because of Voss.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask yourself how many coincidences it took for Adrian to become your roommate, your business partner, your best friend and your children’s godfather.”
Daniel felt rage rise.
“You don’t know anything about him.”
“I know he was paid by Mercer Behavioral Health under his mother’s maiden name.”
Peter handed Torres a document.
Daniel read it over her shoulder.
Payments began twenty years earlier.
Adrian would have been seventeen.
“What did they want from him?”
“To keep you stable. Close. Observable.”
Daniel stepped back.
His entire adult friendship became uncertain.
Every vacation.
Every conversation.
Every confession.
Had Adrian recorded them?
Reported them?
Chosen them?
Claire asked Peter, “Was Adrian in the room when they drugged me?”
Peter nodded.
“Why?”
“To test whether the protocol still worked.”
Daniel clenched his fists.
Peter continued quickly.
“But Adrian began resisting Voss months ago.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because he contacted me.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Adrian and I have been working together.”
Torres’s face hardened.
“He ran from police.”
“Because Voss would have known he was compromised if he stayed.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No. Caleb saw him in that room.”
“He was there.”
“Then he hurt Claire.”
“He was trying to reduce the dosage.”
Claire whispered, “Trying?”
Peter looked ashamed.
“Adrian has done bad things, Claire. I am not defending them.”
Daniel asked, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Convenient.”
Peter reached into his coat slowly.
Torres tightened her grip on her weapon.
Peter removed a folded sheet of paper.
“Before he disappeared, he sent me this.”
Daniel unfolded it.
It was a map of the Whitmore villa.
One location was circled.
The children’s bedroom.
Beside it Adrian had written three words.
VOSS MOVES TONIGHT.
Claire looked at the timestamp.
The message had been sent before Ruth threw the boys.
Peter said, “Adrian was warning me.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
“Then why were you at the house?”
“To get your family out.”
“With Voss?”
Peter shook his head.
“I didn’t know he had followed me until we were inside.”
Ruth had misunderstood.
Or Peter was lying.
Daniel could no longer tell.
Torres asked, “Where is Voss now?”
Peter looked directly at Daniel.
“If he failed to take the children, he will go after the only person who knows where the registry is.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Who?”
May you like
Peter answered.
“Ruth.”
