Chapter 10 - Ava’s Father Was Supposed to Be Dead)
Ava had spent twenty-two years believing her father drowned.
Dr. Samuel Brooks had taken a small fishing boat onto Lake Warren during a storm.
The boat was found two days later.
His coat was inside.
His wallet.
His wedding ring.
His body never appeared.
Everyone assumed the lake took him.
Ava had been twelve.
Marcus had been eight.
Their mother never remarried.
Now his name was on a list connected to people being made to appear dead.
Ava sat in Detective Ortiz’s office while records arrived.
Samuel Brooks had been a neurologist.
Ava knew that.
What she did not know was that he had worked as an outside consultant for the earliest version of the Westbridge neurological research program.
Six months before his disappearance, Samuel wrote a paper warning that induced metabolic suppression could be abused.
The paper was never published.
His university archive listed it as withdrawn by the author.
Ava stared at the screen.
“He tried to stop it.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Maybe.”
“What does maybe mean?”
“His name is also on several research authorization forms.”
Ava felt defensive.
“That doesn’t mean he knew what they became.”
“No.”
Daniel sat nearby.
Emily had insisted he help Ava.
He asked, “Did Samuel know Richard?”
Ortiz opened another document.
“Apparently.”
A photograph from nineteen years earlier showed Samuel Brooks standing beside Richard Whitmore at a medical conference.
Both men were younger.
Beside them stood Dr. Simon Vale.
And Elias.
The unidentified gray-haired man looked nearly the same age in both photographs.
Ava noticed that first.
“Wait.”
Ortiz enlarged it.
The photo was nineteen years old.
Elias appeared maybe forty-five.
In Richard’s recent photograph, he appeared perhaps fifty.
Daniel leaned closer.
“That’s strange.”
“Could be cosmetic work,” Ortiz said.
“Or the date is wrong.”
“It’s verified.”
Ava stared at the man.
“Who are you?”
The damaged recorder from Richard’s mausoleum was partially recovered that evening.
Only fifty-two seconds of audio survived.
Richard’s voice was weak.
But clear.
“If you found this, then I failed to stop Meridian.”
Static.
“Vale believes the drug is medicine. Julian believes it is money. Victoria believes she can bargain with monsters.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ava listened.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“But Elias believes death is freedom.”
Static.
“He has spent twenty years building doors for powerful people who need to disappear.”
More static.
“Samuel discovered the first list. He tried to expose them.”
Ava gripped the table.
Richard continued.
“They made Samuel vanish.”
Ava stopped breathing.
Not killed.
Vanished.
The recording skipped.
“Do not assume the dead are dead.”
Then silence.
Ava looked at Ortiz.
“My father could be alive.”
Ortiz did not answer quickly.
“He could also have been killed.”
“But Richard said vanished.”
“Richard was speaking under extreme conditions.”
“He knew something.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Ava.
“If Samuel survived, maybe he kept records.”
Ava stood.
“My mother.”
“What?”
“My mother kept everything he owned.”
Ortiz drove them to Ava’s childhood home.
Ava’s mother, Ruth Brooks, opened the door.
She looked frightened when she saw police.
“Ava?”
“We need to talk about Dad.”
Ruth went still.
Inside the living room, Ava explained.
Not everything.
Enough.
Ruth listened without interruption.
When Ava mentioned Meridian, her mother began crying.
“You know that name,” Ava said.
Ruth looked away.
“Mom.”
“I promised.”
“To who?”
Ruth covered her face.
“To your father.”
Ava felt her knees weaken.
“What did you promise?”
Ruth opened an old wooden cabinet.
She removed a photograph album.
Behind the photographs was a sealed envelope.
Ava recognized the handwriting.
Her father’s.
For Ruth only.
Her mother had never opened it.
“He told me if anyone ever mentioned Meridian after he was gone, I should give this to you.”
Ava stared.
“After he was gone?”
Ruth nodded.
“He knew he was going to disappear.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he begged me not to.”
Ava’s eyes filled.
“You let us believe he drowned.”
“I believed it too.”
“What?”
Ruth handed her the envelope.
“He said he was going fishing. He said if anything strange happened afterward, I should never search for him.”
Ava opened the envelope.
Inside was a key.
A bank key.
And a handwritten note.
Ava, if you are reading this, then Meridian found another way to reach our family.
Marcus was never supposed to be involved.
I am sorry.
Do not trust the dead.
Do not trust the people who pronounce them dead.
And above all, if a man named Elias ever approaches you, do not listen to him.
Because Elias is not his real name.
Ava turned the note over.
There was one more sentence.
His real name is Dr. Jonathan Whitmore.
Daniel read it.
His face went white.
“That’s impossible.”
Ava looked at him.
“Who is Jonathan Whitmore?”
May you like
Daniel whispered, “Richard’s older brother.”
Victoria had told everyone Jonathan died thirty-one years ago.
