Chapter 11 - The Brother Who Might Not Be Julian
Victor’s family was built on records.
Birth certificates.
Marriage certificates.
Property deeds.
School transcripts.
Trusts.
Passports.
Everything Northstar had learned to manufacture.
So when Claire questioned Julian’s identity, Elena no longer dismissed anything.
Samuel obtained Julian’s childhood medical records.
Two versions existed.
The first showed no scar repair.
The second documented stitches after a bicycle accident at age seven.
“Could be clerical,” Julian said.
Nobody responded.
DNA testing was ordered.
Julian paced for six hours.
“I’m Victor’s son.”
Elena looked at him.
“So was I yesterday.”
He stopped pacing.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“I don’t know how you’re doing this.”
“I’m not.”
He understood.
Neither of them was stable.
They were simply moving because stopping meant collapsing.
The result arrived after midnight.
Julian Vance was Victor Vance’s biological son.
Julian laughed with relief.
Then Samuel read the second page.
“What?”
Julian asked.
Samuel looked concerned.
“Your sample matches the archived newborn blood card in Victor’s private medical records.”
“So?”
“But it does not match the blood sample from your childhood surgery at age twelve.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
Agent Sloan explained.
“The twelve-year-old sample belongs to a different male child.”
Julian sat down.
Elena understood.
“There were two Julians.”
Sloan nodded.
“At minimum.”
Julian looked nauseated.
“Which one am I?”
Claire answered.
“The original.”
Everyone turned.
“How do you know?” Elena asked.
Claire pointed toward Julian’s left hand.
“You bend your little finger inward when you’re angry.”
Julian looked at his hand.
“So?”
“The behavioral file described it.”
“What behavioral file?”
Claire looked uneasy.
“Every target had one.”
Julian laughed.
“They had a file about how I move my finger?”
“They had files about everything.”
“Why was there another Julian?”
Claire sat.
“Reserve J-4.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Another child.
Another stolen life.
“Where is he?”
Claire looked at Julian.
“I knew him.”
Julian went still.
“What was his name?”
“At Bellweather, Daniel.”
Julian’s face changed.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Julian stood abruptly.
Elena knew that expression.
“What?”
Julian looked at Samuel.
“When I was twelve, I disappeared for three days.”
Elena stared.
“You never disappeared.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No. You were in the hospital with appendicitis.”
“That’s what Dad told everybody.”
Julian pressed a hand to his forehead.
“I remember waking in a room with no windows.”
Claire’s face paled.
“You remember Bellweather?”
“I thought it was a hospital.”
“What happened?”
“There was another boy.”
Elena’s skin prickled.
“What boy?”
“He looked like me.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Julian began breathing faster.
“I told Dad. Years later. He said anesthesia causes hallucinations.”
Samuel whispered, “Victor knew.”
Julian laughed angrily.
“Of course he did.”
Claire leaned toward him.
“Daniel was trained for you. When you were twelve, Northstar briefly exchanged you.”
Elena felt sick.
“For three days?”
“Probably to test whether the substitution worked.”
Julian stared.
“Then why switch us back?”
Claire’s eyes darkened.
“Something went wrong.”
“What?”
“Daniel attacked one of the handlers.”
Julian looked toward the floor.
“Where is he now?”
Claire was silent.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dead?”
“I don’t know.”
Julian slammed his hand on the desk.
“Everybody keeps saying that.”
Claire did not flinch.
“I left Bellweather at twelve. Daniel was moved before me.”
Elena sat beside her brother.
For the first time, their childhood seemed less like a shared history and more like an evidence file.
Then Samuel’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Elena stood.
Samuel listened.
“Send it now.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” she asked.
“The investigators recovered encrypted files from Serena’s laptop.”
Julian looked toward him.
“And?”
“One folder was named J-4.”
Julian went white.
Samuel continued.
“There is a photograph inside.”
He turned the laptop toward them.
A man stood outside a coffee shop.
Thirty-seven years old.
Dark hair.
Expensive black coat.
Same face as Julian.
Not similar.
Nearly identical.
Julian stared at the screen.
Claire whispered, “Daniel.”
Below the image was a date.
Three days ago.
May you like
And a status line.
TRANSFER AUTHORIZED AFTER VICTOR VANCE DEATH.
