Chapter 12 - claire's second secret)
Ryan almost left the room.
Instead he sat very still.
"Explain."
Gavin wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Claire has been investigating Meridian for years."
Ryan stared.
"I know she spoke to Sarah."
"Not what I mean."
Gavin leaned forward.
"She contacted me three years ago."
"You're lying."
"I have messages."
"Why would she contact you?"
"Because she already knew about Daniel."
Ryan felt his anger rising.
"No."
"Ask her."
"Why?"
"She wanted to find out whether Daniel was alive."
"Why would she care?"
"Because Sarah told her."
Ryan stopped.
"Sarah knew about Daniel?"
"She discovered his name in financial files years ago."
"Then why didn't Claire tell me?"
Gavin gave him a sad look.
"You should ask your wife."
Ryan stood.
"Who killed Sarah?"
"I don't know."
"Who runs Meridian?"
Gavin looked away.
"Gavin."
"I thought Thomas ran it."
"My father is dead."
"I know."
"So who took over?"
"Nobody."
Ryan frowned.
"That's impossible."
"That's what makes Meridian dangerous. It's not one person anymore."
"What does that mean?"
"Cells. Companies. Lawyers. Contractors. Politicians. Nobody sees the whole thing."
"You were part of it."
"Yes."
Ryan stared at him.
"Why?"
"Your father paid my tuition."
Ryan froze.
Gavin continued.
"He recruited me before I met you."
Ryan thought of college.
Freshman orientation.
Gavin dropping into the chair beside him.
The beginning of fourteen years of friendship.
None of it had been accidental.
"You were assigned to me."
"At first."
Ryan's face tightened.
"At first?"
"I was supposed to keep Thomas informed."
"About what?"
"You."
"Why?"
"Because Thomas was terrified Daniel would come back for you."
Ryan remembered his childhood abduction.
The bus station.
A man who looked like his father.
"Did he?"
"Yes."
Gavin exhaled.
"Daniel found you twice."
"When?"
"Once when you were six."
"The bus station."
Gavin nodded.
"And once after Ethan was born."
Ryan's skin prickled.
"He came near my son?"
"He wanted to meet you."
"What stopped him?"
"Thomas."
"But my father died before Ethan was born."
Gavin shook his head.
"Ethan was born five years ago."
Ryan frowned.
Ethan was seven.
Then he realized what Gavin meant.
Not Ethan.
Lily.
"You mean after Lily was born."
Gavin stared.
Then his eyes widened.
"You know about her."
Ryan said nothing.
"Sarah's daughter?"
"Answer me."
Gavin looked almost relieved.
"She's alive?"
"Answer me."
"Yes. Daniel found out Sarah had your child."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"What did he want?"
"To protect her."
Ryan stared.
"From whom?"
Gavin looked toward the camera again.
"Thomas."
"My father?"
"Thomas knew Lily existed."
The words struck Ryan harder than anything else Gavin had said.
"My father knew?"
"Yes."
"He died four years ago."
"Lily is five."
Ryan sat again.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because Lily complicated everything."
"She's a child."
"To Thomas, she was leverage."
Ryan wanted to reach through the glass.
"Did my father threaten Sarah?"
"Not directly."
"Who did?"
"Daniel."
Ryan froze.
"You said Daniel wanted to protect Lily."
"He did."
"Then why threaten Sarah?"
"Because Sarah had stolen Meridian files."
Gavin leaned closer.
"Daniel told her to disappear. She refused."
"Did he kill her?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because he called me the night she died."
"What did he say?"
Gavin's eyes filled with something Ryan had never seen there before.
Fear.
"He said Meridian had found her first."
Ryan left the facility with more questions than answers.
When he returned to the safe house, Claire was sitting alone at the kitchen table.
She looked at his face.
Then closed her eyes.
"He told you."
Ryan stopped.
The quiet certainty in her voice answered everything.
"You knew Daniel was alive."
Claire nodded.
"For three years."
Ryan laughed once.
A hollow sound.
"Of course you did."
"Ryan."
"No."
He stepped away.
"No more explanations that start with you trying to protect me."
Claire began crying.
"I wasn't protecting you."
"Then what were you doing?"
"Protecting Ethan."
Ryan stopped.
Claire wiped her face.
"Three years ago Sarah contacted me. She said someone had approached her."
"Daniel."
"Yes."
"She told you he was my brother?"
"She said he claimed to be."
"And you believed her."
"Not immediately."
Claire reached into her bag.
She removed an old photograph.
Two little boys stood beside a lake.
Same dark hair.
Same face.
Ryan recognized himself.
But he had never seen the other boy.
On the back was handwriting.
Ryan and Daniel, age five.
Ryan stared.
"Where did you get this?"
"Sarah."
"Why didn't you show me?"
"Because Daniel contacted me."
Ryan looked up.
"What?"
Claire's voice trembled.
"He told me if you learned he was alive, Meridian would know he had contacted you."
"So?"
"He said they would use Ethan."
Ryan felt cold.
"He threatened our son?"
"No. He warned me."
"Did you meet him?"
Claire hesitated.
Ryan laughed bitterly.
"You did."
"Once."
"When?"
"Two years ago."
"Where?"
"A coffee shop in Albany."
Ryan turned away.
His wife had sat across from his identical twin while Ryan lived unaware that the man existed.
"What was he like?"
Claire's answer came softly.
"Like you."
Ryan looked at her.
"Don't."
"I'm not trying to hurt you."
"You met my brother."
"Yes."
"And said nothing."
"Yes."
Ryan walked toward the door.
Claire called after him.
"He saved Ethan's life."
Ryan stopped.
Slowly he turned.
"What did you say?"
Claire looked directly at him.
"The accident two years ago."
Ryan remembered.
Ethan had almost been struck by a delivery truck outside preschool.
A stranger had pulled him backward.
The man disappeared before Ryan arrived.
Claire had said she never saw his face clearly.
"You told me a stranger saved him."
May you like
Claire nodded.
"It was Daniel."
