Chapter 6 - THE MAN INSIDE JAKE’S BEDROOM
Ethan’s house had three security layers.
Adrian Vale bypassed all of them.
No broken window.
No forced door.
No alarm failure.
He simply appeared inside.
That meant either Ethan’s system had been compromised long before tonight or Vale possessed credentials designed into it.
Both possibilities were unacceptable.
Ethan watched the final frame repeatedly.
Vale in Jake’s room.
Looking into the camera.
Not surprised.
Not hiding.
Waiting to be seen.
“He wants you to go there,” Rachel said.
“Yes.”
“So don’t.”
Ethan looked at her.
“He entered my son’s bedroom.”
“Which is why it’s bait.”
“I know.”
Mason said, “We send a team.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“Vale wants to see how I respond.”
“Exactly.”
“So I choose the response.”
Christine entered.
“You’re going home.”
It wasn’t a question.
Ethan checked his weapon.
Christine stared at it.
He rarely carried one around her.
Not visibly.
Tonight he made no effort to hide it.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“That house is mine too.”
“Stay with Jake.”
“He doesn’t want me near him.”
Ethan stopped.
The words hurt her.
He didn’t soften them.
“That’s something you’ll have to fix.”
Christine’s eyes filled.
“If you die, he loses both of us.”
Ethan looked toward Jake’s room.
Then back at her.
“Vale wants me alive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because if he wanted me dead, he wouldn’t stand in front of a camera.”
Mason assembled a perimeter team despite Ethan’s objections.
Ethan entered alone.
The house smelled exactly as it had that morning.
Coffee.
Laundry detergent.
Jake’s cereal.
Normal life.
Destroyed in less than one day.
He moved through the kitchen.
Living room.
Hall.
No sign of forced entry.
Jake’s bedroom door stood open.
On the bed sat the coin Jake had described.
Ethan did not touch it.
Silver-colored.
One side displayed a lantern.
The other displayed the number 12.
Beside it was a cassette recorder.
Old.
Plastic.
Impossible to mistake for modern surveillance equipment.
Ethan pressed play.
Static.
Then a child’s voice.
“Dad?”
Ethan froze.
The recording continued.
“Dad, I’m scared.”
Caleb.
Ethan did not remember the voice.
But his body did.
His knees nearly failed.
A man spoke on the tape.
Adrian Vale.
“Subject responds strongly to paternal distress stimulus.”
Another voice.
Frank.
“Then increase exposure.”
Caleb cried.
“Dad, please.”
Ethan’s hand shook.
The recording stopped.
Then a new audio segment began.
Ethan’s own voice.
Young.
Furious.
“If you touch him again, I’ll kill every one of you.”
Vale responded calmly.
“Interesting.”
Frank said, “He believes it completely.”
Ethan’s recorded voice screamed, “He’s my son!”
Vale answered.
“No, Ethan.”
Silence.
Then:
“He’s mine.”
Ethan stared at the recorder.
Behind him, a floorboard creaked.
He turned with his weapon raised.
Adrian Vale stood in the hallway.
Seventy-three years old.
Unarmed.
Smiling.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan aimed at his chest.
“You have three seconds.”
“To do what?”
“Explain why I shouldn’t shoot you.”
Vale looked toward the recorder.
“Because Caleb is alive.”
Ethan’s finger tightened.
“Proof.”
“You always were direct.”
“Two seconds.”
“He lives in Oregon.”
“One.”
“His legal name is Caleb Vale.”
Ethan stopped.
Vale’s smile faded.
“He has a daughter.”
Ethan kept the weapon steady.
“Why should I care?”
“Because she is eight.”
A cold feeling moved through Ethan.
“The same age as Jake.”
Vale nodded.
“And three nights ago, she disappeared.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“Frank?”
“Possibly.”
“Why?”
“Because Frank believes the program can still work.”
“What program?”
Vale looked at the coin.
“Not LANTERN.”
“What then?”
“LANTERN was only the beginning.”
Outside, Ethan heard movement.
Mason’s team.
Vale heard it too.
“You brought Daniel.”
“He brought himself.”
Vale looked almost sad.
“That means we have less time.”
“For what?”
“To save your son.”
Ethan’s voice became lethal.
“Jake is safe.”
“No.”
Vale stepped closer.
“Jake is exactly where Frank wants him.”
Ethan’s encrypted phone rang.
Rachel.
He answered.
Her voice came fast.
“Ethan, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The implant.”
“What about it?”
“It wasn’t a tracker.”
“What was it?”
A pause.
Then Rachel said, “It was a key.”
Ethan stared at Vale.
“For what?”
May you like
Rachel’s next words made his blood run cold.
“Jake.”
