Chapter 6 - someone had been living underground)
The tunnel smelled of wet earth and rust.
Rachel turned on a flashlight.
The passage descended beneath the house, barely wide enough for two people.
Behind them, men searched the hidden room.
Daniel heard cabinets opening.
Boxes hitting the floor.
Claire whispered, "He'll find the door."
"Then keep moving."
Margaret held Daniel's arm.
The tunnel curved.
After almost one hundred feet, they reached another chamber.
Unlike the first room, this one did not look abandoned.
A battery powered lamp sat on a table.
Fresh water bottles stood beside canned food.
A folded blanket lay on a narrow cot.
Someone had been there recently.
Rachel touched the lamp.
"Warm."
Daniel stared toward the next passage.
"We're not alone."
One investigator drew his legally carried sidearm but kept it lowered.
"Identify yourself."
No response.
Then a sound came from darkness.
A cough.
Margaret froze.
"Who's there?"
A man stepped slowly into the light.
He appeared to be in his late sixties.
Thin.
Gray beard.
Worn jacket.
He raised both hands.
"Please."
Margaret stared at him.
The man stared back.
Something passed across his face.
Recognition.
"Margaret?"
Daniel felt his mother's grip tighten.
She whispered one word.
"Elias?"
The man's eyes filled.
Margaret stumbled forward.
Her uncle had been missing for forty-seven years.
Elias Mercer.
The man everyone believed was dead.
He embraced Margaret.
For several seconds neither could speak.
Daniel stood watching his mother's past become flesh.
Then Elias looked at him.
His expression changed.
"You must be Thomas's boy."
Daniel's heart hammered.
"You knew my father?"
Elias laughed sadly.
"Knew him?"
He touched Daniel's shoulder.
"He saved my life."
Footsteps echoed behind them.
Elias immediately became alert.
"Richard?"
Daniel nodded.
Elias pointed deeper into the tunnel.
"Come."
They followed.
The passage opened onto a drainage channel beneath the cliffs.
Elias led them through an old service exit concealed by vegetation.
They emerged nearly half a mile from the house.
One investigator finally found cellular signal and called the sheriff.
Rachel contacted state investigators as well.
When deputies arrived, Richard was still inside Blackthorn.
He claimed he was inspecting his property.
His attorneys appeared within an hour.
No arrest was made.
But the underground archives were secured.
For the first time in thirty-one years, documents from Blackthorn entered official custody.
Richard looked at Daniel from across the driveway.
Neither spoke.
But Richard's expression contained a promise.
This was not finished.
They spent the night in Monterey under private security.
Elias refused to go to a hospital.
Instead, he sat in Rachel's hotel suite with Margaret and Daniel.
Claire remained nearby.
"What happened to you?" Margaret asked.
Elias stared into a cup of coffee.
"I disappeared before Thomas did."
"Why?"
"Because Charles Whitmore discovered I was copying records."
"Where did you go?"
"Mexico first. Then Nevada. Then nowhere."
Margaret looked confused.
"Nowhere?"
"I stopped existing officially."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Why return to Blackthorn?"
Elias looked at him.
"Because someone else returned."
"Who?"
Elias's answer came slowly.
"Thomas."
Margaret's cup slipped from her hand.
Coffee spilled across the table.
Daniel stared.
"What did you say?"
Elias remained calm.
"Thomas survived the fire."
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
"He did."
"No."
"I saw him."
"When?"
"Three weeks after."
Margaret stood so suddenly the chair fell.
"You saw Thomas after the fire?"
Elias nodded.
"And you never told me?"
"He made me promise."
Margaret's face twisted.
"Why?"
"Because Richard knew about Daniel."
Daniel stood.
"What did my father do?"
Elias looked at him.
"He ran."
Margaret looked devastated.
Elias continued.
"Not because he wanted to leave you."
"You let me believe he was dead."
"He thought that was the only way to keep you alive."
Margaret stepped away from the table.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know."
"You said you saw him."
"Once."
"Where?"
"Outside Reno."
Margaret covered her face.
"For thirty-one years..."
Elias stood.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Her voice broke.
"I buried him without a body. I raised his child alone. Every birthday Daniel asked about his father, and I invented memories because the real ones hurt too much."
Elias looked ashamed.
"Thomas believed Richard would kill both of you."
Margaret turned.
"Did Richard kill the man in the fire?"
Elias nodded slowly.
"There was someone else inside."
"Who?"
"I never knew."
Daniel spoke.
"Why did Dad disappear permanently?"
Elias looked toward the hotel window.
"He didn't."
Daniel's heart stopped.
"What does that mean?"
"Thomas came back."
"When?"
"Seventeen years ago."
Margaret stared.
"Why?"
"He had evidence."
"Where is he?"
Elias did not answer immediately.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Where is my father?"
Elias looked at him.
"The last time I saw Thomas Hale, he was getting into a car with Richard Whitmore."
Margaret whispered, "No."
May you like
Elias nodded.
"And this time, he never came back."
