Chapter 10 - The Mother Behind the Wall
Daniel did not reach for his weapon.
Evelyn remained slightly behind him.
Lydia’s pistol was steady, but tears filled her eyes.
“You have watched us for six days,” Daniel said.
“I watched the house.”
“You could have spoken to me.”
“I needed to know whether you belonged to Owen.”
“I am your son.”
“That has never protected anyone in this family.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You let me bury you.”
“I watched the funeral from a car across the cemetery.”
The confession struck harder than anger.
“You watched me stand beside an empty grave?”
“I wanted to run to you.”
“But you did not.”
“If I had, Owen would have taken you before sunset.”
Evelyn stepped into the room.
“My mother said you would ask about the control code.”
Lydia aimed the pistol at her.
“What did you do with it?”
“I destroyed it.”
Lydia studied her face.
Margaret had instructed Evelyn to lie.
The real code remained folded inside the lining of her gown.
Lydia lowered the gun.
“Good.”
Daniel noticed the answer had satisfied her too quickly.
“What would you have done if she still had it?”
“Taken it.”
“For whom?”
“For Arthur.”
Daniel laughed once without humor.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I do not know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I escaped from Owen three months ago. Your father did not.”
Lydia sat carefully.
Her injured leg was real.
So was the scar near her temple.
Daniel remained near the door.
“Why did you come here?”
“To retrieve my key and destroy the vault.”
“You recorded a message saying Evelyn must not open it.”
“I was too late.”
Evelyn looked around the nursery.
“How did you stay hidden?”
“The room connects to the observation corridor. Your grandfather built it as a shelter. Gloria knew the passages existed but not this room.”
“Marcus?”
“He knows more than he admits.”
Daniel’s expression changed at the mention of Marcus.
“Marcus has been taken.”
“By Gloria?”
“By two false military police officers.”
Lydia shook her head.
“Gloria is not strong enough to command them.”
“Owen?”
“Possibly.”
Evelyn removed the old photograph from Daniel’s pocket and placed it on the bed.
“The man beside you and Gloria had his face removed. Who was he?”
Lydia stared at the image.
“My brother.”
“Owen?”
“No.”
She touched the empty space in the picture.
“Gabriel Kessler.”
Daniel exchanged a look with Evelyn.
“No one has mentioned Gabriel.”
“Because Owen spent thirty years erasing him.”
“Is he the older man who called us?”
Lydia’s hand tightened around the photograph.
“What exactly did the voice say?”
Daniel repeated the message.
Your father is standing beside me.
Lydia closed her eyes.
“Gabriel.”
“Where would he take Arthur?”
“He would not take him anywhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gabriel was Arthur’s closest friend. They built Meridian’s security division together. When Owen began targeting military families, Gabriel tried to expose him.”
“What happened?”
“Owen arranged Gabriel’s death.”
“Another false funeral?”
“No funeral. A burning car. Dental records. DNA.”
“Then how can he be alive?”
Lydia looked toward the nursery wall.
“In Meridian, death certificates are only paperwork.”
A sound came from the corridor beyond the room.
Footsteps.
Daniel drew his weapon and moved Evelyn behind the bed.
The hidden door opened.
Gloria entered with blood on her gown.
She held Marcus’s leather folder against her chest.
Daniel aimed at her.
“Where is Marcus?”
“I escaped.”
“From whom?”
Gloria looked at Lydia.
“Ask her.”
Lydia stood, raising her pistol.
“You led them here.”
“I tried to stop them.”
“You have been trying to stop things for thirty years, Gloria. Somehow they always happen anyway.”
Gloria threw the leather folder onto the bed.
Inside were photographs of a private airfield, a convoy route, and a concrete facility beneath Fort Belden.
One image showed Arthur being moved between vehicles.
Another showed Owen speaking to a man whose back faced the camera.
The final image showed Marcus opening the gate for them.
Daniel stared at it.
“Marcus handed over my father.”
Gloria shook her head.
“No. He handed over someone wearing Arthur’s face.”
She pointed toward a medical chart inside the folder.
“The prisoner has undergone facial reconstruction.”
Evelyn read the patient name.
Gabriel Kessler.
Daniel looked at Lydia.
“If Gabriel is wearing my father’s face, where is Arthur?”
Lydia turned toward the nursery’s small window.
A black vehicle had stopped beyond the east garden.
Its rear door opened.
Marcus stepped out.
Beside him was Colonel Arthur Whitaker.
Daniel’s father looked directly at the nursery window.
May you like
Then he raised a remote control.
Every lock in the mansion engaged at once.
