Chapter 3 - The Photograph Jessi Hid
My dead father's face filled the monitor.
Wendy whispered, "Turn it off."
Nathan reached for the keyboard.
I stopped him.
Nobody touched that screen.
The image sharpened.
The man behind Jessi looked directly into the camera.
Then he raised one finger to his lips.
My childhood came rushing back in fragments.
My father's laugh.
His hand on my shoulder.
His funeral.
The closed casket after a private plane crash twelve years earlier.
I had been twenty-four.
"What is this?" I demanded.
Nathan looked sick.
"Daniel—"
"Is that my father?"
Elliot answered.
"Yes."
One word.
Nothing in my life remained where it belonged.
I stared at the screen.
"His plane crashed."
Nathan said quietly, "The plane crashed."
I turned.
"What does that mean?"
"He wasn't on it."
My knees almost gave way.
I grabbed the table.
"You knew?"
Nathan nodded.
Wendy closed her eyes.
"You too?"
"Not until later."
I looked at Fiona.
She was watching me.
My daughter had already been frightened enough.
I crouched beside her.
"Fiona, I need you to do something."
"What?"
"Stay with Grandma for five minutes."
"No."
"Sweetheart—"
"No."
She grabbed my hand.
"Grandma lies."
Wendy flinched.
Fiona looked at Nathan.
"And he's supposed to be dead."
Nobody had an answer for that.
I picked Fiona up.
"Then you're staying with me."
Nathan grabbed his coat.
"We need to reach Halcyon."
Elliot stepped toward the door.
"No."
I blocked him.
"You're staying."
"You don't have authority to detain me."
"Try leaving."
He studied me.
Then sat.
Wendy remained with him while Nathan and I drove toward Halcyon's former headquarters.
Fiona sat in the back.
Nathan spoke quietly.
"Your father's name was Charles Mercer."
"I know my father's name."
"You knew one version of him."
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Talk like you're protecting me."
He stared through the windshield.
"I learned a long time ago that protection and deception can look exactly the same."
"You abandoned your daughter."
His jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"You watched her mourn you."
"Yes."
"You watched Wendy become a widow."
"Yes."
"And you call that protection?"
"No."
That answer surprised me.
"I call it the worst decision of my life."
For several miles, nobody spoke.
Then Fiona asked from the back seat:
"Is Grandpa Nathan bad?"
Nathan looked at her in the mirror.
"I made bad choices."
"That's not what I asked."
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Nathan didn't.
"I don't want to be bad anymore."
Fiona considered that.
"Then don't."
Nathan turned toward the window.
His eyes were wet.
Halcyon's old headquarters appeared ahead.
Three stories.
Gray concrete.
Most windows dark.
I parked across the street.
"Fiona stays here."
"No," she said immediately.
"Yes."
Nathan handed me his phone.
"Emergency button. One press calls the police."
I gave it to Fiona.
"Lock the doors."
"Daddy."
"I'll be right there."
"Promise?"
I hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Promise."
Nathan and I crossed the street.
The front doors were chained.
We went around back.
A service entrance stood open.
Too easy.
Inside, emergency lights illuminated a corridor.
Room numbers increased as we climbed.
The door was closed.
I heard voices.
Jessi.
And my father.
I hadn't heard his voice in twelve years.
Age had changed it.
Not enough.
"Daniel will understand eventually."
Jessi answered.
"No, he won't."
"He will if you explain."
"I've lied to him for eight years."
"You protected him."
"Stop calling lies protection."
I looked at Nathan.
His face tightened.
Apparently, the sentence hurt both of us.
I opened the door.
Jessi turned.
My father stood beside her.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Charles Mercer had aged.
His hair was white at the temples. His face was thinner. A scar ran from his left ear toward his jaw.
But it was him.
"Daniel."
I had imagined hearing that voice again thousands of times after his death.
Never like this.
"You died."
His eyes filled.
"I know."
"No. You don't get to say that."
Jessi moved toward me.
I stepped back.
She stopped.
That hurt her.
Good.
I hated myself for thinking it.
"Daniel, please."
"How long have you known?"
"Three days."
"About Nathan?"
"Yes."
"My father?"
She looked down.
"Since last night."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Charles told me what would happen if—"
"Charles?"
I looked at my father.
"My wife calls you Charles now?"
"Daniel."
"Don't say my name."
The anger I'd controlled all day finally broke through.
"You let me bury you."
"I had no choice."
"Everybody has a choice."
"Then I chose badly."
That silenced me for half a second.
My father stepped forward.
"The crash wasn't an accident."
"Apparently nobody in this family dies when they're supposed to."
Jessi flinched.
I regretted it immediately.
But the truth had become grotesque.
Nathan explained.
"Charles discovered the same network I did."
I looked between them.
"You knew each other?"
"Eventually."
My father nodded.
"We were both trying to expose Elliot."
"Elliot Crane?"
"And others."
"What does Project Harbor contain?"
My father looked at Jessi.
She held up a portable drive.
"The proof."
I stared at it.
"Then why steal my token?"
"Because the archive requires physical authorization."
"You could've asked."
My father said, "And put you at risk."
I laughed.
"I'm standing in an abandoned building with two dead men and my wife holding stolen corporate data. How much safer was the alternative?"
Nobody answered.
I looked at Jessi.
"You threatened Fiona?"
Her face collapsed.
"No."
"She said Wendy told her you'd disappear forever."
"I never told Mom to say that."
"But you asked her to get the token."
"Yes."
"Using Fiona?"
"No. I told her to find another way."
Nathan muttered, "Wendy panicked."
That didn't excuse it.
Nothing did.
Jessi stepped closer.
"I was afraid."
"Of me?"
"No."
"Then who?"
My father answered.
"Elliot."
"He's sitting in a warehouse with Wendy."
Charles went pale.
"You left him with Wendy?"
"She's not alone."
"Who else?"
I thought of Fiona in the truck.
My blood froze.
I turned and ran.
Nathan followed.
Across the street, my pickup was exactly where I'd left it.
Driver's door closed.
Rear door closed.
I ran faster.
"Fiona!"
No answer.
I reached the truck.
Empty.
Nathan's phone lay on the back seat.
Beside it was Fiona's blue hair ribbon.
My vision narrowed.
"No."
Nathan picked up the phone.
A message waited on the screen.
Unknown number.
BRING THE HARBOR DRIVE TO THE PLACE CHARLES MERCER DIED.
Jessi reached us.
When she saw the ribbon, she screamed Fiona's name.
My father emerged from the building behind her.
I turned on him.
"Where did you die?"
His face changed.
"Daniel—"
"WHERE?"
He stared at the message.
Then whispered:
"Blackwater Airfield."
Nathan looked at him.
"I thought they demolished it."
"They did."
"Then what's there now?"
My father didn't answer.
Jessi grabbed my arm.
"Daniel."
She was staring across the street.
A black SUV had just turned the corner.
Wendy was driving.
She stopped beside us and jumped out.
"Where's Fiona?"
I stared at her.
"You don't have her?"
Wendy's face went white.
"No."
Her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Then at Nathan.
"Who is it?" I demanded.
Wendy slowly turned the phone toward us.
The caller ID showed one name.
ELLIOT.
She answered.
His voice came through the speaker.
"Bring Charles and the drive."
I stepped closer.
"Let me talk to my daughter."
A pause.
Then Fiona's voice came through.
"Daddy?"
"I'm here, baby."
"I'm okay."
"I'm coming."
Another voice interrupted.
Not Elliot.
A woman's voice.
Jessi suddenly stopped breathing.
"Mom?"
Wendy's phone slipped in her hand.
Nathan looked as though he'd seen another ghost.
The woman laughed softly.
Then said:
"Hello, Wendy."
Wendy whispered a name I had never heard before.
"Rebecca?"
Nathan grabbed the phone.
But the call had already ended.
I looked at him.
"Who is Rebecca?"
Nathan didn't answer.
My father did.
"She's the reason all of us disappeared."
Then headlights appeared at the end of the empty street.
A vehicle approached slowly.
It stopped.
May you like
The rear door opened.
And someone pushed Fiona's panda mug onto the pavement.
