Chapter 6 - The Girl Behind the Glass
The applause stopped.
Claire stared through the glass wall.
The little girl stood perfectly still.
She couldn't have been more than six.
Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, slightly messy, with one pale ribbon tied near her left ear. She wore a simple gray sweater and white socks.
No shoes.
No fear.
Just those eyes.
Claire knew them.
She had seen them every morning in the mirror.
Jacob rolled closer to the glass.
“Emily?”
The girl's face changed.
Her lower lip trembled.
Then she stepped toward the glass.
“Daddy?”
Jacob stopped.
For a man who had faced explosions, gunfire, betrayal, and six years of pain, the word seemed to break something inside him.
He reached toward the glass.
The girl raised her small hand.
Their palms met through the barrier.
Claire covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
“My baby.”
The girl looked at her.
“Mommy?”
Claire's knees nearly gave out.
She pressed her hand against the glass.
“I’m here.”
The girl smiled.
It was small.
Uncertain.
But real.
Jacob looked at Claire.
“You remembered her name.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
She touched the glass.
“She remembered mine.”
A speaker crackled overhead.
The man's voice returned.
“Beautiful reunion.”
Jacob's expression hardened.
“Show yourself.”
A soft laugh came through the speaker.
“You've always been impatient.”
Claire looked around.
“Who is that?”
Jacob answered without looking away from the glass.
“My father.”
The girl's smile disappeared.
She stepped backward.
Claire noticed immediately.
“Emily.”
The child shook her head.
“Don't say his name.”
Claire's heart tightened.
“Why?”
Emily looked toward the ceiling.
“He listens.”
Jacob's jaw clenched.
“Who?”
Emily pointed upward.
“Him.”
The speaker crackled again.
“Smart girl.”
Jacob moved toward the control panel beside the glass.
He examined the buttons.
“Can you open this?”
Elias shook his head.
“Not from here.”
Jacob turned.
“Then how?”
“The room is electronically sealed.”
“There's always a manual release.”
“Not in this facility.”
Jacob's eyes narrowed.
“You helped build it.”
“I built the first version.”
“And?”
“Your father rebuilt everything.”
Claire looked at Elias.
“What happened to the original?”
“He destroyed it.”
“Why?”
Elias hesitated.
“Because it wasn't secure enough.”
Jacob looked at Emily.
“Secure from what?”
Elias's answer was quiet.
“From people like him.”
Jacob stared.
“My father was afraid of someone?”
“Everyone is afraid of someone.”
The speaker came alive again.
“Elias.”
Elias froze.
“You were told never to return.”
He didn't answer.
The voice continued.
“You were told what would happen if you did.”
Elias reached inside his jacket.
Claire stepped toward him.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we have a way out.”
He pulled out a small device.
Jacob recognized it.
“A detonator?”
Elias nodded.
Claire's face went pale.
“You brought explosives into a hospital?”
“This isn't a hospital.”
Jacob stared at him.
“What is it?”
“A vault.”
Claire looked at the glass room.
“Emily is inside a vault?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she is the only person your father cannot control.”
Jacob looked at his daughter.
“What does that mean?”
Elias lowered his voice.
“She knows something.”
Claire frowned.
“She’s six.”
“She remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
Elias looked at Jacob.
“The night you disappeared.”
Jacob's expression changed.
Claire shook her head.
“She was a baby.”
“She was old enough to hear.”
“She couldn't remember that.”
“She did.”
Jacob moved toward the glass.
“Emily.”
The girl looked at him.
“Do you remember me?”
She nodded.
“When?”
She pointed toward the floor.
“Before.”
“Before what?”
“The fire.”
Claire looked at Jacob.
“What fire?”
Emily's eyes moved toward the far corner of the room.
“The big fire.”
Jacob's breathing became uneven.
“Who was there?”
Emily hesitated.
Then she whispered,
“Uncle Daniel.”
Jacob froze.
Claire looked at him.
“Your brother?”
Jacob nodded slowly.
“Daniel.”
Emily touched the glass again.
“He told me not to cry.”
Jacob's eyes filled with tears.
“What else did he say?”
Emily looked frightened.
“He said Daddy would come back.”
Jacob swallowed.
“He knew I was alive?”
Emily nodded.
“He said you were coming.”
“When?”
The girl looked toward the ceiling.
“After he finished.”
“Finished what?”
Emily didn't answer.
Claire stepped closer.
“Sweetheart, what did Uncle Daniel give you?”
Emily looked down at her hands.
Then she slowly opened her fist.
Something tiny was inside.
A metal key.
Claire stared.
Jacob's eyes widened.
“Where did you get that?”
Emily pressed it against the glass.
“Uncle Daniel said Daddy would know.”
Jacob stared at the key.
It was old.
Blackened at the edges.
A number was engraved across the top.
17.
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
“R-17.”
Elias moved closer.
His expression changed.
“Where did she get that?”
Jacob turned.
“You know what it opens.”
“No.”
“Elias.”
“I don't.”
Jacob grabbed his jacket.
“Don't lie to me.”
Elias looked at the key.
Then at Emily.
Finally, he whispered,
“It opens the archive.”
Claire stepped closer.
“What archive?”
“The original records.”
“Records of the children?”
“No.”
Elias looked at Jacob.
“Records of the people who took them.”
Silence.
Claire stared at him.
“How many?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Jacob released Elias.
“Thirty-seven children?”
“No.”
Elias looked toward Emily.
“Thirty-seven families.”
Claire felt sick.
“What did they do?”
“Blackmail.”
Jacob's eyes narrowed.
“Against whom?”
“Politicians. Military officers. Judges. CEOs. Anyone powerful enough to threaten your father's organization.”
Claire looked at Emily.
“And the children?”
“They were insurance.”
Jacob's face hardened.
“My daughter was insurance.”
“Yes.”
His voice became deadly quiet.
“Who had her?”
“Your father.”
Claire shook her head.
“Then why did he hide her from us?”
Elias answered.
“Because he needed Jacob to believe he had lost everything.”
Jacob looked at him.
“You're saying he kept my daughter alive to control me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he contact me?”
“Because he didn't need to.”
Elias pointed toward the ceiling.
“He knew you would eventually come looking.”
Claire suddenly understood.
The hospital.
The nurse.
The medical records.
The transmitter.
The basement.
Everything had been arranged.
Not to kill Jacob.
To bring him here.
Jacob looked at Claire.
“He wanted me underground.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elias didn't answer.
A sound came from inside Emily's room.
A soft metallic scrape.
Emily turned.
Claire's eyes widened.
“Emily?”
The girl backed away.
“Mommy.”
Claire moved toward the glass.
“What happened?”
Emily shook her head.
“He's coming.”
Jacob's hand tightened around his weapon.
“Who?”
Emily whispered,
“Grandpa.”
The lights inside the room went out.
Claire screamed.
“Emily!”
The glass room became completely dark.
Jacob rushed toward the control panel.
“Open it!”
Elias tried the controls.
Nothing.
Claire slammed her hand against the glass.
“Emily!”
A small hand appeared on the other side.
Then disappeared.
Jacob struck the panel with his fist.
“Open the door!”
A deep voice came through the speakers.
“Jacob.”
He froze.
His father's voice.
“It's time we talked.”
Jacob looked upward.
“Come out.”
“You've spent years blaming everyone else.”
“You took my daughter.”
“I protected her.”
“You imprisoned her.”
“I preserved what belonged to you.”
Jacob's eyes burned.
“She doesn't belong to me.”
A pause.
Then his father's voice softened.
“That's where you're wrong.”
Claire looked toward Jacob.
The voice continued.
“She belongs to the bloodline.”
Jacob shook his head.
“No.”
“Your brother understood.”
“Daniel is dead.”
“Yes.”
“You killed him.”
Silence.
Then the answer came.
“I didn't kill Daniel.”
Jacob froze.
Claire stopped breathing.
Elias looked away.
Jacob whispered,
“Who did?”
His father's voice replied,
“You did.”
Jacob's face went blank.
“No.”
“You pulled the trigger.”
“I wasn't there.”
“You were.”
Claire shook her head.
“Jacob.”
The speaker crackled.
“Ask Claire what happened after the explosion.”
Jacob turned toward her.
Claire's face had gone pale.
“Claire?”
She couldn't speak.
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
“You were there.”
“I don't remember.”
“You told me you didn't remember.”
“I don't.”
Jacob stared at her.
The speaker came alive again.
“She remembers.”
Claire stepped backward.
“No.”
“Her memory was suppressed.”
“By you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she saw everything.”
Jacob looked at Claire.
“What did you see?”
Claire's hands began shaking.
A fragment surfaced.
Fire.
Smoke.
A vehicle.
Daniel.
Jacob standing beside him.
A gun.
A baby crying.
And a voice.
Her own voice.
“Jacob, don't!”
She gasped.
The memory vanished.
Jacob caught her before she fell.
“What did you see?”
Claire looked up at him.
“I saw you.”
“Where?”
“Beside Daniel.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
A sudden sound came from Emily's room.
A loud metallic bang.
Claire spun around.
The glass door was opening.
Slowly.
From the inside.
Emily stood behind it.
But she wasn't alone.
A tall man stood behind her.
Dark coat.
Gray hair.
One hand resting gently on the child's shoulder.
Claire couldn't move.
Jacob stared through the opening doorway.
The man smiled.
Then he looked directly at Jacob.
“Hello, son.”
May you like
Jacob's face went white.
Because the man standing beside Emily was supposed to have been dead for twenty years...
