Chapter 14 – Ava’s Warning
Chapter 14 – Ava’s Warning
Nathan stared at the dark phone screen.
The call had lasted less than twenty seconds.
Yet it changed everything.
Ryan stepped closer.
"Who was it?"
Nathan answered without looking up.
"Ava."
The room fell silent.
Emily's eyes widened.
"The woman from the photograph?"
Nathan nodded.
"She said one thing before the line went dead."
Ryan waited.
Nathan slowly repeated the words.
"'Don't trust Walter Bennett.'"
No one spoke.
Charlie looked from one face to another.
"Who's Walter?"
Nathan sighed.
"The man who rescued Sarah."
Charlie frowned.
"So... he helped her."
Ryan folded his arms.
"Or he wanted us to believe he helped her."
Nathan hated how reasonable that sounded.
Miles away...
Walter Bennett placed the birth certificate back into the wooden box.
Sarah couldn't take her eyes off it.
"Why did John hide this?"
Walter carefully locked the box again.
"Because he believed the truth would destroy everyone he loved."
Sarah struggled to stand.
"I have to tell Nathan."
Walter gently stopped her.
"Not yet."
Sarah looked at him.
"He deserves to know."
Walter shook his head.
"He deserves the whole truth."
"Not half of it."
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Half the truth is what destroyed my family."
Walter looked toward the snow-covered window.
"And rushing into the other half could destroy what's left."
Back at the hospital...
Ryan ordered detectives to trace Ava's phone call.
Within minutes, the first report arrived.
He looked at Nathan.
"The signal bounced through six different towers."
Nathan frowned.
"So she covered her tracks."
Ryan nodded.
"But she made one mistake."
"What?"
"The first connection came from Pierce Harbor."
Nathan looked up immediately.
"The boathouse."
Ryan smiled.
"I think she's waiting for us."
Marcus Kane sat alone inside the hunting lodge.
Daniel quietly entered.
"We found Walter's cabin."
Marcus didn't react.
"Good."
Daniel hesitated.
"Do you want me to send the team?"
Marcus slowly poured himself a cup of coffee.
"No."
Daniel looked confused.
"We know where Sarah is."
Marcus smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
"So why wait?"
Marcus turned toward the fireplace.
"Because Walter isn't the prize."
"Sarah isn't the prize."
Daniel frowned.
"Then who is?"
Marcus's eyes became cold.
"Nathan."
Daniel remained silent.
Marcus continued.
"John Pierce spent twenty years preparing Nathan for something."
"I intend to find out what."
At sunrise...
Nathan, Ryan, Emily, Charlie, and Lily left the hospital under heavy police escort.
The twins rode safely in a separate police vehicle.
Ryan had doubled the security detail.
No chances.
No shortcuts.
Nathan looked at Lily in the back seat.
She held Ethan's tiny blanket close to her chest.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"I had a dream."
Nathan smiled gently.
"What happened?"
Lily looked out the window.
"Grandpa was standing on a dock."
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"He told me..."
"...'The boat only leaves once.'"
Ryan glanced at Nathan.
Neither man spoke.
Lily continued.
"Then he pointed at the water."
Nathan asked quietly,
"Did you see anything?"
Lily nodded.
"A lighthouse."
Thirty minutes later...
The convoy arrived at Pierce Harbor.
The old boathouse sat alone beside the frozen lake.
Years of snow and wind had worn away most of the paint.
Nathan stepped out first.
Everything felt strangely familiar.
"I came here once."
Ryan looked at him.
"When?"
"I was a child."
"My father brought me fishing."
Nathan slowly walked toward the weathered dock.
His footsteps echoed across the old wooden planks.
Lily suddenly stopped.
She pointed toward the lake.
"The lighthouse."
Nathan followed her finger.
Far across the frozen water stood an abandoned lighthouse.
Exactly where Lily had seen it.
Ryan looked through binoculars.
"There are fresh tracks on the ice."
Nathan's pulse quickened.
"Someone crossed recently."
Inside the boathouse...
Dust covered everything.
Old fishing nets hung from rusted hooks.
Broken boats rested upside down along the walls.
Charlie wandered toward a faded wooden workbench.
He frowned.
"Sarah was here."
Nathan turned.
"How do you know?"
Charlie smiled.
"She always smelled like lavender."
He pointed toward a purple scarf hanging from a nail.
Nathan slowly picked it up.
It was still damp.
"She wasn't here long ago."
Ryan searched the room.
"There's got to be something."
Emily noticed an old ship's wheel mounted on the wall.
"It looks newer than everything else."
Nathan walked over.
He placed both hands on it.
The wheel moved.
A loud mechanical click echoed through the boathouse.
The floor beneath the workbench slowly slid open.
Another hidden staircase.
Ryan laughed quietly.
"Your father really liked secret rooms."
Nathan managed a tired smile.
"I think I'm starting to understand why."
The underground chamber was unlike any they had found before.
It wasn't a bunker.
It was an office.
Maps covered one wall.
Filing cabinets lined another.
A large wooden desk stood in the center.
Everything had been carefully preserved.
As if someone had left only yesterday.
Nathan opened the top drawer.
Inside lay dozens of sealed letters.
Every one of them addressed to him.
He stared in disbelief.
"The dates..."
Ryan looked over his shoulder.
"Some were written fifteen years ago."
Nathan picked up the oldest envelope.
His father's handwriting covered the front.
For Nathan's 30th Birthday.
Another read:
Open If Sarah Ever Disappears.
Another:
Open If Marcus Finds You First.
Nathan's hands trembled.
His father had anticipated every possibility.
Emily opened a ledger on the desk.
She frowned.
"Nathan..."
"You should see this."
She turned the book toward him.
It listed hundreds of names.
Beside each name appeared a payment.
A date.
A signature.
Ryan studied the pages.
"This isn't an accounting book."
Nathan looked closer.
"It's a protection fund."
Ryan frowned.
"For who?"
Nathan reached the final page.
One sentence had been written across the bottom.
Everyone on this list protected one child.
Charlie whispered,
"Me?"
Nathan slowly shook his head.
"I don't think so."
He pointed toward the last name on the page.
Sarah Carter.
Beside her name was one instruction.
Guardian of Subject L.
Nathan felt his heartbeat accelerate.
"Subject L."
Ryan looked toward Lily.
"L."
Lily.
Before anyone could speak, a hidden speaker somewhere inside the room suddenly crackled to life.
A woman's voice echoed through the chamber.
Calm.
Steady.
Unmistakably familiar.
"If you're hearing this..."
"...you found the boathouse."
Nathan froze.
"Mom?"
Everyone turned toward him.
Nathan stared at the ceiling.
His eyes filled with tears.
He hadn't heard his mother's voice in over twenty years.
The recording continued.
"Nathan..."
"Your father and I lied to you."
"And before you judge us..."
"...you must know one thing."
A long pause followed.
Then came the sentence that shattered Nathan's understanding of his own childhood.
"You were never our only son."
The room fell completely silent.
Charlie looked at Nathan.
Lily grabbed his hand.
Ryan slowly lowered the ledger.
No one dared to breathe.
The recording played one final sentence before cutting off.
May you like
"To learn the truth..."
"...you must find your brother before Marcus does."
