Chapter 5: The Locked Room
“Give me the key.””
Thomas's voice changed.
Not louder.
Sharper.
I closed my fist around it.
“No.””
“Ryan, you don't understand what that opens.””
“Then explain it.””
He stepped into Lily's bedroom.
I stepped in front of my daughter.
Sarah appeared behind him.
“Thomas.””
“Stay out of this.””
That made me notice something I should have noticed earlier.
Fear.
Sarah was afraid of him.
“Everybody downstairs,” I said.
Thomas didn't move.
“Now.””
Claire took Lily's hand.
Sarah picked up Emma.
We returned to the living room.
I kept the brass key in my fist.
“Start talking.””
Thomas paced once.
“That key opens the original archive.””
“The evidence you mentioned?””
“Yes.””
“And you didn't know where the key was?””
“No.””
“So you've been searching.””
His silence confirmed it.
I looked toward Sarah.
“Did you know?””
“Not until we arrived.””
“When was that?””
“Six days ago.””
I stared at her.
“You've been under my house for six days?””
“Mostly.””
“Mostly?””
Sarah looked uncomfortable.
“Emma slipped upstairs twice.””
Lily raised her hand proudly.
“Three times.””
Nobody spoke.
Emma whispered, “She gave me crackers.””
Despite everything, Sarah nearly smiled.
Then I remembered the note.
I placed it on the table.
“Read this.””
Thomas didn't need to.
“I know what Evelyn would say.””
My mother's name sounded poisonous coming from him.
Claire read the note.
Her face drained of color.
“She knew Thomas was coming.””
Thomas looked at her.
“Apparently.””
I leaned forward.
“Why does she say not to take Lily below the house?””
Nobody answered.
“I'm getting really tired of silence.””
Claire sat down.
“Because Lily can open something.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
She looked toward Thomas.
He shook his head.
“Tell him,” Claire said.
“Or I will.””
Thomas's jaw tightened.
“Lily's birthmark is slightly different.””
I looked at my daughter.
The crescent on her wrist had a tiny dot beside it.
I'd seen it a thousand times.
Never considered it important.
Thomas continued.
“The archive has two locks. The key is one.””
“And the second?””
“Biometric.””
I felt sick.
“No.””
“It reads a hereditary marker.””
“You're telling me my four-year-old is a key?””
“In simple terms.””
I slammed my hand onto the table.
“She is not a key. She is my daughter.””
Lily jumped.
I immediately regretted it.
“Sorry, sweetheart.””
She climbed onto the couch beside Emma.
Claire touched my arm.
I pulled away.
“Don't.””
Her hand dropped.
“You've known this?””
“Not all of it.””
“How much?””
“Enough to know Evelyn was watching Lily.””
“And you kept Lily here?””
Claire's eyes flashed.
“Because your mother told me leaving would make things worse.””
“You trusted her?””
“I was terrified of her!””
Her voice cracked.
“She knew everything, Ryan. Where Lily went to preschool. Where you worked. What route I drove to the grocery store.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because the last person who threatened to tell you disappeared.””
Sarah looked at her.
“Who?””
Claire hesitated.
Then she said, “Dr. Nathan Bell.””
Thomas stopped moving.
“What?””
“You know him?””
“He delivered Ryan.””
Claire nodded.
“He contacted me seven months ago. He said he had proof about the study.””
“What happened?””
“He vanished two days before we were supposed to meet.””
Silence swallowed the room.
Then Emma spoke.
“Mr. Nathan?””
Claire turned.
“What did you say?””
Emma slid from the couch.
“Mr. Nathan.””
Sarah crouched beside her.
“Emma, how do you know that name?””
“He stayed with Grandma.””
Thomas went pale.
“Where?””
Emma pointed downward.
“Downstairs.””
I grabbed the key.
“Show me.””
Sarah blocked me.
“No.””
I stared at her.
“You've spent eleven years hiding from these people. I'm done hiding.””
“You have children upstairs.””
“Exactly.””
Thomas stepped forward.
“We go together.””
I almost told him no.
But if there was a locked room beneath my home containing answers, I wasn't waiting another night.
Claire stayed with the girls.
Sarah followed Thomas and me into the passage.
At the bottom of the stairs, Thomas moved past the room where Sarah had been staying.
A narrow corridor continued farther underground.
We reached a concrete wall.
No door.
I stared at him.
“This is it?””
Thomas ran his fingers along the concrete until he found a small depression.
He pressed it.
A section clicked.
A metal keyhole appeared.
My mother's key fit perfectly.
I turned it.
Something heavy unlocked behind the wall.
The concrete panel opened.
Cold air spilled out.
Inside was a room lined with filing cabinets.
Old computers.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Hundreds of them.
I stepped inside.
Most showed members of my family.
My grandfather.
Thomas.
Me.
Lily.
Emma.
Then Sarah gasped.
“Ryan.””
A corkboard covered the far wall.
Photographs were arranged like a family tree.
Red lines connected generations.
I found my own picture.
Two lines extended beneath it.
One toward Lily.
One toward Emma.
But beside my photograph was another man's face.
He looked almost exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same crescent birthmark.
Underneath was a name.
MICHAEL WALKER.
I turned toward Thomas.
“Who is Michael?””
Thomas looked as if he had been waiting his entire life to hear that question.
“My other son.””
I couldn't breathe.
“My brother?””
“Your twin.””
The word hit me like a physical blow.
“I don't have a twin.””
“Yes, Ryan.””
Thomas stared at the photograph.
“You did.””
“Did?””
Sarah stepped backward.
Thomas closed his eyes.
“The baby your mother told everyone had died at birth never died.””
A sound came from behind the filing cabinets.
Metal scraping concrete.
We all froze.
Someone was in the archive.
I grabbed the nearest heavy flashlight.
“Who's there?””
A man slowly stepped from behind the shelves.
He had my height.
My eyes.
My face.
Older scars.
Longer hair.
And on his left wrist—
my crescent.
May you like
He looked straight at me.
“Hello, brother.””
