Chapter 13: The Brother They Buried Alive
"Your mother's son?""
I repeated the words because my mind refused to accept them.
My mother had gone completely pale.
My father stood beside the conference table, gripping its edge as if the floor were moving beneath him.
Admiral Reed signaled the agents to pause.
"Victoria, explain what you mean.""
Victoria Hale smiled as the handcuffs clicked around her wrists.
"Ask Richard. He's very good at keeping family secrets.""
My father closed his eyes.
I turned toward him.
"Who is Michael Harrington?""
He didn't answer.
"Was he my brother?""
My mother began crying.
"Yes.""
The word was barely audible.
I stared at her.
"How could I have a brother I never knew existed?""
She lowered herself into a chair.
"Michael was born before you and Jonathan. I was nineteen. Your father and I weren't married yet.""
My father interrupted.
"Margaret, please.""
She shook her head.
"No. We've lied long enough.""
She explained that Michael had been born with a heart condition. His biological father had abandoned them, and Richard had agreed to raise him after they married.
For several years, Michael had lived with us.
He had been my mother's first child.
My father's adopted son.
And my brother.
I remembered a photograph in our old family album showing a little boy standing beside my mother.
When I was seven, I had asked who he was.
My father had told me it was a distant cousin.
I had believed him.
"What happened to him?"" I asked.
My mother wiped her cheeks.
"When Michael was seventeen, he discovered that your father was using company money to cover manufacturing losses. He threatened to report the financial irregularities.""
My father looked toward the window.
"He was stealing documents.""
"He was protecting employees," my mother replied.
Victoria laughed.
"Michael was a problem. Just like you.""
I turned toward her.
"What did you do to him?""
Victoria looked directly at my father.
"Richard arranged for him to leave the country.""
My father slammed his hand against the table.
"That's not true!""
Victoria smiled.
"Then tell them where he is.""
He said nothing.
Mercer approached my father.
"Mr. Harrington, do you know Michael's current whereabouts?""
My father finally spoke.
"He's dead.""
My mother screamed.
"No!""
I looked between them.
"What do you mean, dead?""
My father lowered his head.
"Five years ago, Michael was involved in the Meridian investigation. He had been working as an independent technical consultant. He was the person who originally discovered that the emergency isolation system had been deliberately compromised.""
Peter Lawson suddenly stood.
"Michael was my source.""
Everyone turned toward him.
Peter explained that Michael had contacted him months before the fire. Together, they had gathered evidence of fraudulent manufacturing practices and unauthorized system modifications.
Michael had intended to deliver everything to federal investigators.
But someone had discovered their plan.
"He was on the Meridian the morning of the incident," Peter said.
I felt cold.
"Was he the eleventh sailor?""
Peter nodded.
"Yes.""
My mother covered her mouth.
I looked at my father.
"You told me eleven sailors were rescued.""
"Ten were officially recorded as rescued.""
"Where was Michael?""
My father swallowed.
"He was listed as a contractor. When the compartment was sealed, his name wasn't included in the initial casualty report.""
I stared at him.
"Was he inside with us?""
My father nodded.
The room seemed to disappear.
I remembered the smoke.
The screams.
The bodies being carried through the corridor.
But there had been another person.
A man who had pushed a fallen panel away from me.
Someone who had handed me his emergency breathing mask when mine stopped working.
I had never seen his face clearly.
He had worn a protective hood.
"Did he survive?"" I whispered.
My father couldn't answer.
Victoria did.
"Of course he survived.""
My mother shot to her feet.
"Where is he?""
Victoria shrugged.
"That depends on whether he's still useful.""
Mercer stepped forward.
"Ms. Hale, you are under arrest. I strongly recommend you provide any information concerning Michael Harrington's whereabouts.""
Victoria looked at him.
"I don't know where he is now.""
"Who does?""
She smiled.
"Admiral Whitmore.""
Mercer immediately contacted the investigation team.
But Victoria wasn't finished.
She turned toward my father.
"Tell your daughter what happened after the rescue.""
My father began shaking.
"Stop.""
"Tell her.""
He looked at me.
"Michael was recovered from the compartment. He was badly injured. He was alive, but barely conscious.""
My breath caught.
"Then why wasn't he taken to the hospital with the rest of us?""
My father closed his eyes.
"Whitmore ordered him transferred to a private medical facility.""
"Why?""
"Because Michael had copies of the original evidence. They wanted to know where he had hidden them.""
I felt sick.
"They interrogated an injured man?""
Nobody answered.
My mother began sobbing.
My father continued.
"I tried to find him afterward. But every time I asked, I was told he had been transferred.""
"Who told you?""
"Whitmore.""
I stepped closer.
"Did you believe him?""
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
"I wanted to.""
I shook my head.
"You wanted not to know.""
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A text message appeared.
*Evelyn. It's Michael. I'm alive. Don't let them take me back.*
I stopped breathing.
A second message followed.
*I know who really ordered the compartment locked. It wasn't Jonathan. It wasn't Victoria. It was someone you still trust.*
I looked up at Admiral Reed.
He was watching me.
"Captain? What's wrong?""
I turned my phone toward him.
He read the messages.
Then he slowly looked toward the conference room door.
"Secure the building," he ordered.
May you like
But before the agents could move, every light in the building went out.
And somewhere in the darkness, a gunshot echoed through the hallway.
