CHAPTER 5: “Your Brother Is Alive.”
The words echoed through the shattered apartment.
"Your brother is alive."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Nathaniel stared at Samuel Reeves as though the older man had just rewritten reality itself.
Finally, he spoke.
"No."
Samuel held his gaze.
"Yes."
"I buried him."
"You buried a coffin."
"I identified his watch."
"So did everyone else."
Nathaniel's voice rose for the first time.
"I stood at his funeral!"
Samuel answered quietly.
"There wasn't a body."
Silence.
Nathaniel suddenly remembered something he had never questioned before.
The funeral director had insisted the remains were too badly damaged after the helicopter exploded.
The casket had stayed closed.
Everyone accepted it.
No one asked to see Michael one last time.
Including Nathaniel.
The memory hit him like a freight train.
Rebecca sat down heavily on the sofa.
Her fever had returned.
"This..."
She whispered.
"This can't be happening."
Samuel looked at her kindly.
"You've protected Michael's last message for five years."
Rebecca shook her head.
"I didn't protect it."
"I hid."
Samuel gave a sad smile.
"Sometimes that's the same thing."
Emma looked up at the adults.
"Is Uncle Michael coming?"
Nathaniel looked surprised.
"You know who Michael is?"
Emma nodded.
"Mommy used to read me his stories."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"I told her he was a good man."
Samuel quietly added,
"He still is."
Nathaniel wasn't ready to believe any of it.
"If Michael is alive..."
He stepped closer.
"...where has he been?"
Samuel didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he picked up the faded photograph from the coffee table.
"He disappeared because he had no choice."
Nathaniel frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Samuel looked directly into his eyes.
"Your brother discovered something inside Grant Industries."
"The kind of secret that gets powerful people killed."
Nathaniel's jaw tightened.
"What secret?"
Samuel glanced toward the broken front door.
"Not here."
Outside, emergency lights painted the old apartment building in flashes of blue and white.
Neighbors gathered behind police tape.
Most believed it had been a gas explosion.
Others whispered about a hostage situation.
None of them knew the truth.
Three black vans without government markings waited at the curb.
The captured intruders had vanished into one of them.
No reporters.
No television crews.
No official statements.
Everything was being erased before sunrise.
Nathaniel watched silently.
"Who exactly are you people?"
Samuel answered honestly.
"We're the reason your father stayed alive as long as he did."
Nathaniel frowned.
"My father died of a heart attack."
Samuel didn't blink.
"That's what the death certificate says."
Nathaniel slowly turned.
"What are you implying?"
Samuel's eyes darkened.
"I'm saying your father never had heart disease."
Rebecca gasped.
Nathaniel felt his stomach twist.
"What?"
Samuel lowered his voice.
"We exhumed his medical records three years ago."
"They'd been altered."
Nathaniel shook his head.
"No."
"It wasn't natural."
"No."
"He was poisoned."
Everything inside Nathaniel collapsed.
His father.
Michael.
Now this.
His entire family history was unraveling in front of him.
For thirty-six years he believed he knew who he was.
Now...
Nothing felt real.
Emma quietly slipped her tiny hand into his.
"You look sad."
Nathaniel looked down.
"I am."
She squeezed his fingers.
"My mommy says when people tell scary truths..."
She smiled gently.
"...they stop being scary."
Nathaniel almost laughed.
Almost.
Samuel turned toward Rebecca.
"Did Michael ever tell you about the cabin?"
Rebecca froze.
Nathaniel noticed immediately.
"You know something."
Rebecca hesitated.
For several long seconds.
Then she whispered,
"There is a cabin."
Nathaniel looked between them.
"What cabin?"
Rebecca walked slowly toward an old bookshelf.
Hidden behind children's picture books...
She removed a worn envelope sealed with faded blue wax.
"I promised never to open it."
Samuel nodded.
"You kept your promise."
Rebecca handed it to Nathaniel.
"The day Michael disappeared..."
She whispered.
"...he made me swear this would only go to you."
Nathaniel carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a folded map.
A handwritten letter.
And an old brass key.
The map pointed toward a remote mountain town in Montana.
The key carried the same falcon symbol engraved on the flash drive.
Nathaniel unfolded the letter.
His hands trembled before he even read the first line.
Nathan,
If you're reading this... then I failed.
Don't waste time mourning me.
If Rebecca trusted you enough to give you this letter, she's one of the very few people you can still believe. Protect her. Protect Emma. Whatever happens next, don't let them separate you.
Nathaniel swallowed hard.
The next sentence hit even harder.
By now, you've probably learned that Father didn't die naturally.
Nathaniel looked up at Samuel.
Samuel nodded silently.
Michael already knew.
Years ago.
Nathaniel continued reading.
The people hunting us don't want money. They already have more than they'll ever spend. They want something much more dangerous...
He unfolded the final page.
There was only one sentence written across it.
Find Project Genesis before Victor does.
Nathaniel stared at the words.
"What is Project Genesis?"
Samuel's expression became unreadable.
"I was hoping Michael never wrote that name."
Rebecca looked confused.
"What is it?"
Samuel answered quietly.
"The most expensive secret ever created."
Nathaniel frowned.
"A weapon?"
Samuel shook his head.
"Worse."
"What could possibly be worse?"
Samuel looked directly at Emma.
Then back at Nathaniel.
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"It's something capable of controlling the future of every major government on Earth."
The room fell silent again.
Emma tugged on Rebecca's sleeve.
"Mommy..."
Rebecca smiled weakly.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I think somebody's outside again."
Everyone turned toward the apartment window.
Across the street...
A lone man stood beneath a flickering streetlight.
Black coat.
Black gloves.
Face hidden beneath the brim of a hat.
He wasn't watching the apartment.
He was watching Emma.
Slowly...
The stranger raised one hand.
Not to wave.
To point directly at the little girl.
Then he smiled.
Samuel's face turned white.
"No..."
Nathaniel noticed.
"You know him."
Samuel whispered one name.
"The Shepherd."
Rebecca felt her blood run cold.
"Who's that?"
Samuel answered without taking his eyes off the man across the street.
"The only person Michael was ever truly afraid of."
The stranger tipped his hat...
Turned around...
And disappeared into the darkness.
But on the sidewalk where he had been standing...
He left behind a small white teddy bear.
The same brand Emma had lost...
May you like
Three years earlier.
— End of Chapter 5 —
