Chapter 13 - THE FATHER WHO NEVER LEFT
I couldn’t breathe.
For twenty years, I imagined this moment.
Finding my father.
Learning what happened.
Getting answers.
But I never imagined he would be standing in front of me.
Alive.
Older.
Different.
But alive.
My gun lowered.
“Dad?”
He looked at me.
His eyes filled with regret.
“I’m sorry, James.”
That was all he said.
Not hello.
Not I missed you.
Sorry.
I wanted to hate him.
I wanted to scream.
But I couldn’t.
Because the man in front of me was the reason I became a detective.
The reason I searched for truth.
The reason I never gave up.
“Why did you leave me?”
He looked away.
“Because staying would have killed you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You think disappearing was protecting me?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I know it destroyed you.”
He explained everything.
After discovering Project Mirror, he tried to expose it.
But Victor Kane had influence everywhere.
Police.
Courts.
Government.
Everyone.
The only way to keep me safe was to make everyone believe he was gone.
Including me.
“But why erase my memories?”
My father looked at me.
“Because you saw everything.”
The room became silent.
“You were there when they created Elias.”
“You saw what they did.”
“And you were willing to testify.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t remember.”
“I know.”
His voice became softer.
“Because you asked me to help you forget.”
The words hurt.
Because they sounded familiar.
Like something buried deep inside me.
Then my father handed me a small notebook.
“This is what you wrote before they erased your memories.”
I opened it.
The first page had one sentence.
“If I forget…”
“Make sure I find the truth again.”
My hands trembled.
I turned the page.
Another message.
“Trust nobody.”
“Not Hayes.”
“Not Kane.”
“Not even Elias.”
I looked up.
“Why Elias?”
My father hesitated.
“Because he wasn’t the only experiment.”
A chill moved through me.
“What?”
My father looked toward the darkness.
“There was another.”
The warehouse door suddenly opened.
A man stepped inside.
Wearing a police uniform.
Holding a gun.
My father immediately recognized him.
“No.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, James.”
I looked at the badge.
Detective Marcus Reed.
Someone from my own department.
Someone who worked beside me for years.
May you like
He raised his weapon.
“You were never supposed to remember.”
