Michael Reyes.<\/p>\n
The name had been little more than a mystery until now. Daniel\u2019s note\u2014\u201cM.R. \/ Alive\u201d\u2014had changed everything. For years, they had been told Daniel had died carrying his secrets with him. Yet the note suggested that Daniel had known someone who survived, someone connected to the evidence they were desperately trying to understand.<\/p>\n
Jason finally opened his door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever we find in there,\u201d Eleanor said quietly, \u201cwe don't assume anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe've already made that mistake once,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe thought we understood Emily. We thought we understood Daniel. We thought we understood what Richard Bell was capable of. Every time, there was something underneath.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas folded the letter and placed it inside his jacket. \u201cThen we look first. We decide later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The building\u2019s front door was unlocked. Inside, the hallway smelled faintly of dust, old paper, and cooking oil. A handwritten directory listed only three tenants. Michael Reyes was not among them.<\/p>\n
Jason climbed the stairs first.<\/p>\n
At the second floor, apartment 4B stood at the end of the corridor. There was no name on the door. Jason knocked once.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
He knocked again.<\/p>\n
Still nothing.<\/p>\n
Then Eleanor noticed the thin strip of light beneath the door.<\/p>\n
Someone was inside.<\/p>\n
Jason knocked harder. \u201cMichael Reyes?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Thomas stepped closer. \u201cWe know about Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effect was immediate.<\/p>\n
Something moved inside the apartment.<\/p>\n
A chair scraped across the floor.<\/p>\n
Then a man's voice came through the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason answered, \u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Jason Parker. Daniel was my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lock turned.<\/p>\n
The door opened only a few inches.<\/p>\n
The man standing behind it was older than Jason had expected, perhaps in his late forties. His dark hair was streaked with gray, and a thin scar ran from beneath his left ear toward his jaw. His eyes moved from Jason to Eleanor, then to Thomas.<\/p>\n
When he saw Thomas, his expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou brought him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas frowned. \u201cYou know me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael opened the door wider.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apartment was nearly empty. A table stood beneath the window with stacks of documents arranged in careful piles. There was a single bed in the adjoining room and a battered filing cabinet against the wall.<\/p>\n
Michael locked the door behind them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've been waiting for someone to come,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jason stared at him. \u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty-three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one answered.<\/p>\n
Michael walked toward the table and picked up a photograph. It showed three men standing outside a hospital. Daniel was on the left. A younger Michael stood in the center. The third man was Richard Bell.<\/p>\n
Eleanor's breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cBell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason took the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were you doing with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael placed another photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
This one showed Daniel holding a newborn child.<\/p>\n
Jason looked closer.<\/p>\n
The child's face was too small to recognize.<\/p>\n
But written on the back was a date.<\/p>\n
And beneath the date were two initials.<\/p>\n
\u201cM.R.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael shook his head. \u201cThat's not my child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen whose?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael's answer came slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father's.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to contract.<\/p>\n
Thomas stood up.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel discovered something at the hospital. Babies were being moved between records. Names changed. Birth certificates disappeared. Families were told one thing while another child was placed somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor remembered Sophie\u2019s name appearing in Daniel's papers. She remembered the ledger entry marked \u201cprotected.\u201d She remembered Margaret Bell disappearing just as the evidence began to surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was protecting the children?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Michael looked directly at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes Daniel. Sometimes people inside the hospital. And sometimes people who had no idea they were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason tightened his grip on the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Bell have to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened the filing cabinet.<\/p>\n
Inside were hospital records, handwritten notes, photographs, and copies of legal documents.<\/p>\n
At the very bottom was a black notebook.<\/p>\n
Michael placed it on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel gave me this the night before he disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason opened it.<\/p>\n
The first pages contained dates and initials.<\/p>\n
Then came a list of names.<\/p>\n
Some were crossed out.<\/p>\n
Others were circled.<\/p>\n
One name appeared repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Richard Bell.<\/p>\n
Another appeared beside it.<\/p>\n
Dr. Vance.<\/p>\n
And beneath them was a third name.<\/p>\n
Margaret Bell.<\/p>\n
Eleanor looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret was involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in the way you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before anyone could ask another question, a sound came from the hallway.<\/p>\n
Footsteps.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Deliberate.<\/p>\n
Michael immediately closed the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone followed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael moved toward the window and looked down.<\/p>\n
A black sedan was parked across the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cBell,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
Eleanor's phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
A message appeared from an unknown number.<\/p>\n
LEAVE THE BUILDING.<\/p>\n
A second message arrived.<\/p>\n
YOU FOUND MICHAEL. NOW FORGET HIM.<\/p>\n
Thomas read the screen.<\/p>\n
Michael stared at it.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered, \u201cIt's beginning again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason closed the notebook and placed it inside his jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cIt ends this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Reyes. The name had been little more than a mystery until now. Daniel\u2019s note\u2014\u201cM.R. \/ Alive\u201d\u2014had changed everything. For years, they had been told Daniel had died carrying his … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3956,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941\/revisions\/3956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}