Chapter 14 - The Man Who Had Been Stealing Victor’s Name
The darkness lasted only four seconds.
It was enough.
When emergency lights came on, Greg was on the floor.
The knife lay several feet away.
Lily stumbled backward.
Victor caught her.
Greg was alive but unconscious.
Samuel's agents secured him.
Victor didn't look at them.
He stared into empty space.
Michael.
Alive.
Lily turned.
"Victor."
He released her.
"I need air."
He walked outside.
Lily followed.
Rain had stopped.
The harbor smelled of salt and diesel.
Victor stood at the edge of the pier.
His face had lost every trace of its usual control.
For the first time, Lily saw the twenty-three-year-old man he had once been.
The brother who had spent eleven years blaming himself.
"You saw him die?"
Victor did not turn.
"No."
Lily waited.
"I found the room where they'd held him."
"What was there?"
"Blood."
His jaw tightened.
"His watch."
"Body?"
Victor shook his head.
"My father told me they dumped him in the river."
"And you believed him."
"I had no reason not to."
Lily thought of the family Victor grew up in.
Perhaps he had plenty of reasons.
"Why would Michael disappear?"
Victor's voice became bitter.
"Maybe he didn't have a choice."
"Then later?"
"I don't know."
Lily moved beside him.
"Greg could be lying."
"Yes."
"To hurt you."
"Yes."
"But you don't think he is."
Victor stared across the water.
"No."
Samuel approached with a tablet.
"Greg is awake."
Victor turned.
"He wants a deal."
"Everybody wants a deal."
"He gave us a location."
"Where?"
Samuel looked uncomfortable.
"St. Vincent's Hospital."
Victor frowned.
"Why?"
"There's a private long-term care wing."
Lily's stomach tightened.
They drove there under federal protection.
The facility director met them.
Samuel showed a warrant.
Records were pulled.
One patient had been admitted eleven years ago under the name Matthew Hale.
Severe injuries.
No identification.
Bills paid through an anonymous foundation.
Victor stared at the admission date.
Two days after Michael disappeared.
They went upstairs.
Room 614.
Victor stopped outside.
Lily stood behind him.
"You don't have to—"
"Yes."
He opened the door.
The man inside was thirty years old.
Thin.
Dark hair.
Scars along one side of his face.
He sat near a window reading.
When he looked up, Victor stopped.
There was no question.
Same eyes.
Michael Hayes.
Alive.
The book fell from Michael's hands.
"Victor?"
Victor did not move.
Eleven years collapsed.
Lily quietly stepped backward into the hallway.
This moment did not belong to her.
Inside, Victor crossed the room.
Michael stood slowly.
Then both brothers froze again.
"You died," Victor whispered.
Michael's eyes filled.
"No."
Victor struck him.
Lily heard it from the hallway.
Then silence.
Then Victor grabbed Michael and pulled him into an embrace.
Neither man spoke for a long time.
When Lily eventually entered, Michael was sitting on the bed.
Victor stood by the window, visibly furious and shaken.
Michael looked at Lily.
"You must be Lily."
She frowned.
"How do you know me?"
Michael looked at Victor.
"Claire."
Victor's expression hardened.
Michael explained.
His kidnapping eleven years earlier had been arranged by their father.
Not outsiders.
Their father wanted to frighten Michael into obedience.
But the men he hired went too far.
Michael nearly died.
Claire found him first.
She secretly moved him to a hospital.
"Why didn't she tell Victor?" Lily asked.
Michael lowered his eyes.
"Because I asked her not to."
Victor turned.
"Why?"
Michael looked at him.
"Because Dad threatened you."
Victor laughed in disbelief.
"He told Claire that if I came back, you'd pay for it."
"Our father died four years later."
"I know."
"Then why stay hidden after that?"
Michael's face changed.
"Because by then I had learned what the family really was."
Victor stared.
Michael continued.
"I thought you had become him."
Victor said nothing.
"Your name was everywhere."
Lily understood.
Paul.
Ethan.
False debts.
Violence performed under Victor's name.
Michael had been watching the same illusion.
"I tried to fight the organization from outside," Michael said.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"The transfer network?"
Michael shook his head.
"I infiltrated it."
"Greg said you run it."
"Greg believes that."
"Why?"
"Because I needed Paul to believe it too."
Layers again.
Michael had posed as a hidden partner to collect evidence on forced labor transfers.
"The missing workers?" Lily asked.
"Alive."
Her breath caught.
"All seven?"
"Six."
"What happened to the seventh?"
Michael lowered his eyes.
"Accident during transport."
Lily looked away.
Michael continued.
"The others escaped the labor site three months ago. I've been hiding them."
"Where?"
"Federal contact in Costa Rica."
Samuel frowned.
"Which contact?"
Michael named an agent.
Samuel knew him.
Legitimate.
Victor stared.
"So while I thought you were dead, you spent eleven years investigating our own family?"
"Not eleven."
Michael smiled sadly.
"First I spent five years learning how to walk properly again."
Victor looked away.
Guilt returned.
Lily saw it.
Michael did too.
"Don't."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"You disappeared."
"To protect you."
"You don't get to choose what truth I can survive."
Michael absorbed that.
"No."
Victor's voice broke slightly.
"You don't."
Silence.
Lily stepped toward Michael.
"Claire helped you."
"At first."
"What changed?"
"She wanted the organization."
"Why?"
"Because she believed one of us had to control it before outsiders did."
Victor laughed bitterly.
"So everyone decided my life for me."
Michael looked at him.
"Pretty much."
Victor rubbed his face.
Lily nearly smiled.
Then Samuel's phone rang.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He listened.
Then looked at Victor.
"Paul escaped transport."
Victor went still.
"How?"
"Vehicle attack."
Michael closed his eyes.
"Claire."
Samuel shook his head.
"Claire is accounted for."
"Then Ethan."
"Also secure."
Victor looked at Michael.
"Who else?"
Michael hesitated.
"There's one person Paul trusted more than Ethan."
Victor waited.
Michael looked toward Lily.
"Her brother."
Lily stared.
"No."
Michael continued.
"Not Liam."
She exhaled.
"Then whose?"
Michael's face became grim.
"Paul's brother."
Victor frowned.
Paul had always claimed to be an only child.
Michael said the name quietly.
"Daniel Mercer."
Victor's expression changed.
Daniel.
His attorney was Daniel Reese.
Different surname.
But identities could change.
Lily saw the realization.
"No."
Victor was already reaching for his phone.
Daniel did not answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Lily's phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel Reese standing beside Paul.
Not tied.
Not frightened.
Smiling.
Underneath:
Victor trusted the wrong man for twelve years.
And Lily finally understood why Paul had always seemed one step ahead.
The betrayal had been sitting beside Victor at every meeting.
May you like
Calling itself his lawyer.
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