Chapter 6 - THE GENERAL BEHIND THE SHADOW
I stared at the image until my eyes hurt.
Lucas.
Alive.
Standing beside the man who had mentored me.
General Thomas Avery.
For a year, I had imagined every enemy except him.
Avery had taught me how to command.
How to survive.
How to stay calm when men were dying.
How to make decisions when there was no good choice.
Now he was standing behind my son.
I called Bennett.
“Where was this taken?”
“Union Station camera.”
“Timestamp?”
“Four minutes ago.”
“Lock the station down.”
“Sir, we can't without causing a panic.”
“Then get him out quietly.”
“Understood.”
I turned to Sarah.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“You're not going.”
“I know where he might go.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward the photograph.
“Platform nine.”
We ran.
Emily was brought inside by the social worker.
The moment she saw the screen, she pointed.
“That building.”
“What building?”
“The one Lucas told me about.”
She pointed toward an old maintenance building visible behind the platform.
“That's where he hid.”
We moved quickly.
I found Lucas's backpack near a bench.
But he wasn't there.
Then I heard footsteps.
I turned.
Avery stood twenty feet away.
Alone.
He looked older than I remembered.
“Sebastian.”
I drew myself upright.
“Where is my son?”
Avery sighed.
“I knew you'd come.”
“Where is Lucas?”
“He's safe.”
“You have five seconds.”
“He ran from me.”
“Why?”
“Because he believes I hurt his mother.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you take my son?”
“Yes.”
The admission hit hard.
“Why?”
“Because someone was hunting him.”
“Who?”
Avery looked at Sarah.
“She knows.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Tell him.”
Avery shook his head.
“You don't understand what you're asking.”
“You lied to me for a year.”
“I kept your son alive.”
“By stealing him?”
“Yes.”
My fists tightened.
“Then explain.”
Avery took out an old watch.
It was identical to Lucas's.
My father's watch.
Two watches.
One truth.
“My father gave you this?”
Avery nodded.
“Twenty years ago.”
“Why?”
“He knew someone inside the government was selling intelligence.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your father discovered it.”
“Who?”
“We never found the original source.”
“Then why did you protect Lucas?”
“Because the network survived.”
He looked at Sarah.
“And they were looking for your son because Lucas accidentally recorded something.”
“What?”
Avery hesitated.
“Your son saw Marcus meeting someone.”
“Who?”
Avery looked at me.
“Daniel.”
My heart dropped.
“You said Daniel wasn't involved.”
“He isn't.”
“Then why did Lucas see them together?”
“Because Daniel was investigating Marcus.”
I remembered the photograph.
Daniel and Sarah.
Daniel had been trying to protect them.
I had blamed him.
Avery continued.
“Marcus thought Daniel had evidence.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Avery reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small USB drive.
“This.”
I took it.
“What’s on it?”
“Payments.”
“To Marcus.”
“From several people.”
“Who?”
“Politicians.”
“Military officers.”
“Businessmen.”
I stared.
“And my father?”
Avery nodded.
“Your father received money.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“He wasn't corrupt.”
“Then why?”
“Because he was investigating the network from inside.”
That changed everything.
My father had not been part of it.
He had infiltrated it.
And Avery had continued his work.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the moment you knew, you became a target.”
“You made me believe I was losing my family.”
“I believed that was safer than losing you.”
I shook my head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Avery looked at me.
“Because sometimes it is.”
“No.”
I held up the watch.
“Not anymore.”
Then a gunshot cracked through the station.
Everyone dropped.
Avery shoved me down.
Sarah screamed.
Emily covered her ears.
A second shot shattered a glass panel.
Avery pulled his weapon.
“Get them out!”
I grabbed Sarah and Emily.
We moved behind a concrete barrier.
Another shot.
Then silence.
I looked at Avery.
He was bleeding from his shoulder.
“General!”
He waved me away.
“Go.”
“Not without Lucas.”
Avery's face tightened.
“He's already gone.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He was never on the platform.”
“Then where?”
Avery looked toward the maintenance building.
“Your father taught me never to keep the important thing where everyone is looking.”
I remembered the drawing.
The red bus.
The lake.
The cabin.
The old family vacation property in Michigan.
I looked at Sarah.
“You know.”
She nodded.
“Lucas went there.”
I grabbed the phone.
“Bennett, find me a flight.”
Then Avery called after me.
“Sebastian.”
I turned.
He tossed me the second watch.
“Your father left this for you.”
I caught it.
“What does it do?”
Avery's eyes filled with regret.
“Open it.”
I opened the back.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
My father.
Me.
Lucas.
Taken when Lucas was three.
On the back were four words.
WHEN HE IS LOST, LOOK HOME.
I looked at Sarah.
Then at the watch.
And suddenly I knew where my son had gone.
But there was one problem.
May you like
The Michigan property had been sold eleven years ago.
Or so I had believed.
