THE RETURN OF THE FORGOTTEN
1230 Words
The call came at 2 AM.
Declan was dreaming of nothing—just darkness and silence and the kind of rest he hadn't known in years. The sound pulled him up from the depths, his heart pounding, his hand reaching for the phone on the nightstand.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Declan Cole." A woman's voice. Low. Familiar. "I'm sorry to wake you."
"Who is this?"
"It's Nina. Roman's sister."
Declan sat up, his blood running cold. "Nina? I thought you were in witness protection."
"I was. I left. Someone found me again."
"Who?"
"The same person who's been watching you. The one you haven't caught yet."
"There's no one left. The network is gone. Victor is in custody. Everyone is accounted for."
"Not everyone. There's one more. Someone even Victor didn't know about. Someone Elias hid from everyone."
Declan swung his legs out of bed. "Where are you?"
"A motel. On the outskirts of the city. I'll send you the address. Come alone."
"Nina—"
"Please. I'm scared."
The line went dead.
---
Declan dressed in the dark.
Claire stirred. "Where are you going?"
"Nina called. She's in trouble."
"Who's Nina?"
"Roman's sister. She was in witness protection. Someone found her."
Claire sat up. "Declan, be careful."
"I will."
He kissed her forehead and walked out the door.
---
The motel was a low building on the edge of the city, the kind of place where people went to hide. Declan parked in the back and walked to room 17.
The door was ajar.
He pushed it open.
Nina sat on the edge of the bed, her hands shaking, a photograph clutched in her fingers.
"You came," she said.
"I said I would."
She held up the photograph.
A man. Mid-thirties. Dark hair. Sharp features. Eyes that looked like Elias's—cold, empty, dangerous.
"His name is Michael," Nina said. "He's Elias's son. Not Julian. Not any of the others. A different son. One Elias kept secret. Even from Eleanor."
Declan's blood ran cold. "There's another?"
"Elias had him raised in Europe. Away from the hospital. Away from the family. He didn't know about Elias until after he died. Now he's here. And he's looking for answers."
"What kind of answers?"
"About who his father was. About what happened to him. About the people who killed him."
Declan took the photograph.
"He thinks I killed Elias?"
"He thinks you're responsible. He's been watching you for months. He was at the school. He was at the park. He was at the bridge the night Mara jumped."
Declan's blood ran cold. "He was there?"
"He was there. He saw everything. He's been documenting everything. Building a case."
"A case for what?"
"Revenge."
---
Declan called Reyes.
"We have a problem. There's another son. Michael. Elias kept him hidden in Europe."
"What? How is that possible?"
"Elias was paranoid. He kept backups. Contingency plans. Michael was the last one."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. But Nina says he's been watching me. For months."
"We'll put a team on it. Track him down."
"He's not going to be easy to find. He's been trained. By Elias. By the people Elias trusted."
"Then we need to find him before he finds you."
---
Declan drove Nina to a safe house.
She was still shaking, her eyes wide, her hands cold.
"He found me at my last place," she said. "Broke in while I was sleeping. Left a photograph on my nightstand. Just like Elias used to do."
"What did the photograph show?"
"Me. Sleeping. He'd been in my room. Watching me breathe."
Declan's jaw tightened.
"He's playing games. Just like his father."
"He's more dangerous than Elias. Elias wanted to control people. Michael just wants to destroy them."
"Why?"
"Because he blames us. Everyone who worked with Elias. Everyone who testified against him. Everyone who let him die in prison."
"Elias killed himself."
"Michael doesn't believe that. He thinks he was murdered. By you. By Reyes. By the system."
"Then we need to convince him otherwise."
"You can't convince someone who doesn't want to be convinced."
---
Declan spent the night at the safe house.
He didn't sleep. He sat by the window, watching the street, the photograph of Michael in his hand.
The man looked like Elias. The same cold eyes. The same sharp features. The same emptiness.
But there was something else too. Something darker.
At dawn, his phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
"Declan Cole." Michael's voice. Calm. Measured. "I've been waiting to talk to you."
"Then talk."
"I know you've been looking for me. I know Nina told you about me."
"She did."
"Then you know why I'm here."
"You think I killed your father."
"I know you did. Not directly. But you drove him to it. The trial. The testimony. The public humiliation."
"Your father was a monster. He experimented on people. Murdered them. Buried them in shallow graves."
"He was trying to save people. To cure them. To make the world better."
"He was trying to control them. There's a difference."
Michael was quiet for a moment.
"We should meet. Face to face. No FBI. No police. Just you and me."
"Where?"
"The old hospital. The basement. Tomorrow at noon."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because I could have killed you a dozen times. I didn't. Because I want to understand. Because I want to see if you're as different as they say."
"Who says?"
"The others. The ones you helped. The ones who believe in you."
Declan was silent.
"I'll be there."
---
He told Reyes.
"It's a trap," she said.
"Probably. But I have to go."
"We'll have agents outside."
"He'll know. He's been watching. He knows everything."
"Then go alone. But take a wire. So we can hear what happens."
Declan nodded.
"Fine."
---
The next day, Declan drove to the old hospital.
The building was gone. Demolished. The land was empty, a field of rubble and dust.
But the basement was still there.
The hole in the ground, the concrete walls, the hidden room.
Michael was waiting.
He stood in the center of the basement, his hands at his sides, his eyes cold.
"You came," Michael said.
"You said you wanted to talk."
"I do."
"Then talk."
Michael walked toward him.
"I've been watching you for years. Since before my father died. Since before you ever walked into this hospital."
"Why?"
"Because you were different. Because you survived. Because you became something I wanted to become."
"What's that?"
"A person. Not a monster. Not a victim. Just a person."
Declan stepped closer.
"Then let me help you. Turn yourself in. Tell the FBI what you know. Let the system work."
"The system killed my father."
"Your father killed himself."
"You drove him to it."
"I testified against him. I told the truth. That's not the same as driving him to suicide."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"You don't understand. You can't understand. He was all I had."
"He was a monster, Michael. He would have destroyed you, just like he destroyed everyone else."
"You don't know that."
"I know because I've seen it. I've lived it. I've spent years trying to undo what he did."
Michael pulled a knife from his coat.
The same kind Isabella had used.
The same kind that had almost killed Declan before.
"This is for my father," Michael said.
He lunged.
- Writer
