Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Officially Never Existed
I had spent thirty-four years as an only child.
That ended in a freezing garage.
Aaron was born twelve years before me.
My parents rarely spoke about the years before my birth.
Now I understood why.
He enlisted at eighteen.
Military intelligence.
Brilliant.
Ambitious.
Then came the scandal.
Classified information disappeared.
Aaron vanished.
My parents were questioned.
The family changed its surname.
I was born afterward.
They buried him socially before the government could bury him legally.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Dad answered:
“To protect you.”
The favorite excuse of liars.
But another question mattered more.
“Did Marcus know?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Dad looked away.
Colonel Cole answered instead.
“Because Captain Ward was assigned to locate Pierce.”
My husband had known I had a brother.
He married me without telling me.
Or had he married me because of him?
The thought was poisonous.
Cole saw it.
“Major, I strongly recommend you don't draw conclusions yet.”
Too late.
Victoria sat down hard on a box.
“This is insane.”
Raymond remained silent.
I noticed.
“You knew about Aaron.”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Did you know?”
Victoria whispered:
“Raymond?”
Finally:
“Yes.”
Her face broke.
He had known for four years.
Meridian approached him because of his connection to my family.
They wanted information about Harrison.
Marcus.
Me.
Raymond claimed he provided only harmless details.
Schedules.
Addresses.
Family relationships.
My military cover employment.
“Harmless?”
“I didn’t know what you really did!”
“You didn't need to.”
He had sold information because Meridian invested $2.4 million into his company.
Victoria stared at him.
“You told me they invested because of your algorithm.”
Raymond said nothing.
Her wealthy genius husband had built his image on money purchased with access to us.
Then I remembered the garage.
“You needed my room because they told you to search it.”
His silence answered.
My sister looked sick.
But I wasn't ready to forgive her.
She had still thrown a pregnant widow into freezing temperatures.
Different sin.
Still hers.
Colonel Cole inserted Marcus’s military drive into a secured terminal.
Most files were encrypted.
One opened.
Audio.
Marcus.
My dead husband’s voice filled the garage.
“Elena, if you’re hearing this, the house has been compromised.”
I gripped the table.
“I’m sorry for what I hid from you. Aaron is alive.”
Everyone stopped breathing.
“I found him.”
A pause.
“He isn't working for Meridian.”
Another.
“He created it.”
Raymond stumbled backward.
Marcus continued:
“And if my mission failed, there is one person you must not trust.”
The recording distorted.
Static swallowed several seconds.
Then the final words returned.
“…Colonel Cole.”
May you like
I slowly turned.
The man commanding my extraction team was standing directly behind me.
