Chapter 8: The Man in the Room
The elevator doors slid shut.
I stared at the photograph in my hand.
Jonathan.
Three months ago.
And me lying unconscious beneath a white hospital sheet.
My fingers tightened around the edges.
“Who was watching me?””
Nobody answered.
I slowly turned toward the people in the room.
Mercer.
Vale.
Ryan.
My mother.
My father.
Five faces.
Five possible lies.
The last sentence on the photograph burned in my mind.
*And that man is standing in this room right now.*
Ryan looked at me.
“Claire?””
I stepped backward.
“Don't come closer.””
He stopped immediately.
My father looked offended.
“Claire, you're being irrational.””
I turned on him.
“That's what you called me when I was nineteen.””
His expression changed.
“Let's not do this.””
“Why?””
“Because we need to get out of here.””
“No.””
I held up the photograph.
“Someone in this room has been watching me.””
Vale looked at the picture.
“Jonathan took that.””
“How do you know?””
“The angle.””
He pointed to the reflection in the window behind the hospital bed.
“That was taken from inside the room.””
Mercer studied it.
“He was there.””
“Then why didn't he talk to me?””
“He couldn't,” Vale said.
“Why?””
“Because he was waiting for the memory to return.””
I looked at him.
“You still haven't answered the question.””
“Which one?””
“Who is the man?””
Vale’s eyes moved across the room.
Then stopped.
My mother gasped.
“What?””
Vale didn't respond.
He was staring at my father.
Dad shook his head.
“Don't.””
Vale stepped toward him.
“George.””
My father backed away.
“You don't understand.””
“I understand exactly.””
“What?””
“You weren't watching her.””
Dad's face went pale.
“You were protecting the person who was.””
Mercer looked sharply at Vale.
“Explain.””
Vale kept his eyes on my father.
“Jonathan knew someone had access to Claire's surveillance files.””
He lifted the photograph.
“He knew someone was tracking her movements, but he couldn't identify the person.””
“Until now,” Mercer said.
Vale nodded.
I looked at Dad.
“Is it you?””
He didn't answer.
My mother's voice trembled.
“No.””
I turned.
“You're sure?””
“Yes.””
She looked at my father.
“He didn't do this.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“Margaret.””
She whispered, “Tell her.””
My father's shoulders sagged.
“The person watching Claire wasn't working for me.””
“Who?””
He looked toward Mercer.
“Daniel.””
The room changed.
Mercer stared at him.
“You're accusing me?””
Dad nodded.
“You were the only one with access after Jonathan disappeared.””
Mercer’s expression hardened.
“You know that's not possible.””
“Then why did you know about the surveillance photographs?””
“Because I was investigating them.””
“After they were taken.””
Mercer looked at me.
“Claire, listen to me.””
I didn't move.
“Did you watch me?””
“No.””
“Did you have access to my records?””
“Yes.””
“Did you know where I lived?””
“Yes.””
My stomach tightened.
“Did you know about the tattoo?””
Mercer hesitated.
“I knew about the symbol.””
“That wasn't my question.””
“No.””
I looked at Vale.
He was staring at Mercer too.
Then Vale said quietly, “You're lying.””
Mercer turned.
“David.””
“I remember the night you came to the safe house.””
Mercer’s face changed.
“What night?””
“The night Claire disappeared.””
I looked at him.
“You were there?””
Mercer didn't answer.
Vale continued.
“You arrived after Sloan.””
Mercer shook his head.
“No.””
“You had blood on your sleeve.””
“No.””
“You told me the girl was dead.””
I felt the room tilt.
Mercer took one step toward me.
“Claire—”
“You told him I was dead?””
“No.””
“Then why did he remember you?””
“I was there.””
The admission landed hard.
Ryan looked at Mercer.
“What were you doing there?””
Mercer glanced around the room.
Then he reached into his jacket.
I flinched.
He slowly pulled out a small envelope.
He placed it on the table.
“I wasn't watching Claire.””
“Then who were you watching?””
“Myself.””
Nobody understood.
Mercer opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A younger Daniel Mercer stood beside an unmarked black vehicle.
A man was walking toward him.
I recognized him immediately.
Everett Sloan.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
A woman.
Dr. Hannah Reed.
She was alive.
I stared.
“She didn't die.””
Mercer looked at me.
“No.””
Ryan's breathing became unsteady.
“But I shot her.””
Mercer shook his head.
“You shot someone wearing her coat.””
Ryan stared at him.
“What?””
Mercer turned the photograph toward him.
“Hannah Reed disappeared three weeks before the hotel.””
My father whispered, “That isn't possible.””
Mercer looked at him.
“That's what they wanted you to believe.””
Vale stepped closer.
“Where is she?””
Mercer didn't answer.
“Daniel.””
“She went into hiding.””
“Why?””
“Because she knew who was running Black Lantern.””
I looked at the photograph.
“Who?””
Mercer stared directly at me.
“Jonathan.””
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
“You said Jonathan tried to stop it.””
“He did.””
“Then why would he run it?””
Mercer shook his head.
“Because he built it.””
Vale looked stunned.
“No.””
Mercer continued.
“He built the original system.””
My father sat down.
“And when Jonathan realized what it could become, he tried to destroy it.””
I looked at the photograph of him beside Dr. Reed.
“So why does everyone keep saying he was behind everything?””
“Because he made himself the villain.””
Mercer pointed to the picture.
“He knew Black Lantern would survive without him.””
“Then why fake his death?””
“To make the people hunting him believe they had won.””
I stared at him.
“And me?””
Mercer’s expression softened.
“You were the one thing Jonathan couldn't risk leaving behind.””
My eyes burned.
“What did he do to me?””
“He hid your memories.””
“How?””
“Not with drugs.””
I frowned.
Mercer looked at the tattoo.
“Through conditioning.””
Vale stepped in.
“She wasn't carrying a secret.””
Mercer nodded.
“She was the secret.””
I shook my head.
“I don't understand.””
Mercer pointed to the old terminal.
“Your mind was trained to recognize a sequence.””
“What sequence?””
“Names.””
He opened a file.
Eight names appeared.
Seven were crossed out.
The eighth was blank.
“Whenever you heard one of those names, the memory pathway would open.””
I stared.
“What names?””
Mercer looked at me.
“The people who funded Black Lantern.””
The blank field suddenly filled itself.
A name appeared.
*GEORGE WHITAKER.*
My father went pale.
Then another line appeared beneath it.
*JONATHAN WHITAKER.*
Then another.
*DANIEL MERCER.*
Ryan stepped backward.
“No.””
A fourth name appeared.
*RYAN WHITAKER.*
I stared at the screen.
Everyone in the room was on the list.
Everyone.
Except me.
I looked toward my mother.
Her name wasn't there.
“Why isn't Mom listed?””
Nobody answered.
The system began flashing.
A red warning appeared.
*PRIMARY SUBJECT ACCESSING MEMORY ARCHIVE.*
Mercer moved toward me.
“Claire, don't fight it.””
“Fight what?””
“The memories.””
My head suddenly screamed.
I grabbed my temples.
The room vanished.
I was nineteen.
No.
Twenty.
I stood in a hospital corridor.
My hands were covered in blood.
Hannah Reed stood in front of me.
Alive.
“Claire, look at me.””
I looked.
“You have to remember the number.””
“What number?””
She grabbed my wrist.
“Your tattoo.””
“Why?””
“Because they think it's a locator.””
“What is it?””
“A key.””
“For what?””
She leaned closer.
“For the ledger.””
The memory changed.
David Vale rushed into the hallway.
“Claire!””
I turned.
He looked behind me.
“Where's Ryan?””
I shook my head.
“I don't know.””
Then Ryan stepped out of the shadows.
His gun was raised.
But he wasn't aiming at Hannah.
He was aiming at—
My father.
Dad was standing at the end of the corridor.
Sloan beside him.
A man in a black suit beside Sloan.
I couldn't see his face.
Hannah whispered, “That's him.””
“Who?””
“The man who controls all of them.””
Ryan shouted something.
A gunshot.
I watched my father fall.
I screamed.
Then another gunshot.
Hannah collapsed.
I turned toward Ryan.
He was still holding the weapon.
But the man in the black suit had his hand on Ryan's shoulder.
He whispered into Ryan's ear.
“Forget.””
The memory shattered.
I gasped and returned to the basement.
Ryan was standing in front of me.
His face was wet with tears.
“I saw it.””
“What?””
“I remember Dad getting shot.””
My father looked at him.
Ryan stepped closer.
“You were supposed to die that night.””
Dad's face crumpled.
“Yes.””
“Who shot you?””
“I don't know.””
I stared at the three men on the screen.
George.
Jonathan.
Mercer.
Then I realized something.
“There are four names.””
Mercer nodded.
“The fourth one hasn't appeared yet.””
The system beeped.
A blank line flashed beneath Ryan's name.
Then letters began forming.
*UNKNOWN SUBJECT — ACCESS LEVEL OMEGA*
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?””
Vale whispered, “It means the person above all of us.””
The screen flickered.
A face appeared.
Not a stranger.
Not Jonathan.
Not Mercer.
Not my father.
My mother.
Everyone turned toward her.
She stepped backward.
“No.””
Ryan stared at her.
“Mom?””
She shook her head.
“No, no, no.””
I felt ice crawl through my veins.
The photograph.
The phone call.
The hidden room.
The reason her name had never appeared on the files.
“Mom,” I whispered.
She looked at me.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I didn't know you'd remember.””
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“You're the one.””
She covered her mouth.
“I never wanted this.””
Ryan shook his head.
“Wanted what?””
She looked at him.
Then at me.
“The program was never created to control people.””
Her voice broke.
“It was created to protect one person.””
“Who?””
Mom looked directly at me.
“You.””
I couldn't breathe.
She stepped forward.
“But Jonathan changed the system because he discovered what you really were.””
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What am I?””
My mother opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, every screen went black.
A voice came from the basement elevator.
A man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar.
“She's not your daughter, Margaret.””
The elevator doors opened.
Jonathan Whitaker stood inside.
He looked at me.
Then at my mother.
May you like
And said quietly,
“She never was.””
