Chapter 7: My Father Was Waiting for Me
I stared at the photograph until the man's face stopped looking like a stranger.
The scar above his left eyebrow.
The slight bend in his nose.
The narrow silver watch he had worn every day of my childhood.
My father.
Alive.
My chair scraped backward.
Lena caught my arm.
“Mara.””
“I can't breathe.””
Claire took the phone from my hand.
“Don't call that number.””
“That's my father.””
“I know.””
“My father is dead.””
“I know.””
“He died twelve years ago.””
“I know.””
I pulled my arm away.
“Then explain the photograph.””
Claire's face tightened.
“I can explain some of it.””
“Some?””
She glanced at the clock.
Then at the blue folder.
Then back at me.
“We need to leave.””
“No.””
“Mara—”
“No.””
I stood.
“I have spent six months being told I'm confused. I'm tired. I'm imagining things. I am done being told to wait.””
Claire was silent.
Lena moved closer.
“She's right.””
Claire took a slow breath.
“The hospital in that photograph is St. Vincent.””
My heart stopped.
The same hospital where Elise had supposedly hidden.
The same hospital tied to Dr. Samuel Price.
The same place Claire had told me about only minutes earlier.
“What room?””
Claire zoomed in on the picture.
“Room 614.””
“Who took it?””
“I don't know.””
“When?””
“The metadata was stripped.””
I looked at the timestamp printed beneath the image.
*October 14.*
“No year.””
“Exactly.””
Lena looked at me.
“What happened on October 14?””
I closed my eyes.
A memory surfaced.
Not clearly.
Pieces.
A hospital corridor.
My mother's hand gripping mine.
Renwick standing behind us.
A doctor speaking quietly.
My father's coffin.
Except—
Something was wrong.
I opened my eyes.
“I was sixteen when my father got sick.””
Claire nodded.
“You were seventeen.””
I looked at her.
“How do you know?””
“Because I saw the records.””
“What records?””
“Your father's medical file.””
“You said he died.””
“I said that's what the records claim.””
A cold wave moved through me.
“Where is he now?””
Claire didn't answer.
I grabbed her shoulder.
“Where?””
She finally looked me in the eyes.
“According to the most recent information I have, he's still at St. Vincent.””
Lena shook her head.
“No.””
Claire nodded.
“Yes.””
“Why would they keep him there for twelve years?””
“They wouldn't.””
“Then why?””
Claire looked at the photograph.
“He's not a patient.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
“He's in the photograph because he was visiting someone.””
“Who?””
She didn't answer.
I already knew.
“Elise?””
Claire nodded.
“Maybe.””
“Maybe?””
“That's why we have to go there.””
Lena immediately shook her head.
“No hospital at two in the morning.””
Claire looked at her.
“It isn't two.””
She held up her phone.
“It's 1:14.””
Lena stared.
“That doesn't make it better.””
Claire's expression remained serious.
“If Renwick filed the guardianship petition tonight, he'll expect Mara to panic. He'll expect her to hide. He won't expect her to go straight to the one place that can destroy his story.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“My father.””
“Yes.””
“How do we get in?””
Claire smiled faintly.
“I know someone.””
Twenty minutes later, we were driving through empty streets.
Lena drove.
Claire sat in the passenger seat.
I sat in the back holding the blue folder against my chest.
Nobody spoke.
Every few minutes, my phone lit up with another unknown notification.
I stopped checking.
At a red light, Lena looked at me in the mirror.
“You okay?””
“No.””
She nodded.
“Fair.””
I stared out at the dark buildings.
“Lena?””
“Yes?””
“Did Dad ever talk about Renwick?””
She was quiet.
“Not that I remember.””
“He hired Renwick after Dad died.””
“I know.””
“Did you ever think that was strange?””
“At the time?””
“No.””
“Why would I?””
I swallowed.
“Because Dad apparently wasn't dead.””
Lena's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“That sentence still sounds impossible.””
“Everything tonight sounds impossible.””
Claire turned around.
“Impossible things are sometimes just things people worked very hard to hide.””
St. Vincent appeared ahead.
The emergency entrance glowed white against the darkness.
Claire directed Lena to a side street.
We parked two blocks away.
“Why are we walking?”” Lena asked.
“Cameras.””
“Right.””
We entered through a staff entrance.
A man in navy scrubs was waiting.
He looked at Claire and nodded.
“She's the one?””
“Yes.””
He looked at me.
“Follow me.””
“Who are you?””
“Daniel.””
“Daniel what?””
He gave a small smile.
“Tonight, just Daniel.””
He led us through a service corridor.
The hospital smelled exactly like every hospital I had ever known.
Disinfectant.
Plastic.
Coffee.
Fear.
My footsteps sounded too loud.
We stopped at a set of elevators.
Daniel pressed the button.
“Sixth floor.””
“Who is there?”” I asked.
He looked at Claire.
She answered.
“Someone who has been waiting a long time.””
The elevator doors opened.
We stepped inside.
At the sixth floor, the corridor was almost completely dark.
Most patient rooms were closed.
Daniel walked to the far end.
Room 614.
The door was locked.
He produced a key card.
The light turned green.
He opened it.
There was no patient inside.
Only a hospital bed.
An empty chair.
A television mounted to the wall.
And a single framed photograph on the nightstand.
I walked toward it.
My father.
He was younger.
Smiling.
Standing beside a woman.
My mother.
I touched the glass.
Then I noticed something behind the frame.
A folded note.
I pulled it out.
My hands were shaking.
There were only three words.
*Mara, forgive me.*
My knees nearly gave way.
Lena caught me.
“There's more.””
I unfolded the paper completely.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
My father's.
*I didn't die.*
I stopped breathing.
*Renwick knows.*
Claire stepped closer.
I kept reading.
*Your mother knew.*
My head snapped up.
“My mother?””
Claire said nothing.
The final line was written harder, as if he'd pressed the pen into the paper.
*I stayed hidden to keep you alive.*
The door slammed shut behind us.
We all turned.
Daniel wasn't there.
Claire rushed to the door.
Locked.
She tried the handle again.
Nothing.
Then the television switched on.
Static.
A man's voice came through.
My father's voice.
Older.
Rasping.
But unmistakable.
“Mara.””
I backed away.
The screen showed a live camera feed.
A small room.
A desk.
A man sitting in a chair with his back to us.
Gray hair.
Thin shoulders.
My heart stopped.
“Dad?””
The man slowly turned.
I covered my mouth.
It was him.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
Lena began to cry.
My father looked directly into the camera.
“You shouldn't have come here.””
I stepped toward the screen.
“Dad?””
His eyes filled with tears.
“Mara, listen to me.””
“Where are you?””
“I don't have much time.””
“Who did this to you?””
He looked away.
Then back.
“Your husband didn't start this.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
“Renwick inherited it.””
Claire's expression changed.
My father continued.
“The man who started it was someone you trusted long before Renwick.””
“Who?””
He hesitated.
Then said one word.
“Your mother.””
I stared at the screen.
“No.””
“She wanted the company.””
“No.””
“She wanted control.””
“No.””
“She made a deal.””
My father lowered his voice.
“With the same people Renwick works for.””
Claire stepped toward the screen.
“Who are they?””
My father's face tightened.
“They call themselves the Meridian Group.””
I looked at the papers in the blue folder.
Meridian.
The name appeared again and again.
My father continued.
“They don't steal money.””
“Then what do they steal?””
He looked directly at me.
“People.””
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
My father heard it too.
His eyes widened.
“Mara, you have to leave now.””
The screen flickered.
“Dad—”
“Your mother isn't dead either.””
My blood froze.
“What?””
The screen went black.
At the same moment, the lights in Room 614 went out.
Lena screamed.
Claire grabbed my hand.
May you like
Then a voice came from the darkness behind us.
“Your father should have kept his mouth shut.””
