CHAPTER 13 — THE TRUTH BEHIND THE TRIGGER
“Don’t turn around, Avery.”
Gabriel’s voice came from somewhere behind me.
I froze.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Dominic stood three feet away, staring into the darkness.
The room had gone completely black.
I could hear breathing.
Mine.
Dominic’s.
And someone else’s.
A metallic click came again.
A gun being cocked.
Gabriel whispered:
“Whatever happens next, don't trust the first voice you hear.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Gabriel.”
A laugh came from the darkness.
“You finally remember my name.”
“I remember enough.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s voice became colder.
“You remember what they wanted you to remember.”
A light flickered.
For half a second, I saw a silhouette behind Dominic.
Then darkness again.
I stepped backward.
“Gabriel, where are you?”
“Behind you.”
I felt his breath near my ear.
Then a hand touched my shoulder.
I spun.
Nobody.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Stop playing games!”
Gabriel laughed softly.
“You always hated that.”
I stared into the darkness.
“You knew me.”
“Better than anyone.”
“How?”
“You were the only person who remembered me before they changed everything.”
“Changed what?”
“Your memory.”
The lights suddenly came on.
Gabriel stood across the room.
No weapon.
No blood.
Just the scar beneath his eye.
He looked older than the boy in my memories.
But his eyes were exactly the same.
I whispered:
“You killed my father.”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“My father said you did.”
“Your father lied.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed you to hate me.”
“Why would he?”
Gabriel looked at Dominic.
“Because of him.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Still protecting him.”
“He's innocent.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know enough.”
Gabriel turned toward me.
“You don't.”
He walked to the table.
Placed a small black drive beside the photograph.
“Your father recorded the truth.”
I looked at it.
“Why didn't he give it to me?”
“Because he was afraid.”
“Of you?”
“Of what you would become.”
I picked up the drive.
“What is on it?”
“Your last memory.”
I looked at Dominic.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Gabriel smiled.
“That's exactly what your father said.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Give me the drive.”
Gabriel laughed.
“No.”
“Then I'll take it.”
“You've spent your entire life taking things that weren't yours.”
Dominic froze.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“Ask your father.”
“He's dead.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“He isn't.”
My heart stopped.
“You know where he is?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Under the old courthouse.”
Dominic frowned.
“That's impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible in the Circle.”
Gabriel turned toward the door.
“Come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because your father is alive.”
I looked at Dominic.
He nodded.
We followed.
The old courthouse had been abandoned for almost a decade.
Its windows were boarded.
Its stone steps were cracked.
But beneath it was an underground archive.
Gabriel unlocked the door.
We descended.
The air smelled like dust and mold.
Then I saw the room.
Files.
Monitors.
Photographs.
The entire history of the Circle.
Gabriel stopped before a steel door.
“He's inside.”
I looked at Dominic.
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Dominic opened the door.
An old man sat inside.
His hands were cuffed.
His face was bruised.
But when he looked up...
I knew him.
Dominic whispered:
“Dad.”
The man stared at him.
Then at me.
“I'm sorry.”
Dominic's weapon dropped slightly.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
The older man looked at me.
“Avery.”
I stepped closer.
“You killed my father.”
He looked down.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He didn't answer.
Gabriel stepped inside.
“Tell them.”
The man looked at him.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You've been saying that for twenty years.”
Dominic stared between them.
“What happened?”
The older man sighed.
“Your father and I were partners.”
I frowned.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“In the Circle?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did they hate each other?”
“They didn't.”
My heart stopped.
“They were brothers.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“Not by blood.”
The man looked at him.
“By oath.”
Gabriel's expression remained cold.
“The Circle was built by three men.”
“Your father.”
“Mine.”
“And a third.”
“Who?”
The man looked at me.
“Richard Whitmore.”
Silence.
I stared.
“Richard built the Circle?”
“Yes.”
“Then my father tried to destroy it.”
“Eventually.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard changed.”
“How?”
“He stopped protecting people.”
The man looked at Gabriel.
“He began controlling them.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And Matteo?”
“Matteo was Richard's enforcer.”
“And Vanessa?”
“His daughter.”
I felt sick.
“Then why did Vanessa pretend to hate me?”
“To keep you close.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“She needed access to your family.”
“For what?”
“The vault.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your father trusted you with the key.”
“What key?”
“The memory.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
The older man pointed to my head.
“Your father encoded the vault's location inside your memory.”
I couldn't breathe.
“So they weren't trying to erase my memory.”
“No.”
“They were trying to recover it.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“And they almost succeeded.”
“How?”
“Vanessa.”
I stared.
“She was the one who manipulated me.”
“Yes.”
“The deliveries?”
“Yes.”
“The humiliations?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To break your emotional defenses.”
I remembered every insult.
Every delivery.
Every moment Vanessa had watched me.
She hadn't simply been cruel.
She had been studying me.
“Why did she slap me?”
“To trigger the memory.”
“And the birthday party?”
“An experiment.”
I felt rage rise.
“She wanted me angry.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Anger unlocks certain memories faster.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“You knew.”
“I tried to stop her.”
“You followed me?”
“Yes.”
“You sent the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“You warned me about Dominic.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“I didn't send that message.”
My blood froze.
“Then who did?”
Nobody answered.
Dominic stepped toward the monitor.
“There's someone else.”
The screen turned on.
A security recording began.
The birthday party.
Vanessa standing over me.
My mother mentioned.
My hand scraping cake from marble.
But then the camera angle changed.
A man stood behind the curtains.
Watching.
I zoomed in.
My heart stopped.
The man was my father.
Alive.
And beside him stood another man.
The same face.
The same scar.
Gabriel.
But the recording was dated three days before my father's supposed death.
I stared.
“Why were you both there?”
Gabriel looked at the screen.
“I wasn't.”
The older man shook his head.
“Neither was he.”
Dominic frowned.
“Then who is that?”
The image sharpened.
The man with the scar turned toward the camera.
His face wasn't Gabriel's.
It was another face.
A fourth brother.
Gabriel whispered:
“No.”
I stared.
“What?”
He stepped backward.
“That isn't possible.”
The man in the recording smiled directly at the camera.
Then he mouthed two words.
Hello, Avery.
The screen went black.
A phone rang.
My phone.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Did you enjoy meeting my brothers?”
My blood ran cold.
“Who are you?”
“I thought you would recognize me.”
“I don't.”
“You will.”
“Where is my mother?”
A pause.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Where your father should have been.”
I clenched my fist.
“Tell me.”
The voice laughed.
“You're finally asking the right question.”
“Which is?”
“Who died eight years ago?”
The call ended.
I looked at Dominic.
His face was pale.
Then the lights in the archive went out.
Gabriel shouted:
“DOWN!”
Gunfire ripped through the room.
Dominic grabbed me.
The older man fell.
Gabriel fired into the darkness.
I heard men running.
Then silence.
When the emergency lights returned, the older man was gone.
So was the black drive.
Only one thing remained on the table.
A note.
I picked it up.
May you like
Three words.
COME TO THE LAKE.
