A large building stood behind a row of trees. Its windows were covered, and a metal gate blocked the entrance.
A sign beside the driveway read:
CEDAR RIDGE RESIDENTIAL CARE.
David looked through the window.
“Why are we here?”
Harrington did not answer.
The vehicle stopped.
The two men waiting near the entrance opened the doors.
“Get out.”
David stepped onto the gravel.
He looked at the building again.
“Is Thomas Reed here?”
Harrington's expression changed.
“Who told you that?”
“Pierce.”
The commissioner stared at him.
Then he laughed quietly.
“Pierce has always been a problem.”
“Is Thomas here?”
Harrington walked toward the entrance.
“Thomas Reed was here once.”
David followed.
“What happened to him?”
“He was transferred.”
“Where?”
Harrington stopped at the doorway.
“That's the question everyone keeps asking.”
He turned.
“Do you know why your brother died, David?”
David said nothing.
“Because he believed the truth would protect him.”
Harrington opened the door.
Inside, the building smelled of disinfectant and old carpet.
A nurse stood behind a reception desk.
She looked at Harrington and immediately stepped aside.
“Is the patient still here?” he asked.
The nurse nodded.
“Room twelve.”
Harrington turned to David.
“Come with me.”
They walked down a long corridor.
At the end stood a door with a small window.
Harrington unlocked it.
Inside was a man sitting beside a window.
His hair was almost completely gray. His shoulders were thin, and his face was marked by years of illness or exhaustion.
But when he turned toward the doorway, David recognized him immediately.
Thomas Reed.
The man who had supposedly died ten years earlier.
David stopped breathing.
Thomas looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Thomas said something that made David's blood run cold.
“You're Michael's brother.”
David stepped forward.
“How do you know my brother?”
Thomas looked toward Harrington.
“Because he was the last person who tried to get me out of here.”
Harrington closed the door behind them.
And David finally understood why the commissioner had brought him to Cedar Ridge.
He had not come to negotiate.
He had come to show David the one witness who could destroy everyone involved.
Back in Brookhaven, Marcus received a message from a number he recognized.
David's phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
Thomas Reed is alive. Cedar Ridge. Room 12.
Marcus read it twice.
Then he called Elena.
“Get the team ready.”
“What's happened?”
“David found him.”
“Found who?”
“Thomas Reed.”
Elena went silent.
Marcus continued.
“He's at Cedar Ridge. Room twelve.”
“Where did you get that information?”
“David's phone.”
Elena's voice became urgent.
“Marcus, don't move. We're coordinating with local authorities.”
“Someone has already reached him.”
“Who?”
Marcus stared at the message.
“Commissioner Harrington.”
Elena immediately began issuing instructions.
“Contact Fairmont police. Request emergency assistance. I want a warrant team and medical personnel ready.”
Marcus looked toward Rebecca.
She had heard everything.
“Did you say Thomas Reed?”
He nodded.
Rebecca stood.
“Is it my father?”
Marcus could not answer immediately.
The message confirmed that Thomas was alive, but it did not explain his condition or whether he could safely leave the facility.
Rebecca approached him.
“Marcus, please.”
He looked at her.
“Yes. We believe it's him.”
Her knees nearly gave way.
Patricia caught her before she fell.
For several seconds, Rebecca cried into her mother's shoulder.
Then she lifted her head.
“Take me there.”
Elena looked at her.
“We'll get you there as soon as the facility is secured.”
“I don't want to wait another ten years.”
“You won't.”
Rebecca wiped her face.
“Please promise me.”
Elena placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I promise we will do everything legally and safely possible to bring him out.”
At Cedar Ridge, Thomas Reed was watching David carefully.
“You shouldn't have come here,” he said.
David looked at Harrington.
“You kept him here?”
Harrington walked toward a cabinet.
“Not me personally.”
“Who authorized it?”
“People who understood the consequences of letting him return.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You're still lying.”
Harrington ignored him.
He opened the cabinet and removed a small recorder.
“Thomas, tell David what happened to Michael.”
Thomas looked at David.
“Your brother came here because he found the transfer records. He knew I was alive. He wanted to take me to the state police.”
David's eyes filled.
“Why didn't he?”
“Because someone stopped him.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked toward Harrington.
“The person standing in this room.”
David turned.
Harrington sighed.
“This is a very incomplete version of events.”
Thomas continued.