Naomi froze.
Claire continued.
“I know what you're thinking.”
Why didn't she tell me?
“Because I wanted you to know your mother before you knew her mistakes.”
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“I made mistakes.”
“I trusted people I shouldn't have.”
“I stayed silent when I should have spoken.”
“And I believed I could protect you by controlling what you knew.”
She paused.
“I was wrong.”
Naomi began crying.
Claire continued.
“There is one final truth.”
The screen flickered.
“Richard is alive.”
Naomi stopped breathing.
Henry stared at the screen.
James whispered:
“No.”
Claire continued.
“Your father is alive.”
The video ended.
Silence.
Naomi looked at Samuel.
“Where is he?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Victor smiled.
“I do.”
Naomi turned.
Victor said:
“Richard Calloway is in San Francisco.”
Her heart raced.
“Where?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the USB.
“You want your father?”
“Yes.”
“Then give me the ledger.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Then I suppose we'll both have to make sacrifices.”
He turned to leave.
Then stopped.
“Oh, Naomi.”
She looked at him.
“Your father isn't the man you think he is.”
The door closed.
Henry immediately tried to trace Victor.
Nothing.
No signal.
No location.
Naomi looked at James.
“Did you know Richard was alive?”
James shook his head.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Victor say he was?”
James stared at the floor.
“Because Victor knows how to manipulate people.”
Naomi turned to Henry.
“Find him.”
Henry nodded.
“For once, I already know where to start.”
He opened the photograph.
The one from Table Twelve.
He zoomed in on the background.
A street sign.
Naomi stared.
“That's Chinatown.”
Henry nodded.
“Specifically Grant Avenue.”
He zoomed again.
A store sign.
CROSS & SONS ANTIQUES.
Naomi frowned.
“Cross?”
Henry looked at Samuel.
Samuel's face went pale.
“That shop belonged to my father.”
“When?”
“Before Northstar.”
Henry looked at Naomi.
“Then that's where we're going.”
They reached the shop after midnight.
The front was boarded up.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Naomi walked through the darkness.
A bell rang somewhere.
Henry froze.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
They followed the sound.
At the back of the store was a hidden staircase.
It led underground.
At the bottom was a small room.
A desk.
A bed.
Medical equipment.
And photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Naomi picked one up.
Richard.
Older.
Alive.
Standing beside a woman.
Mei stepped forward.
“That's him.”
Naomi stared.
“Who is the woman?”
Mei's face changed.
“I don't know.”
Henry found a file.
He opened it.
Inside was a name.
RICHARD CALLOWAY — PROTECTIVE IDENTITY: DANIEL CROSS.
Naomi whispered:
“Daniel Cross.”
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You took long enough.”
Naomi turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Older.
Thin.
His hair gray.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
Naomi knew him instantly.
Richard Calloway.
Her father.
He looked at her.
And began to cry.
FATHER
Nobody spoke.
Naomi stood frozen.
Richard looked at her as though he had seen a ghost.
For twenty-eight years, he had imagined this moment.
Now that it had arrived, he seemed unable to move.
Naomi was the first to speak.
“You're alive.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
“You knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“I thought it would keep you safe.”
Naomi laughed through her tears.
“Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
“You all made decisions for me.”
“I know.”
“My mother died.”
“Yes.”
“My father lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“My grandfather created Northstar.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
She stepped closer.
“And you?”
“I ran.”
Naomi's voice broke.
“Why?”
Richard looked at her.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
“Of what would happen if I stayed alive.”
Naomi shook her head.
“You don't get to disappear for twenty-eight years and call that protection.”
“I know.”
“You missed everything.”
“I know.”
“My first day of school.”
“I know.”
“My graduation.”
“I know.”
“My mother's funeral.”
Richard looked away.
“I was there.”
Naomi froze.
“What?”
“I stood across the street.”
She stared at him.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come?”
“Because Victor's men were watching.”
“Did you see me?”
“Yes.”
“Did you want to talk to me?”
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
“Every second.”
Naomi finally broke.
She stepped toward him.
For a moment she wanted to hit him.
Instead, she hugged him.
Richard collapsed against her.
He held his daughter for the first time.
Not as a photograph.
Not as a secret.
As his child.
They sat together for hours.
Richard told her everything.
After Claire died, he had escaped with help from James.
Victor believed Richard was dead.
Samuel disappeared.
Northstar fractured.
Richard changed his identity.
He lived quietly.
He never contacted Naomi.
Not once.
“Why now?” Naomi asked.
Richard looked at her.
“Because Victor knows where I am.”
“How?”
“Because someone told him.”
Naomi frowned.
“Who?”
Richard didn't answer.
Henry entered the room.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Victor has James.”
Naomi stood immediately.