Chapter 5: Room Seventeen
The text message remained on Victor's screen.
*STOP LOOKING FOR YOUR FATHER.*
Then the second.
*OR GRANDMA DIES BEFORE YOU REACH ROOM 17.*
I read it twice.
The diner seemed to shrink around me.
Victor looked at my wrist.
Then at my face.
"You're not going anywhere alone.""
I swallowed.
"Who said I was?""
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
"I know that look.""
"What look?""
"The one people get when they're scared enough to do something reckless.""
I almost smiled.
"At my age, reckless is getting out of bed without holding onto the counter.""
Victor's expression softened for half a second.
Then one of his men, whose name I'd learned was Mason, hurried through the front door.
"Boss.""
Victor turned.
"What?""
"Black sedan across the road. Been sitting there for ten minutes.""
My stomach tightened.
"Are they watching us?""
Mason looked toward the window.
"Probably.""
Victor stood.
"Lock the diner.""
Mason frowned.
"We've got customers.""
Victor glanced at the clock.
"Five minutes.""
I looked at him.
"Five minutes for what?""
"To get everyone out.""
"Victor, this is a diner, not a fortress.""
"Today it is.""
He walked to the front counter and clapped his hands.
"Everybody, we're closing early.""
A trucker near the register groaned.
"Buddy, I just ordered pie.""
Victor pulled out cash and set it on the counter.
"Take it to go.""
The trucker stared at the money.
Then at Victor.
"Fair enough.""
Within minutes, the room emptied.
The waitress locked the door.
Mason lowered the blinds.
Another biker moved to the kitchen.
Victor returned to me.
"We're going to St. Agnes.""
I gripped my walker.
"What about Calvin?""
"He won't be leaving town.""
"How can you be sure?""
Victor gave me a look.
"Because he's too afraid to.""
I lowered my voice.
"Victor, that message said I'd die before you reached Room 17.""
"That's why you're coming with me.""
"To use me as bait?""
"No.""
His voice was immediate.
"To make sure whoever sent it realizes you're not alone anymore.""
I stared at him.
"You barely know me.""
Victor looked at the photograph of Elijah lying on the counter.
"I've spent my entire life wondering why my father never came back.""
His eyes met mine.
"I've spent years wondering who he was.""
Then, quietly:
"I don't need years to know who you are.""
My throat tightened.
"What am I?""
He glanced at my trembling hands.
"Family.""
The word hit me harder than I expected.
I looked away.
"I've waited forty years to hear that.""
Victor said nothing.
He simply held out his hand.
"Come on, Grandma.""
I laughed through tears.
"Don't call me that yet.""
He smiled.
"You'll get used to it.""
Outside, the black sedan started moving.
Mason noticed.
"Boss.""
Victor didn't turn.
"Which direction?""
"North.""
Victor nodded.
"Let it go.""
We left through the rear door.
Victor helped me into a black SUV.
His motorcycle crew split between two vehicles.
As we pulled onto the highway, I looked back at the Blue Lantern.
Its faded sign disappeared behind the trees.
I suddenly felt as though I were leaving more than a building.
I was leaving the life I'd spent decades protecting.
The drive to St. Agnes took forty minutes.
Nobody spoke much.
Rain began tapping against the windshield.
Victor sat beside me in the back seat.
His phone rested in his hand.
Every few minutes, he'd check the screen.
Finally, I asked, "What are you thinking?""
He looked at me.
"I'm thinking my father may have been alive this entire time.""
"So am I.""
"And I'm thinking whoever kept him hidden knows exactly where we are.""
I nodded.
He hesitated.
"Grandma?""
"Yes?""
"Did Elijah ever mention a man named Edward Kane?""
I frowned.
"No.""
"Are you sure?""
"I would remember.""
Victor looked forward.
"The patient record says Edward Kane was admitted thirty-nine years ago.""
"Same year Elijah disappeared.""
"Exactly.""
I touched the window.
"What if they changed his name?""
Victor's jaw tightened.
"That's what I'm hoping.""
The SUV slowed near a cluster of old buildings.
St. Agnes sat beyond a wrought-iron fence.
Three stories of pale brick.
Dark windows.
A stone cross above the entrance.
It looked less like a nursing facility and more like a place where old secrets went to die.
A security guard approached our vehicle.
Victor lowered his window.
"We're here to see Edward Kane.""
The guard checked his clipboard.
"No visitors after six.""
Victor glanced at the clock.
"It isn't six.""
The guard looked again.
Then his eyes went to me.
"Family?""
I opened my mouth.
Victor answered first.
"Yes.""
The guard looked uncertain.
Then nodded.
"Room seventeen is on the second floor.""
We entered.
The lobby smelled like disinfectant and old carpet.
A nurse sat behind the desk.
When she saw me, something flickered across her face.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
I stopped.
"Have we met?""
She lowered her eyes.
"No.""
Victor noticed.
He leaned toward me.
"Stay beside me.""
We reached the second floor.
Room numbers ran along a narrow hallway.
13.
14.
15.
16.
I heard a faint humming behind Room 16.
Then we reached it.
*17.*
Victor raised his hand.
"Wait.""
He listened.
Nothing.
Mason appeared at the other end of the hall.
He shook his head.
"Clear.""
Victor opened the door.
The room was empty.
One bed.
One chair.
A small television.
A window half-open to the rain.
No patient.
No nurse.
No Edward Kane.
I stared at the empty bed.
"He was here.""
Victor moved toward the bedside table.
A photograph lay there.
He picked it up.
My heart stopped.
It was Elijah.
Older.
Much older.
But unmistakably my son.
Beside him stood a little girl.
Maybe eight years old.
On the back was written:
*For the day I finally come home.*
Victor turned the photo over.
Then stopped breathing.
"What?"" I asked.
He handed it to me.
Under the message was another line.
*Ask Evelyn who the child's mother really was.*
I looked at Victor.
"What child?""
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted male voice whispered:
"You found Room 17.""
Victor's eyes hardened.
"Who are you?""
The voice laughed.
Then said:
"You found the wrong patient.""
The line went dead.
Victor stared at the phone.
May you like
From somewhere downstairs came the sound of breaking glass.
Then a woman's scream.
