Chapter 9: The Truth Rex Remembered
I found Mason three minutes later.
Or rather, Rex did.
The dog tore through a side corridor, ignoring every command.
I followed because I had learned something important that night.
Rex wasn't following orders.
He was following a memory.
He stopped outside a concrete room.
The door was open.
Mason sat on the floor inside.
His pistol lay beside him.
His hands were covered in blood.
Not his.
Daniel stood against the wall.
Bell was unconscious beside him.
I entered slowly.
“What happened?””
Mason looked up.
“Kane's men came through the east tunnel.””
“Where is Kane?””
“Gone.””
“And your father?””
Mason looked at me.
“You remember him?””
I nodded.
“No.””
A pause.
“Not exactly.””
Mason smiled sadly.
“That means the conditioning is breaking.””
I looked at Rex.
“How?””
“You're remembering without permission.””
Daniel stirred.
“That's dangerous.””
“For who?””
“For everyone.””
Mason stood.
“You need to understand what Rex was trained to do.””
I waited.
“He wasn't trained to find bombs.””
I looked at the scar on the dog's side.
“He was trained to identify people based on scent.””
“Everyone knows that.””
“Not like this.””
Mason pointed toward Rex.
“Rex was taught to detect microscopic changes in human chemistry.””
I frowned.
“Stress hormones.””
“Adrenaline.””
“Fear.””
“Deception.””
I stared at him.
“Deception?””
Mason nodded.
“Certain people produce subtle chemical signatures when they're lying under pressure.””
Daniel whispered:
“And Rex could recognize them.””
I looked at my dog.
“You're saying he knows when someone is lying?””
“Yes.””
“That sounds impossible.””
Mason shook his head.
“It's not.””
Rex walked toward Daniel.
He sniffed his hand.
Then stepped away.
Mason pointed at him.
“Ask Daniel what he did six years ago.””
I looked at Daniel.
“What did you do?””
Daniel hesitated.
Rex growled.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I gave them the convoy route.””
I felt as if I'd been hit.
“You betrayed us.””
“I was threatened.””
“You got people killed.””
“I know.””
Mason stepped forward.
“Ask him why.””
I stared at Daniel.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Because they had your brother.””
I froze.
“I don't have a brother.””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“You did.””
Mason turned away.
“That's the memory they removed.””
A faint ringing started inside my ears.
Then something surfaced.
A boy.
A younger version of me.
A front porch.
Summer.
A little brother chasing a dog across the yard.
Then a black car.
Men taking him.
My mother screaming.
My father standing helplessly beside the door.
I staggered backward.
Rex rushed to me.
The memory became clearer.
My brother was named Noah.
He disappeared when I was seventeen.
Everyone told me he ran away.
I had spent years believing that.
But that wasn't what happened.
Sentinel took him.
They used him to recruit me.
My knees gave out.
Mason caught me before I hit the floor.
“They used your family.””
I whispered:
“Where is Noah?””
Mason didn't answer.
I looked into his eyes.
“Where is my brother?””
He looked at Rex.
Then at the floor.
“Kane found him first.””
My heart stopped.
“When?””
“Six years ago.””
“Is he alive?””
Mason closed his eyes.
“I don't know.””
Rex suddenly moved toward the far wall.
He scratched.
I walked over.
There was a hidden panel.
I opened it.
Inside was a stack of photographs.
Noah.
Alive.
Older.
Standing beside Kane.
Then another photograph.
Noah beside a black SUV.
Then another.
Noah standing in the Rusty Spur diner.
My breath caught.
The date was yesterday.
“He was there.””
Mason nodded.
“He watched you walk inside.””
“The red truck.””
“Yes.””
I stared at Rex.
“He recognized him.””
Mason nodded.
“That was why Rex reacted.””
I picked up the final photograph.
Noah was standing beside the diner window.
He was older.
Bearded.
But unmistakably my brother.
On the back was a handwritten message.
*YOU BROUGHT REX HOME. NOW COME GET ME.*
A sound echoed down the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
One person.
Mason grabbed his weapon.
Daniel lifted his.
I held the photograph tightly.
Rex began growling.
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice came through the darkness.
“Andrew?””
I knew that voice.
I'd heard it only once.
Sixteen years ago.
On my family's front porch.
Before everything changed.
My brother stepped into the light.
Noah looked at me.
His eyes were cold.
But his face was full of pain.
Then he looked at Rex.
And smiled.
“Good boy,” he whispered.
Rex's ears lifted.
Mason aimed his weapon.
“Noah.””
My brother didn't look at him.
He looked only at me.
“You finally remembered.””
Then the lights in the entire facility turned red.
May you like
A siren began to howl.
And every locked door in the underground complex opened at once.
