Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO WALKED OUT WITHOUT HIS SON
Anthony Rourke had always been described as ruthless.
Even Damien rarely defended him.
But until that moment, everyone assumed he had only sent Michael into danger.
Elena said otherwise.
"Anthony went into Kesler with him."
Damien stared.
"Why?"
"Michael confronted him."
Elena looked down.
"Your father finally agreed to help."
That changed everything.
Anthony Rourke had spent years profiting from contracts connected to Helix distribution.
Then he discovered children were being harmed.
Michael forced him to choose.
According to Elena, Anthony chose his sons.
Too late.
But he chose them.
"What happened inside?" Damien asked.
Elena's hands trembled.
"I don't know."
"How do you know he went in?"
"Michael called me."
She closed her eyes.
"He said, 'The old man finally grew a conscience.'"
Damien laughed once.
Brokenly.
Then Elena continued.
"Two hours later, Anthony came out."
"Alone?"
"Yes."
"Where was Michael?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
Damien stood.
His face had changed.
The dangerous man returned for half a second.
Then he forced himself to sit.
"Did my father kill him?"
Elena shook her head.
"I don't think so."
"Why?"
"Because Anthony cried."
Silence.
Damien stopped breathing.
"Your father came to me after."
Elena continued.
"He gave me money, new documents, and Lily's birth certificate."
"Then?"
"He said Michael had stayed behind to destroy the patient archive before Helix could move it."
My heart pounded.
"Did the building burn?"
"No."
The Kesler Building still stood.
Abandoned.
Boarded.
Untouched since the investigation.
Because police had sealed parts of it.
Then Theresa said something from the doorway.
"There was a basement."
We turned.
She had come to deliver additional records.
"What basement?" Damien asked.
"Sublevel three."
His expression sharpened.
"Building plans show two."
Theresa nodded.
"Official plans."
My stomach tightened.
Of course.
Another hidden level.
Helix maintained cold-storage archives underground.
Blood samples.
Paper records.
Trial materials.
Michael may have gone there.
"What happened to it?" I asked.
Theresa looked toward Damien.
"Your father had it sealed."
Silence.
"Why?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Damien immediately contacted his attorney.
Property records showed the Kesler Building had quietly transferred into a trust nine years earlier.
Owner:
Rourke Holdings.
Damien stared.
"I own it?"
His attorney nodded.
"Technically."
He looked sick.
His father had left him the building where his brother disappeared.
And Damien had never known.
The property sat untouched because Bernadette had once told him Anthony's final instruction:
Never reopen Kesler.
Now we understood why that name was forbidden in the mansion.
Not superstition.
A command.
The investigation obtained access.
Engineering teams entered first.
Sublevel three existed.
Behind a concrete wall poured nine years earlier.
My hands shook as updates arrived.
Cold rooms.
Metal shelving.
Boxes.
Records.
Then one investigator called Damien.
His face changed.
"What?"
He listened.
Then slowly sat down.
"Are you sure?"
My heart pounded.
He looked at me.
"They found a room."
"What room?"
"A medical room."
I swallowed.
"And?"
He closed his eyes.
May you like
Then whispered:
"There is a patient file inside with Michael's name—and treatment notes dated six months after he disappeared."
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