Chapter 13: The Fire

"No body?"

The words echoed in my mind.

The police officer nodded.

"The house was completely destroyed."

"So... he could still be alive?"

"We don't know."

Hope flickered inside me.

It was small.

Fragile.

But it was there.

Samuel stepped closer.

"We have to get to the house."

The officer shook his head.

"It's a crime scene. No one is allowed in."

"You don't understand," Samuel insisted. "If Professor Elias is alive, they'll be looking for him."

The officer frowned.

"Who are 'they'?"

Before Samuel could answer, a young constable ran towards us.

"Sir!"

"What happened?"

"We found this."

He held up a half-burnt leather notebook sealed inside an evidence bag.

The officer looked confused.

"Where did you find it?"

"In the back seat of Professor Elias's car."

Samuel's eyes widened.

"His car?"

"It wasn't at the house."

My heart skipped.

"If his car wasn't there..."

"Then he probably left before the fire started," Samuel finished.

For the first time that night, my mother smiled.

"He escaped."

The officer wasn't convinced.

"Or someone took him."

A heavy silence followed.

The notebook caught my attention.

Burn marks covered the edges, but one page was still visible.

Across the top, written in bold ink, were the words:

Project Echo

"What is Project Echo?" I asked.

The officers exchanged puzzled looks.

Samuel's face lost all colour.

"No..."

"What?"

"He found it."

"Found what?"

Samuel slowly looked at me.

"The reason your brother disappeared."

Before I could ask another question, a black motorcycle sped past the police barricade.

The rider wore a black helmet.

He didn't stop.

He threw something into the middle of the road.

Then disappeared into the darkness.

Everyone ducked.

For a terrifying second, I thought it was a bomb.

Instead...

It was another envelope.

The officer carefully picked it up.

There was only one name written on the front.

MAYA

He handed it to me.

"It's for you."

I opened it carefully.

Inside was a photograph.

It showed my brother.

Alive.

Standing beside an older man I had never seen before.

Both of them were smiling.

On the back, in my brother's handwriting, was a single sentence.

The man beside me is Professor Elias... and if you're seeing this, someone has already betrayed us.