Chapter 12: Twisted Truth

Aidan's heart pounded as they parked the car behind a thick cluster of trees near Victor's hunting lodge. The van carrying their unknown brother had stopped at the front entrance.

"We need a plan," Elijah whispered, turning to face the twins.

"I have one," Aidan said, raising Maya's gun. "We go in through the back. Dad won't expect that."

"Wait," Asher grabbed his arm. "There are guards everywhere. We can't just barge in."

Victor Carter still stood on the porch, like he was waiting for them. His face looked calm in the glow of the porch light, but Aidan knew that look. It was the calm before a storm.

"He knows we're here," Aidan said.

Elijah nodded. "He's always three steps ahead."

"Not this time," Asher said. "I know a secret way in. Dad showed me once when I was his favorite."

The bitterness in Asher's voice made Aidan wince. For years, they'd been played against each other by their father. Tonight, that ended.

"Lead the way," Elijah said.

Asher shot him an angry look but nodded. The three men crept through the darkness, following a narrow path that circled behind the lodge.

"There," Asher pointed to a small door partially hidden by overgrown bushes. "The old servants' entrance."

Elijah tried the handle. Locked.

"Stand back," he said, pulling out a small tool kit.

"Where did you learn to pick locks?" Aidan asked.

"Your mother taught me," Elijah replied, working on the lock. "She knew what Victor was capable of."

The lock clicked open. The three men slipped inside, finding themselves in a narrow hallway lit by dim emergency lights.

"The basement is this way," Asher whispered, leading them toward a staircase.

As they descended, Aidan heard voices—one of them unmistakably their father's. The men froze, listening.

"Get him settled in the secure room," Victor was saying. "No one speaks to him without my permission. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," someone replied.

Footsteps moved away. Asher gestured for them to continue down the stairs. At the bottom, they found themselves in a long hallway with several doors.

"Which room?" Aidan whispered.

A noise from behind made them turn. Too late.

"I was wondering when you'd arrive," Victor Carter said, flanked by four security guards with guns drawn. "Though I expected you to use the front door like civilized people."

Aidan raised Maya's gun, pointing it at his father.

Victor laughed. "Are you going to shoot me, son?"

"Where is he?" Aidan demanded. "Our brother."

Victor's eyebrows rose. "So you know."

"We know everything," Elijah said, stepping forward. "About Mrs. Carter's death. About the third son."

"Do you?" Victor's eyes narrowed on Elijah. "I doubt that very much, Mr. Hart."

"Stop playing games," Asher snapped. "Where is he?"

Victor sighed dramatically. "Follow me."

He turned and walked down the hall. After exchanging wary glances, the three men followed, Aidan keeping his gun trained on his father's back.

Victor stopped at the last door and punched in a code. The door swung open, revealing a hospital-style room. On the bed lay a figure hooked up to monitors.

Aidan and Asher gasped in unison. The man on the bed had their face.

"Meet your brother," Victor said. "The strongest of the three, but unfortunately, the most rebellious."

The man on the bed was unconscious, his breathing shallow.

"What did you do to him?" Aidan's voice shook with rage.

"Nothing permanent," Victor said smoothly. "He'll wake up in a few hours."

"Why?" Asher's voice cracked. "Why keep him hidden all these years?"

Victor's smile turned cold. "Insurance."

"Against what?" Aidan demanded.

"Against failure," Victor replied. "I needed backup plans. You two were disappointing in so many ways."

The cruelty of those words hit Aidan like a physical blow. All their lives, they'd tried to please this man who could never be satisfied.

"You're sick," Elijah spat.

Victor turned to him, eyes glittering. "And you, Mr. Hart. The wild card I never expected."

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked.

"You were supposed to be my spy," Victor said. "My eyes on my sons. Instead, you fell in love. Twice." He gestured between Asher and Aidan. "How inconvenient."

Elijah paled. "You hired me?"

"Of course I did," Victor laughed. "Did you really believe that story about their mother hiring you? She was dead long before you came into the picture."

Aidan felt the floor shift beneath him. He looked at Elijah, whose face had gone white.

"You've been working for him?" Aidan whispered. "This whole time?"

"No," Elijah shook his head desperately. "That's not true. I would never—"

"He's lying," Victor cut in smoothly. "Show them, Elijah. Show them the monthly payments to your account."

Elijah stood frozen, his eyes darting between the twins.

"I trusted you," Asher's voice broke. "Both times."

"It's not what you think," Elijah pleaded.

"Then what is it?" Aidan demanded, the gun now pointing at Elijah instead of Victor.

Before Elijah could answer, the room suddenly plunged into darkness. Emergency lights flickered on seconds later, bathing everything in an eerie red glow.

"What's happening?" Victor barked into his radio.

No answer.

Then the door burst open. Maya Rivera stood there, a gun in one hand and a flash drive in the other.

"Hello, Victor," she said calmly. "I've been waiting years for this moment."

Victor's face hardened. "Whatever you think you know—"

"I know everything," Maya cut him off. "About the experiments. About Catherine's murder. About the third son."

She walked to the bed and gently touched the face of the unconscious man. "Hello, Adrian," she whispered. "I promised your mother I'd find you."

"Adrian?" Asher repeated.

"Your triplet," Maya said. "Born five minutes after you, Asher. Hidden by your father minutes after birth."

"Why?" Aidan's voice was barely audible.

Maya's eyes burned with hatred as she looked at Victor. "Because three identical test subjects were better than two for his sick psychological experiments." She held up the flash drive. "It's all here. Every twisted thing he's done to all of you."

Victor lunged for her, but Maya was faster. She stepped back, raising her gun.

"Don't," she warned. "I've waited too long for justice to hesitate now."

"You don't understand," Victor said, his voice suddenly desperate. "Everything I did was necessary."

"Necessary?" Maya's laugh was bitter. "You murdered Catherine because she discovered what you were doing to her sons."

The twins stared at their father in horror.

"You killed Mom?" Asher whispered.

"She was going to ruin everything," Victor said coldly. "Take you both away. Expose Adrian's existence."

"So you had her car tampered with," Maya said. "Made it look like an accident."

"What about Elijah?" Aidan asked, not lowering his gun. "Was he really working for you?"

Maya glanced at Elijah. "Yes and no."

"What does that mean?" Asher demanded.

Before Maya could answer, a groan came from the bed. Adrian was waking up.

Victor moved suddenly, reaching inside his jacket. Aidan saw the glint of metal—a gun.

"Dad, no!" Asher yelled.

Three gunshots rang out at once.

Victor Carter dropped to the floor. But he wasn't the only one who fell.

Maya stumbled backward, red blooming across her white blouse. The flash drive slipped from her fingers, skittering across the floor.

And behind her stood a figure none of them had seen enter—a woman with familiar green eyes that matched their own.

"Hello, brothers," she said softly. "I've been looking for you."