Childhood Secrets

Jake Morrison's POV

Jake grabbed Maya's hand and pulled her away from the burning treehouse just as another explosion shook the ground behind them. Judge Brennan and his men were so focused on watching the fires that they didn't see Jake and Maya slip into the woods.

"This way," Jake whispered, leading Maya through the dark trees toward his childhood house.

His shoulder still hurt from the bullet graze, but adrenaline kept him going. They had to find somewhere safe to think and plan their next move.

The old Morrison house sat empty in the darkness. Jake's family had moved out years ago when his mom got sick, and no one had lived there since. The windows were boarded up and the yard was overrun with weeds.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Maya asked as they approached the back door.

"Safer than anywhere else right now," Jake said, pulling out a key he'd kept on his keychain for years.

The door creaked open, and they stepped into the kitchen where Jake had eaten breakfast every morning as a kid. Everything was covered in dust, but it still felt like home.

"Jake," Maya said quietly, "if the treehouse evidence is gone, how can we prove Tommy and Danny are innocent?"

Jake had been thinking about the same thing. Without his father's proof, it would be impossible to show that Judge Brennan and the Circle were corrupt.

But then he remembered something that made his heart beat faster.

"Maya, what if the treehouse wasn't where my dad really hid the evidence?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. My dad knew they might come looking for that proof someday. He's too smart to put all his eggs in one basket."

Jake led Maya upstairs to his old bedroom. It looked exactly the same as when he'd left for college - posters on the walls, books on the shelves, clothes still hanging in the closet.

"He said the evidence was hidden where only family could find it," Jake said, looking around the room. "But the treehouse isn't really family. It's just a place I played as a kid."

"So where would he hide it?"

Jake walked to his old desk and ran his fingers along the edges. Nothing. He checked under his bed and behind his shelves. Still nothing.

Then he had an idea.

"Maya, help me move this dresser."

Together, they slid the heavy wooden chest away from the wall. Behind it was something Jake had totally forgotten about - a small door that led to the crawl space under the roof.

When Jake was eight years old, he'd found this secret space and made it his private hideout. He used to keep comic books and candy up there, away from his parents' eyes.

"My dad knew about this place," Jake said, his excitement rising. "He helped me build shelves in there when I was ten."

Jake opened the little door and crawled into the dusty space. Maya followed, using her phone's flashlight to see.

The crawl space was just like Jake remembered - low ceiling, wooden beams, and the shelves his father had helped him place. But now, instead of comic books, the shelves were filled with boxes and files.

"Oh my God," Maya breathed. "Jake, look at all this."

Jake opened the first box and found hundreds of photos. Pictures of Judge Brennan talking with criminals in dark alleys. Pictures of Sheriff Morrison taking bags full of money. Pictures of Mayor Whitfield shaking hands with drug dealers.

The second box held audio recordings. Jake found a small tape player and hit play on one of the cassettes.

Judge Brennan's voice filled the crawl space: "The Martinez girl is becoming a problem. She knows too much about the water pollution. We need to eliminate her before she talks to the newspapers."

Maya grabbed Jake's arm. "This is it! This shows Sarah was murdered!"

Jake opened more boxes and found even worse proof. Documents showing that the Circle had been killing people for twenty years. Anyone who found their crimes or threatened to expose them simply disappeared.

There were files on twelve different people who had died under suspicious conditions. All of them had been asking questions about crime in Millbrook.

"They're not just corrupt," Jake said, his voice shaking with anger. "They're serial killers."

In another box, Jake found the proof that would save Tommy and Danny.

A folder labeled "WHITFIELD FRAME-UP" held photos of the real killer dumping Sarah's body behind the movie theater. It wasn't Tommy at all - it was one of Judge Brennan's hired men.

Another folder marked "SANTOS SETUP" had pictures of the same guys starting the factory fire and planting Danny's baseball cap at the scene.

"Tommy and Danny were framed," Maya said, looking through the pictures. "We can prove it!" But the most shocking find was in the last box.

A thick folder titled "THE PHOENIX PROJECT."

Jake opened it with trembling hands and found papers that made his blood run cold.

The Circle wasn't just a local crime group. They were part of something much bigger - a network of corrupt politicians in dozens of small towns across the country.

And they were all directed by someone called Phoenix.

"Maya, look at this," Jake said, holding up a letter. "Phoenix has been running programs like this in thirty different towns. Millbrook is just one piece of a big puzzle."

The letter was signed with just a symbol - a bird rising from fire.

"Who is Phoenix?" Maya asked.

Before Jake could answer, they heard a sound that made them both freeze with fear.

Car doors slamming outside.

Multiple car doors.

Jake crawled to the small window in the crawl space and looked down at the street.

His heart sank.

Six black cars were parked around the house, and guys with guns were getting out of each one.

"They found us," Maya whispered.

"How? No one knew we were coming here!"

That's when Jake saw something that made his blood turn to ice.

One of the guys below was talking on a radio, coordinating the others. Jake could see his face clearly in the streetlight.

It was someone Jake recognized.

Someone he trusted.

Someone who had been helping them all along.

"Maya," Jake said, his voice barely a whisper. "I know who Phoenix is."

"Who?"

"It's someone who knew about this hiding place. Someone who knew we'd come here someday. Someone who's been trying to help us while setting us up the whole time."

Jake's hands were shaking as he pointed to the man with the radio.

Maya looked through the window and gasped.

The man planning the attack on their house was Thomas Morrison.

Jake's own father.

"That's impossible," Maya said. "Your dad was in the hospital! He was being poisoned!"

"Was he? Or was he just claiming to be sick so he could control everything from behind the scenes?"

Jake felt like his whole world was falling apart. Everything his father had told him was a lie. The evidence in the crawl area wasn't proof of Judge Brennan's crimes.

It was bait in a trap.

"Jake, think about it," Maya said quickly. "Who knew about the treehouse? Who knew about this secret place? Who knew exactly where we'd go when we fled the hospital?"

Jake felt sick to his stomach. His father had been playing them all along.

Phoenix wasn't some strange outsider.

Phoenix was his own dad.

"We have to get out of here," Jake said, but it was too late.

Footsteps were already pounding up the stairs.

Voices were screaming orders throughout the house.

"Find them! They're here somewhere!"

Jake and Maya were trapped in a crawl space with nowhere to run, holding evidence that their enemy had placed for them to find.

And the man Jake had trusted more than anyone in the world was leading the hunt to kill them.

Through the floor, Jake could hear his father's voice, cold and demanding.

"Search every room. Check every hidden place. When you find them, bring them to me living. I want to look my son in the eyes before I finish this."

Jake realized with increasing horror that he'd walked straight into the perfect trap.

Phoenix hadn't been hunting them.

Phoenix had been directing them exactly where he wanted them to go.

And now there was nowhere left to run.