Page 115 of Echoes

“No, it’s not. We don’t know anything about that one,” Lydia said. “So, will you please leave us alone?”

“I still need to destroy–” He paused and nodded again. “That’s what I felt. You weren’t bringing someone back. You were destroying it.”

“Yes, it’s gone,” Eliza confirmed.

“Where is it?”

“We dissolved it in acid,” Lydia shared. “We figured that was the safest way to do it. And I don’t know if we hurt anyone like your grandfather, but I promise you, we tried to find the best way to do this so that no one got hurt.”

“I believe you.” He slid his weapon into his holster. “Where is whatever is left?”

“It’s in the car. It’s in pieces, but there’s no way it works anymore.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I tossed it in my car when I thought something was wrong with Lydia. There’s no way that button, that’s always so easy to press, didn’t get pushed somehow. Nothing happened. It’s corroded and in pieces. It doesn’t work.”

“I’d like to take it with me,” he revealed.

“No,” Eliza said.

“No?” he asked, but he didn’t reach for his gun.

“You can take one piece of it. Lydia will take one. I’ll take the other. You don’t tell us what you do with your piece. Lydia will do something with hers and not tell me. I’ll do the same.”

“She’s your wife. She’s not going to tell you what she does with her piece?”

“I won’t,” Lydia replied. “I understand how important this is, and so does Eliza. She won’t tell me what she did with hers. You just take yours far away from here, and no one will ever be able to even piece them back together to reverse-engineer anything.”

“I still have to find the one they used on my dad.”

“That doesn’t involve us, though,” Eliza insisted. “We don’t want to know anything about it. You should probably assume that more people were used, like your father. If he escaped, they’re probably–”

“They killed him,” he interjected. “He ran, yes, but they found him a few years later and killed him. My mother and I disappeared.They haven’t foundmeyet. She died a while ago, and I have a different name, which I won’t be telling you. I thoughtyourfather got the device out, so I never thoughtthey’dstill have it and would be using it on other people.”

“It’s possible,” Eliza said. “But I don’t know. All Idoknow is that my dad died because of this thing, protecting it from getting into the wrong hands, but I also have the life I have because of it, and I won’t risk that for anything. If anyone understands that, it should be you.”

He nodded and said, “I do. You’re safe from me.”

“What about the people the guy worked for? He killed her father and told her they’d come for him. That wasyou, though,” Lydia said.

“I got to him first, but he wasn’t working for the CIA. They just wanted him gone because he knew about the project and was unstable. They won’t come after you.”

“You’re sure?” Eliza checked. “We have three kids.”

“I’m sure. They don’t even know I’m out here, trying to track it down. You’re safe. Go home. Go back to your life. I’ll find it. The acid was a good idea, by the way. When I find it, I’ll make sure no one else gets hurt because of this thing.”

“What aboutyourfamily?” Lydia asked.

“I’m the only one left,” he shared. “And I’ll end it. You can be sure about that.” He took a few steps backward. “Keep the pieces. I trust you’ll dispose of them properly.”

“We will,” Eliza said. “And good luck.”

He nodded and said, “You too.”

Three Days Later

“It’s gone?” Felicity asked.