The building towers over me as I walk in. My heart is pounding, and I feel like everyone can see right through me. I go over the plan in my head for the third time, worried I will forget something, and I will blow the whole thing.

Tell the front desk attendant I have an interview. Hopefully not bomb it and get kicked out right away. Get to the bottom of my father's death.

I AM VIOLET GARNER. I must remember this.

“Hello. How can I help you, miss,” a petite, fragile looking woman asks.

I freeze. Even months of preparation, the sheer pressure of the moment is almost enough to scare me off. But I shall push through.

“Miss? Can I help you,” the women inquired again.

“Umm. Yes. Umm. Hi. My name is Violet Garner. I was wondering if Mr. Charleston was ready for me. I have an interview for the assistant position.”

With intensity, the woman looks down at her computer scanning the screen for my name. I look around taking in the lobby. I have been here so many times and yet it all seems new. The walls have been painted a mossy green and the pictures on the wall have changed from a generic landscape to a large portrait of my father.

Scoff.

How tidy of them. To honor the man that died. To cover the murder, they committed.

I flip back around just as the woman looks up from her computer.

“Yes. It looks like Mr. Charleston is finishing in his office with someone else. Please have a seat and I will let you know when he is ready for you,” as she turns to look back at her computer dismissively.

Just as I am about to take my seat in the waiting room, Mr. Charleston calls my name on the intercom. I stand and begin up the stairs. My hand on the metal and glass railing to help anchor myself. As soon as I step into his office, he speaks.

I step into the room and the man facing the window calls the name Violet Garner. His voice is questioning and my heart pounds for fear he would call me out for who I really was. A Cross.

 “You, conveniently, are the only one who applied for the position. And because we have scientists in desperate need of an assistant, you are being given the position. But, make no mistake, this is only until someone qualified applies for the position. You can go now.”

Mr. Charleston turned briefly to say, “Go to the office at the end of the hallway and ask for Dr. Ryan. He will assign you to wherever it is you need to be.”  With that he abruptly turns back to the window.

A security guard steps out from his corner and escorts me out of the office to a different part of the building. I think about Mr. Charleston and how he didn’t look at me. He was clearly hiding something. A scar maybe? I don’t know. But whatever it is, I plan to get to the bottom of it.

The walk down the long hallway distracts me from my task at hand. I can vividly remember holding my father’s hand as a small child as our shoes clicked softly on the tile floor. The silence caused our voices to echo as we spoke. At that moment, I long to hear my father’s gentle laughter and to feel his strong hand in mine.

I finally reach   Dr. Ryan’s office. He looks nice enough but has an abruptness of a busy man. “Ms. Garner? Come with me,” he turns quickly and walks out the door abruptly. It takes me a few seconds to catch up to him. “My name is Dr. Ryan and I am your supervisor.”

He begins a long speech about his life's story and I am only slightly paying attention. We stop at my father’s old lab. The sign on the door still says his name, Elijah Cross. I can’t help but smile as all my favorite memories come rushing back to me from sitting in my dad’s lab to looking through his microscopes and reading his books on plants.

I open the door and I see a figure standing alone in the back of the room, hunched over a table. I step inside unsure of who this man was, standing in my father’s old lab.

“Dr. Cross, I have your new assistant,” Dr. Ryan places his hand on my lower back and pushes me farther into the room.

“Thank you, Dr. Ryan. I will let you know if I need something,” Dr. Cross responds.

 I am startled! Why does that man have my dad's name? Dr. Ryan turns and exits the room, closing the door behind him. I stand awkwardly waiting for the man in the corner to speak.

“Atlas, what are you doing here?”

I freeze. How does this man know who I am? He hasn’t turned around yet. Taking a glance around the room I see no reflective surfaces with an angle that he could see me in.

He turns around and I see a long-forgotten face. My brother.

My brother. Oliver Cross. No. It’s not possible. My brother has been dead for 10 years. He died in a fire when I was seven. How can he be standing in front of me?

“I’m sorry. I know this is confusing and it looks like some crazy prank, but it’s me. It is a long story and we only have time to tell you the abridged version, ” he speaks quickly, like he can read my mind and is answering every question as it pops into my head.

“Oli,” I cry out. I’m so close to tears. All I need is for him to tell me he is real and I am not imagining things.

“It’s me Atlas. I’m really here, ” he opens his arms out to me and I run into them nearly pushing him to the ground.

He lets go of me and leads me around the room telling me everything that has happened in the past 10 years.

“After the fire, Charleston found me. He brought me here and gave Dr. Ryan the job of bringing me back to life. I wasn’t dead, I was just on the verge. Dr. Ryan spent 7 years getting me back to normal and used me as his personal assistant.” He speaks with so much anger and pain. “Eventually,” he pauses and his tone changes completely, “I found out that father was working in the next room. Separated by a wall. I was right next to him for years and I never knew.”

“I brought it up to Dr. Ryan and he blatantly denied it. His lie was so sincere I almost believed it. I thought it would be a good idea to talk to father, so, I waited until everyone went home and went into his office. I saw someone standing in the corner and just as I was going to say something, I saw a figure move on the other side,” Oliver takes a deep breath, and it finally occurs to me what this is leading up to.

“Oh. My. God,” I can’t help but say. “Oli, I am so sorry. I cannot even imagine what that must have felt like.” Oli’s head hangs and it is a while before he speaks again.

“I heard him. Both of them, actually. The next day, Dr. Ryan and Mr. Charleston called a meeting with me. I thought that they were going to call me out for seeing them the night before but instead, they told me that a spot miraculously opened and thought I would be the best person to fill the position. I told them I knew what they had done the night before and they looked at each other and just laughed. I told them I would not take the job and they could not make me. Charleston stared at me so calmly it was freaky,” Oliver turned to stare at me. “They extorted me, Atlas. They told me if I didn’t take the job, they would frame me for dad’s murder.”

“And now, we can pin it on the both of you,” Oliver and I freeze in fear. That voice. Mr. Charleston stands in the doorway.

“Imagine the headlines. “Beloved Son and Daughter of Dr. Elijah Cross Kill Their Father for Political Status.” Everyone would hate you. Your mother would have no one left. She would be all alone, and it would be thanks to you.”

“No one would believe you,” I shoot back.

“Do you want to test that theory,” he responds, his voice too calm.

“What do you want from us,” Oliver stands straight looking as confident as he can. “You already took our father from us what else could we possibly have to offer you?”

Mr. Charleston chuckles. “You really think I have not thought this through? I have been planning this for years. I killed your father because he got smart. I had him creating a biological weapon and once he realized what I was going to do with it, he wanted to back out. So, I killed him. I knew that if he went home, he would tell everyone, and my career would be over. I knew that once news got out that Elijah was dead, Atlas would come running to solve the great mystery.

“I planned for you both to be here. What I want from you is to finish the weapon. That is all. Once you finish that, you are free to go live out your life as if none of this ever happened. I will set you up in a lovely home and you and your family will have everything you have ever wanted.”

Oliver cuts him off, “What if we tell everyone that you're keeping us here?”

“Have you been listening to a word I have been saying? I told you. I am framing you for your father’s death.”

“Oh,” Oliver laughs, “thanks for clearing that up.”

“That’s all we needed to hear,” a man behind Mr. Charleston speaks.

Fear freezes across Charleston’s face. Like it ‘s the end of the world. And I guess for him it is.

The police escort Charleston out of the room and I turn to Oliver punching him in the arm.

“Ow,” he yelps, caught off guard. “What was that for?”

“What did you do?” I am angry and relieved.

“I have the police on speed dial and called them as soon as Mr. Charleston walked in the room. I needed him to repeat what he said so that they had a confession to arrest him,” he smiles so proudly. “Now why did you punch me?”

“I just missed my brother. Now come on. I think mom will be really happy to see you.”

Oliver and I walk out of the room, and I can’t help but feel proud. All it took to find Oliver, was my fathers’ death. As sad as it is, at least we have some sort of family again.