Chapter 7 - The Girl They Were Really Watching
"Lucy!"
Mara's scream tore through the house.
She reached the window.
Adrian caught her before she climbed onto the balcony.
"Wait."
"My daughter!"
He pointed downward.
No ladder.
No disturbed ground.
No escape route.
Marcus rushed in.
"Interior cameras show nobody leaving."
Mara spun around.
"Then where is she?"
A tiny sound came from the wardrobe.
Mara ripped it open.
Lucy crouched inside, hugging her rabbit.
Mara collapsed to her knees.
"Oh, God."
Lucy threw herself into her arms.
"The lady told me to hide."
Mara froze.
"What lady?"
"The blonde lady."
Adrian crouched.
"Was she inside the room?"
Lucy nodded.
"She said bad people were coming."
"What did she look like?"
Lucy studied Mara.
"Like Mommy."
Silence.
Mara remembered the second birth certificate.
Her twin.
"Where did she go?"
Lucy pointed toward the wall.
Adrian examined the paneling.
One section opened into an old servants' passage.
His expression darkened.
"Someone knew the house."
They found no woman.
Only a note.
MARA, IF YOU WANT LUCY TO LIVE, STOP LOOKING FOR DANIEL.
No signature.
Mara stared.
"Was she threatening Lucy or warning me?"
Adrian folded the paper.
"We don't assume either."
The following day brought another revelation.
Gabriel's files contained photographs of a woman named Celeste Mercer.
Mara's twin.
Raised privately under another identity.
Current location unknown.
The most recent photograph was six months old.
Celeste stood beside Daniel.
Mara's anger returned like fire.
"My husband knew my sister."
Adrian said nothing.
"He knew I had a sister and never told me."
"He may have had reasons."
"Stop defending him."
"I'm not."
"You keep explaining him."
"Because rage is useful only when pointed at the right target."
Mara faced him.
"Do you ever just feel something without turning it into strategy?"
The question landed.
Adrian looked away.
"Rarely."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It is."
For a moment, the distance between them changed.
Then Marcus entered.
"We found Daniel."
Mara forgot how to breathe.
"Where?"
"Possible location. Abandoned river warehouse."
Adrian immediately ordered a team.
Mara grabbed her coat.
"No."
She glared.
"Try stopping me."
His mouth almost curved.
"I was going to say no arguments in the car."
They reached the warehouse after dark.
Inside they found a cot.
Food.
Medical supplies.
Recent newspapers.
Daniel had been there.
On the wall were photographs of Mara and Lucy.
Birthdays.
School drop-offs.
Mara at work.
Daniel had watched them from afar.
She touched a photograph of Lucy blowing out four candles.
"He was there."
Adrian stood behind her.
"He never came home."
"No."
"Would you?"
Adrian was silent.
"If disappearing kept Lucy alive?"
Mara closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
"That's probably why he didn't give you the choice."
She turned.
"That doesn't make it right."
"No."
Adrian's answer came immediately.
"Protection without consent can become another kind of prison."
Mara studied him.
It sounded learned.
Not theoretical.
Before she could ask, Marcus called from the office.
They found blood.
Fresh.
A broken chair.
Signs of struggle.
And Daniel's phone.
One unsent message:
MARA, HALE KNOWS CELESTE IS YOUR SISTER. CELESTE KNOWS WHO KILLED GABRIEL. DO NOT LET ADRIAN—
The message ended.
Mara looked at Adrian.
He read it.
No defensiveness.
Only pain.
"Do not let Adrian what?" she whispered.
"I don't know."
A noise sounded overhead.
Footsteps.
Adrian pushed Mara behind a steel column.
A figure ran across the catwalk.
Marcus's men pursued.
Mara saw blonde hair.
"Celeste!"
The woman stopped.
Turned.
Even from thirty feet away, Mara felt the shock.
It was like looking into a distorted mirror.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Different life.
"Mara?"
Then a gunshot cracked.
Adrian covered Mara.
Celeste disappeared.
They found the shooter gone.
But Celeste had dropped something.
A necklace.
Inside the locket was a photograph of two infant girls.
On the back:
MARA + CELESTE. NEVER LET HALE HAVE BOTH.
Mara closed her fist around it.
Her phone buzzed.
A video call.
Daniel.
She answered.
His bruised face appeared.
"Mara."
She couldn't speak.
Daniel's eyes filled.
"You're alive," she finally whispered.
"So are you. That's all that matters."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Come home."
"I can't."
"Lucy thinks you're dead!"
Daniel flinched.
"I know."
"You don't get to say you know!"
Adrian stepped away, giving her privacy.
Daniel saw him anyway.
His face changed.
"He's with you."
"Adrian saved us."
"Mara, listen carefully. Gabriel discovered who controlled Lantern."
"I know."
"No. You don't."
"Then tell me."
Daniel looked off-screen.
Someone was approaching.
His voice dropped.
"Adrian believes his father tried to shut Lantern down."
"Gabriel's files say—"
"Gabriel was wrong."
Mara's stomach tightened.
"About what?"
"Augustus didn't shut it down."
Footsteps grew louder through Daniel's phone.
"He handed it to someone else."
"Who?"
Daniel looked directly at the camera.
"The person Adrian would never suspect."
A door opened behind Daniel.
His face drained of color.
May you like
He whispered one final word before the screen went black.
"Mother..."
