Chapter 8 - My Mother's Secret
"Daddy... he's taking me again."
Sophie's voice came from the darkness.
I ran.
I didn't think.
I didn't look back.
I pushed through the open basement door and sprinted down the corridor, following the sound of my daughter's crying.
"Sophie!"
"Roman!"
Elena was behind me.
Daniel followed.
My mother shouted something from the room, but I couldn't hear her.
The corridor split into two directions.
I stopped.
"Sophie!"
A door slammed somewhere to my left.
I ran toward it.
The hallway ended at a narrow staircase.
At the bottom, I saw Marcus.
He was carrying Sophie.
Her little arms were reaching toward me.
"Daddy!"
Marcus turned.
For the first time since I had known him, there was no calm professionalism in his face.
There was panic.
"Roman, stay back."
I stopped.
Sophie was crying.
"Put her down."
"You don't understand."
"Put my daughter down."
Marcus tightened his grip.
"I didn't hurt her."
"Then give her to me."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if I do, they'll kill her."
Elena appeared behind me.
"Who?"
Marcus looked at her.
"You."
Elena froze.
"What?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Not you personally."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"Everyone connected to you."
I stepped forward.
"Who is they?"
He didn't answer.
"Marcus."
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
Daniel's face was hard.
"Tell him."
Marcus swallowed.
"They've been watching the family for years."
"Who?"
"The trustees."
I frowned.
"The trust?"
Marcus nodded.
"Your grandfather created a private network."
"To protect Sophie?"
"To protect the inheritance."
Elena stepped forward.
"You're the one who took Sophie."
Marcus looked at her.
"Yes."
Her face collapsed.
"You followed us that night."
"I was ordered to."
"By whom?"
Marcus hesitated.
I already knew the answer would hurt.
"Your mother."
My mother.
I closed my eyes.
Everything came back.
The ballroom.
The red flannel.
The photographs.
The secret rooms.
The lies.
For three years, Marcus had stood beside me.
He had searched for Elena.
He had reviewed reports.
He had told me there was no trace of my wife or daughter.
He had watched me destroy myself.
And all along, he had known where they were.
"You lied to me."
Marcus looked down.
"Yes."
"Every day."
"Yes."
"You watched me search."
"I did."
"You knew she was alive."
"I knew Elena was alive."
"And Sophie."
He nodded.
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"I wasn't always allowed to see where she was."
"Who moved her?"
"The people who controlled the safe houses."
I stared at him.
"Safe houses?"
Marcus nodded.
"Your mother moved Sophie every few months."
Elena stepped closer.
"Where was I?"
Marcus looked at her.
"You weren't supposed to know."
"Where?"
"Close."
"How close?"
"Sometimes two miles away."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"You kept me that close to my daughter?"
"I was trying to keep you alive."
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the corridor.
Marcus didn't react.
Sophie reached toward me again.
"Daddy."
I stepped forward.
Marcus slowly lowered her.
I took Sophie into my arms.
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
I held her as tightly as I dared.
"I've got you."
She buried her face against me.
"I knew you would come."
I closed my eyes.
"I always came."
She whispered:
"Grandma said you wouldn't."
I looked toward the staircase.
My mother appeared at the top.
The gun was gone.
Her face was exhausted.
"Roman."
I held Sophie tighter.
"You don't get to say my name anymore."
She stopped.
"I need to explain."
"You've had three years."
"I know."
"Three years."
"I know."
"You stole my daughter."
"I protected her."
"You stole my wife."
"I protected her too."
"From whom?"
My mother looked at Marcus.
"From the people who wanted them dead."
Daniel walked up beside me.
"Then tell him why you were working with the people hunting them."
My mother looked at him.
"I wasn't."
Marcus interrupted.
"You were."
My mother stared at him.
"You were supposed to keep them hidden."
"I did."
"You were supposed to protect them."
"I did."
"You were never supposed to bring Sophie here."
Marcus looked at me.
"That wasn't my decision."
My mother suddenly looked frightened.
"Who ordered you?"
Marcus said nothing.
"Marcus."
He looked at me.
"The order came from inside the trust."
"What does that mean?"
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
A recorder.
He pressed a button.
A man's voice filled the corridor.
"Bring Sophie to the estate tonight."
My blood froze.
I knew the voice.
My grandfather.
But he had been dead for years.
The recording continued.
"Roman must be present."
Elena stared at the device.
"When was this recorded?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Three years ago."
I stared at him.
"My grandfather died long before that."
"I know."
"Then whose voice is that?"
Nobody answered.
The recording continued.
"If the girl reaches Roman, the trust becomes active."
Then another voice.
My mother's.
"What if Elena finds her?"
The first voice answered:
"She won't."
The recording ended.
I looked at my mother.
"You knew."
She began crying.
"I knew part of it."
"Part?"
"I knew there was a plan."
"What plan?"
"To reunite you with Sophie."
"Three years ago?"
She nodded.
"But something went wrong."
Elena stepped forward.
"What?"
My mother looked at her.
"Rebecca came back."
Elena froze.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"She came for Sophie."
"When?"
"The night you disappeared."
Elena shook her head.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"What happened?"
My mother looked toward the dark corridor.
"Rebecca took the second baby."
I stared at her.
"Which baby?"
She didn't answer.
Daniel did.
"The child who wasn't Sophie."
My heart stopped.
Elena looked at him.
"Where is she?"
Daniel's eyes dropped.
"We don't know."
My mother whispered:
"Rebecca escaped with her."
"Then why did you say she was dead?"
"Because your grandfather ordered me to."
"Why?"
"Because the second child was never supposed to exist."
Elena covered her mouth.
I looked at Sophie.
She was still in my arms.
A strange thought entered my mind.
"Then why does Sophie remember a sister?"
My mother looked at her.
"Because she had one."
I stared at her.
"Does Sophie have a twin?"
My mother nodded.
"Yes."
Elena's knees almost gave way.
"No."
She grabbed the wall.
"My baby."
I held Sophie tighter.
"Where is her twin?"
My mother looked toward Daniel.
He shook his head.
"Catherine."
She whispered:
"I don't know."
"Someone does."
Everyone turned.
Marcus was staring at the old security monitor.
The screen had changed.
A live camera feed showed a little girl sitting alone in a room.
Blonde hair.
Pale pink dress.
Red blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
She looked almost exactly like Sophie.
Elena stopped breathing.
I couldn't move.
Sophie lifted her head from my shoulder.
She looked at the screen.
Then she whispered:
"That's Lily."
Elena began sobbing.
"Lily?"
Sophie nodded.
"My sister."
The room went silent.
I stared at the screen.
The little girl looked directly into the camera.
Then she raised one hand.
She was holding the same faded red flannel.
Marcus stepped closer.
"That's impossible."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
"The camera is inside the old clinic."
"What clinic?"
"Room seventeen."
My stomach tightened.
"The clinic that closed twenty years ago?"
Marcus nodded.
"It's been abandoned for years."
"Then who is feeding this camera?"
Nobody answered.
The little girl on the screen suddenly leaned closer.
Her lips moved.
Marcus increased the volume.
Static filled the corridor.
Then a tiny voice came through.
"Daddy?"
I felt my entire body go cold.
Elena looked at me.
"She called you Daddy."
The screen flickered.
The image disappeared.
A new message appeared.
COME ALONE.
I stared at it.
Then another line appeared.
BRING THE RED FLANNEL.
My mother stepped forward.
"Roman, don't go."
I turned toward her.
"Why?"
She looked terrified.
"Because that's what they want."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Daniel did.
"The person behind all of this."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
He hesitated.
Then my mother whispered:
"Your father."
I stared at her.
"No."
"He wasn't trapped down here."
"What?"
She wiped her tears.
"Your father built the room."
My stomach dropped.
"Why?"
"To hide something."
"What?"
She looked at Sophie.
"The original trust."
I didn't understand.
"Didn't we already find it?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"That was only a copy."
Daniel stepped closer.
"The real document contains one name."
"Whose?"
My mother looked directly at me.
"Your father's."
I felt a chill.
"Why would his name be on it?"
She whispered:
"Because your father wasn't protecting Sophie from the family."
She looked at Elena.
"He was protecting the family from Sophie."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
My mother continued.
"The second child wasn't just another heir."
She stared at the screen.
"She was the reason your grandfather created the trust."
I looked at the black monitor.
"Why?"
My mother took a shaky breath.
"Because the twins weren't supposed to survive."
The lights suddenly went out.
Sophie screamed.
Then the basement door slammed shut behind us.
A phone began ringing somewhere in the darkness.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Marcus switched on his flashlight.
The beam swept across the floor.
It stopped on an old telephone sitting on a wooden table.
The receiver was already off the hook.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Roman."
I froze.
It was my father.
"You found Lily."
I stepped toward the phone.
"Where is she?"
A pause.
Then he said:
"She's not the one you need to save."
The line went silent.
May you like
Then a second voice whispered from directly behind me:
"Roman, turn around."
