Chapter 9 - What Dominic Had Been Hiding
Dominic moved faster than I could see.
He knocked the gun aside.
A shot exploded into the ceiling.
Guards rushed in.
Clara ran.
Dominic chased her.
I stayed frozen.
Then Leo grabbed my hand.
“Bea.”
I looked down.
He was crying.
“Don't let her take Daddy.”
“I won't.”
We followed.
The chase ended in the old library.
Clara stood near the fireplace.
Dominic had his gun raised.
“It's over.”
Clara laughed.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It's only beginning.”
“Why?” I asked.
She smiled sadly.
“Because you still don't understand what you are.”
I felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Dominic stepped between us.
“Don't listen to her.”
Clara laughed again.
“You never told her.”
“Told me what?”
Dominic's silence frightened me more than Clara's words.
Clara looked at me.
“You weren't hired by accident.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“You were selected.”
“For what?”
Clara's smile disappeared.
“To protect Leo.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
She pointed at me.
“Ask her about the necklace.”
I touched the small necklace at my throat.
It had belonged to my mother.
She had given it to me before she died.
Dominic noticed it.
“Take it off.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
I removed it.
He turned it over.
There was a tiny engraving.
Three letters.
E.G.
Clara whispered:
“Evelyn Gallagher.”
My mother's name.
I looked at her.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
Clara answered:
“She worked for Dominic's father.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“She was a nurse.”
“Yes.”
“What did she know?”
Clara looked at me.
“She knew about the twins.”
My knees weakened.
“My mother knew Leo's sister?”
“She helped hide her.”
“From whom?”
Clara's eyes shifted toward Dominic.
“From his family.”
Dominic said nothing.
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“When?”
“Before I hired you.”
I felt betrayed.
“You knew who I was?”
“Yes.”
“And you still hired me?”
“I hired you because I believed you were in danger.”
“From whom?”
Clara laughed.
“From the same people who killed your mother.”
My breath caught.
“My mother died in an accident.”
“No.”
Clara's voice was quiet.
“She was murdered.”
Dominic lowered his gun.
“Clara.”
She shook her head.
“She deserves the truth.”
Then she looked at me.
“Your mother didn't abandon you.”
I couldn't speak.
“She was protecting someone.”
“Who?”
Clara whispered:
“Your sister.”
Silence.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
Then said:
“Get everyone out.”
He hung up.
“What happened?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“The hospital records have been found.”
“Where?”
“In the old chapel.”
“Why?”
Dominic's eyes met mine.
“Because someone wants us to know who your sister really is.”
The chapel door opened by itself.
Inside, a woman stood waiting.
May you like
She had my mother's necklace around her neck.
And she looked exactly like me...
