Chapter 15 - THE FALSE DAUGHTER
Rebecca looked shattered.
“No.”
The young woman’s smile disappeared.
“I’m sorry.”
She raised both hands.
“My name is Kara Wells.”
“Who are you?”
“A Circle courier.”
Thomas reached for his gun.
Kara spoke quickly.
“I helped them because they had my brother.”
“Just like they have Emily.”
Rebecca looked ready to collapse.
“You let me think you were my daughter.”
“They told me if I didn’t, Emily would die.”
Sarah understood the cruelty immediately.
The rescue at Hawthorne had been designed to create a false victory.
A replacement daughter.
Another Veil trick.
Another stolen identity.
Kara began crying.
“I was supposed to stay with you until they located the drive.”
Maya checked her computer.
“The tracker.”
Kara nodded.
“Inside my shoe.”
Evan ripped it free and crushed it.
“Too late.”
Kara continued.
“Eleanor knew you would open Voss’s files after Hawthorne.”
“She wanted the automatic signal.”
Arthur whispered.
“She played us.”
Thomas looked at Sarah’s phone.
“What does she want now?”
“Lucy.”
Kara nodded.
“And Sarah.”
“Why both?”
“Because Eleanor can’t stop Monday’s court release anymore.”
“But she can challenge the bloodline verification if Sarah and Lucy disappear.”
Rebecca stared at her.
“And Emily?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Rebecca grabbed Kara’s shoulders.
“Think.”
Kara shut her eyes.
“I heard water.”
“Church bells.”
“And trains.”
Olivia pulled up a map.
“Lake house isn’t near trains.”
Maya looked at the hospital footage.
“This video might not be live.”
She checked metadata.
“Recorded six hours ago.”
Thomas paced.
“Water.”
“Church bells.”
“Train tracks.”
Arthur suddenly looked up.
“Saint Agnes.”
“What?”
“Old maternity annex in Bridgeport.”
“It sits between the harbor and commuter rail.”
Rebecca stared.
“Was it Circle?”
Arthur nodded.
“One of the first locations.”
They left immediately.
At Saint Agnes, the upper floors had been converted into luxury apartments.
But the basement remained sealed.
Olivia used prosecutor credentials to get building access.
They found Emily in an old records room.
Alive.
Terrified.
Rebecca held her real daughter and sobbed.
Sarah turned away to give them privacy.
For the first time in days, something good had actually happened.
Then Emily whispered.
“There’s another hostage.”
Thomas heard her.
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Older.”
“They kept her in the room beside mine.”
“What name?”
Emily shook her head.
“But she kept telling the guards that Eleanor would never hurt her.”
Sarah felt cold.
“Why?”
Emily looked toward Thomas.
“Because she said Eleanor is her sister.”
Arthur whispered.
“Laura.”
Thomas stared.
“My mother?”
Arthur shook his head.
“Laura died.”
Emily continued.
“The woman called herself Laura Hale.”
Thomas stopped breathing.
May you like
For the second time in two days, someone Thomas had buried was suddenly alive.
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