Chapter 14 - The name Elena belonged to a woman who had died eleven years earlier.Daniel's first wife.
Ethan had never known.
Daniel had married Elena before meeting Sarah.
They had one child.
A daughter.
Daniel had spent years believing she had died in an accident.
But Richard revealed the truth.
Elena had survived.
She had disappeared.
And she had taken the second child with her.
The daughter was now twenty years old.
Her name was Ava.
Ava Carter.
Daniel's first daughter.
And she had spent the last decade trying to destroy the organization.
Ethan found her in a motel outside Chicago.
She opened the door with a gun in her hand.
“Daniel sent you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Richard.”
The gun lowered slightly.
“I knew he would eventually come for Lily.”
Ethan frowned.
“You know Lily?”
“She is my sister.”
The words hung in the room.
Ava explained that Elena had discovered the organization's plan.
She had escaped with Ava.
But when Ava was nine, Elena disappeared.
Ava believed she had been killed.
She had spent eleven years collecting evidence.
“Why didn't you contact Daniel?”
“He was dead.”
“He was alive.”
Ava's eyes hardened.
“Then he should have found me.”
Ethan had no answer.
Ava looked at him.
“Richard wants Lily because the trust can't be accessed without her.”
“Can you stop him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Ava pulled out a small device.
“This.”
“What is it?”
“The authorization key.”
Ethan stared.
“Then why didn't you use it?”
“Because it requires two blood signatures.”
“Whose?”
Ava smiled sadly.
“Mine.”
“And Lily's.”
They returned to the Mercer estate.
Richard was gone.
But Lily was missing.
Sarah screamed when she realized.
Daniel collapsed against the wall.
A phone rang.
Ethan answered.
Richard's voice.
“Come alone.”
“Where is Lily?”
“She is safe.”
“Let me speak to her.”
A pause.
Then Lily's voice.
“Mr. Ethan?”
Ethan's heart broke.
“I'm here.”
“I'm scared.”
“I know.”
“Please come get me.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“I will.”
Richard returned to the old church.
The same church where Lily had once told Ethan she saw her father.
Ethan entered alone.
Richard stood beside the altar.
Lily was tied to a chair.
A gun pointed at her.
“Give me the keys.”
Ethan raised his hands.
“They’re here.”
Richard smiled.
Ava stepped from the shadows.
Daniel behind her.
Sarah beside them.
Richard laughed.
“You brought the whole family.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
The church doors opened.
Federal agents entered.
Richard looked around.
He had been surrounded.
Ethan's dead-man switch had activated.
The files were already being released.
News reports flooded every television screen in the city.
The empire was collapsing.
Richard's face turned pale.
Then he slowly smiled.
“You still think this ends tonight?”
He pointed the gun at Lily.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Richard smiled.
“Ask Lily what she remembers.”
Ethan looked at the child.
Lily's eyes were fixed on Richard.
Then she whispered:
“I remember the fourth person.”
Everyone froze.
Ethan asked:
“Who?”
May you like
Lily pointed at Sarah.
And Sarah began to cry.
