Chapter 13 - Rafe held Isabella in his arms.Blood soaked his hands.
He looked toward Daniel.
"You shot her."
Daniel lowered the gun.
"I missed."
Rafe stared.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Daniel's voice shook.
"I was aiming at the shooter."
Rafe looked around.
Nobody.
Only broken glass.
Daniel rushed inside.
"She's alive."
Rafe glared at him.
"Don't touch her."
Daniel froze.
"Listen to me."
"You lied to me."
"I had to."
"Everybody has an excuse."
Daniel crouched.
"I've spent twenty-two years protecting you."
"From what?"
"From the truth."
Rafe laughed bitterly.
"Then tell me."
Daniel looked at Isabella.
She opened her eyes.
"Tell him."
Daniel nodded.
"The four children were part of an identity program."
Rafe stayed silent.
"The organization took children from families involved in witness protection, organized crime, and political investigations."
"Why?"
"Because children could be trained."
"Trained for what?"
"Replacement."
Rafe frowned.
Daniel continued.
"They created people who could imitate other people."
Faces.
Voices.
Memories.
Behavior.
"You're saying they could replace someone?"
Daniel nodded.
"Politicians."
"Executives."
"Witnesses."
"Enemies."
Rafe felt sick.
"Why me?"
"Because you adapted better than anyone."
"Who was I supposed to replace?"
Daniel looked down.
"Victor Hale."
Rafe stared.
"What?"
"The original Victor Hale was killed twenty years ago."
Rafe's blood went cold.
"You mean..."
"The man sitting in the mayor's office isn't Victor."
Rafe remembered the man from the basement.
The smile.
The scars.
The certainty.
Daniel continued.
"He's a replacement."
Rafe looked at Isabella.
She whispered:
"Made from your memories."
Rafe froze.
"My memories?"
Daniel nodded.
"You were trained to become him."
Rafe's voice cracked.
"But I escaped."
"No."
Daniel looked him in the eye.
"You didn't escape."
Rafe felt a chill.
"What?"
"We released you."
"Why?"
"Because the program was failing."
"How?"
"You developed your own identity."
Rafe stared.
"The biker."
Daniel nodded.
"The anger."
"The independence."
"The refusal to obey."
"Everything that made you Rafe."
Rafe looked at his hands.
"So Rafe isn't real?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"Then who am I?"
Daniel's answer came quietly.
"You."
Rafe stared.
Daniel continued.
"That's what Gabriel never understood."
"What?"
"He thought identity was something you could build."
Daniel looked at Isabella.
"But identity is what survives after they try to take everything else."
For the first time that night, Rafe felt something inside him settle.
Then Isabella grabbed his wrist.
"There's one thing you must know."
He leaned closer.
"What?"
She whispered:
"The man calling himself Daniel Mercer isn't Daniel."
Rafe looked up.
The man beside him went completely still.
Daniel's face changed.
Rafe stepped backward.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
And suddenly Rafe understood why every piece of the story had never fit.
The man smiled exactly like Victor Hale.
"You're finally asking the right question."
He raised his gun.
"You should have figured it out sooner."
The lights went out.
May you like
When they came back on...
Isabella was gone.
