Chapter 7 - Rafe stared at Anna.The old woman was crying.
Victor Hale stood behind her smiling as if he had just placed the final piece on a chessboard.
"You."
Rafe's voice cracked.
"You're my mother?"
Anna nodded.
"Yes."
He stepped backward.
For twenty-two years, he had imagined his mother as a beautiful woman in old photographs.
Dead.
Mysterious.
Untouchable.
Now she sat in front of him, soaked and trembling, her feet bleeding beneath a pharmacy towel.
His mother.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were never ready."
"You let me believe you died."
"I had to."
"You watched me grow up."
"From a distance."
"You knew everything?"
She nodded.
"I knew every time you moved."
"Every time I got hurt?"
"Yes."
"Every time I was alone?"
Her lips trembled.
"Yes."
Rafe looked away.
He couldn't bear it.
Victor laughed quietly.
"Family reunions are always emotional."
Rafe looked at him.
"Shut up."
Victor's smile faded.
"You want answers."
"Yes."
"Then listen."
Victor pointed at the file.
"Thomas Vance wasn't your father."
Rafe frowned.
"The birth certificate says he was."
"Biological father."
Victor shook his head.
"Thomas was only the man who raised you."
Rafe's stomach tightened.
"Then who?"
Victor looked at Anna.
She whispered:
"Your father was someone I loved before Thomas."
"Who?"
Anna's face broke.
"Daniel."
Rafe turned.
Daniel stood in the tunnel entrance.
Alive.
Watching him.
Rafe's breathing stopped.
"Daniel?"
His supposed father looked at him with tears in his eyes.
Victor lowered his gun.
"Say hello."
Rafe looked from Daniel to Anna.
"You're my father?"
Daniel nodded.
Rafe's face hardened.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"And you let me believe Thomas was my father?"
"I was trying to protect you."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Rafe's voice rose.
"Protect me from what?"
Daniel stepped forward.
"From Victor."
Victor sighed.
"Always blaming me."
"You stole children," Daniel said.
"I built an empire."
"You murdered Thomas."
"He betrayed us."
"You killed him."
Victor smiled.
"And he deserved it."
Rafe's hands curled.
"You killed my father."
Victor looked directly at him.
"Which one?"
Rafe moved.
Daniel caught his arm.
"Not like this."
Victor laughed.
"Exactly like this."
Then the lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the tunnel.
A gun fired.
Another.
Someone screamed.
Rafe felt a hand grab him.
"Run!"
He recognized Anna's voice.
They ran blindly through the corridor.
The tunnel twisted.
Doors opened.
Footsteps followed.
Victor's men shouted behind them.
Rafe slammed through a metal door.
They emerged in an underground parking garage.
A black motorcycle waited beside the elevator.
Rafe stared.
"How did you..."
Anna climbed onto the back.
"I was hoping you'd ask."
Rafe started the bike.
The engine roared.
They shot into the rain.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Anna whispered:
"There's something else."
Rafe gritted his teeth.
"What?"
"I didn't come to find you tonight."
"Then why were you there?"
She hesitated.
"I came to warn you."
"About Victor?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Anna leaned close.
"Your sister."
Rafe nearly lost control of the bike.
"Lena?"
Anna nodded.
"She's looking for you."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Rafe slowed.
"Then how do you know she's alive?"
Anna's voice became barely audible.
"Because she sent me."
Rafe stared ahead.
"Sent you what?"
Anna reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
A recent one.
A young woman standing outside a hospital.
On the back was one sentence.
Tell Elias the fire wasn't the first time they tried to kill us.
Rafe looked at the photograph.
The woman had his eyes.
His scar.
His face.
May you like
Anna whispered:
"She's your twin."
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