Chapter 6 - THE GIRL IN THE STATIONShawn stared at the woman.
She couldn't have been older than twenty-eight.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
A scar across her cheek.
But her eyes.
Those eyes looked strangely familiar.
“Who are you?”
She pointed the gun at him.
“Don't come closer.”
Brenda stepped between them.
“Emma.”
The woman looked at Brenda.
“You shouldn't have brought him here.”
“You told me to.”
“No.”
“I had no choice.”
Shawn looked between them.
“You know each other?”
Emma's gun lowered slightly.
“Your sister helped me.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Emma Hart.”
Shawn's chest tightened.
Hart.
Evelyn Hart.
“You're her daughter.”
Emma nodded.
“She was right about everything.”
“Where is she?”
Emma looked away.
“Alive.”
Shawn almost stopped breathing.
“You've seen her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Before Emma could answer, the speakers crackled.
Kane's voice returned.
“Emma.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“You promised.”
Kane laughed softly.
“I promised your mother many things.”
Emma's face hardened.
“She'll die because of you.”
“No.”
Kane sounded almost amused.
“She'll die because your new friend opens that box.”
Shawn looked down.
“What does he want?”
Emma said:
“The list.”
“You know where it is?”
“No.”
“Your mother does.”
“Then we find her.”
Emma shook her head.
“She doesn't know where it is either.”
Shawn frowned.
“Then who does?”
Emma looked at him.
“You.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather hid it inside your memory.”
Shawn stared.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
She stepped closer.
“Do you remember the Christmas before you left home?”
Shawn's expression changed.
He remembered.
He was ten years old.
His grandfather took him outside.
They built a snowman together.
Then his grandfather whispered something.
A number.
Shawn had forgotten it.
Or thought he had.
Emma said:
“He taught you a sequence of numbers.”
Shawn suddenly remembered.
Eight.
Four.
One.
Nine.
“Those were the numbers.”
Emma nodded.
“That's the access code.”
“To what?”
“An account.”
Shawn's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text message appeared.
LOOK UNDER THE STATION PLATFORM.
He looked toward Emma.
“You sent this?”
She shook her head.
Another text.
DO IT NOW. KANE IS LYING.
Shawn moved toward the rear exit.
Emma followed.
Brenda stayed behind.
“Where are you going?”
“Finding out who sent it.”
They slipped beneath the old platform.
A loose plank covered a metal container.
Shawn used the brass key.
Inside was a small hard drive.
And a blood-stained photograph.
The photograph showed Evelyn.
Next to her was another woman.
Shawn stared.
He recognized her.
His mother.
“What the hell?”
Emma took the photograph.
Her face changed.
“That isn't your mother.”
Shawn looked at her.
“It is.”
“No.”
Emma pointed at the woman beside Evelyn.
“Look carefully.”
Shawn did.
The woman looked like Maria.
But the younger he studied the image, the more he noticed differences.
Different chin.
Different nose.
Different eyes.
Shawn whispered:
“Who is she?”
Emma's voice was barely audible.
“My mother.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
Emma lifted her eyes.
“Evelyn was not my mother.”
“Then who was?”
“Kane's daughter.”
Shawn stepped back.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does now.”
Above them, gunfire erupted.
They ducked.
Brenda screamed.
Kane's men had entered the station.
Emma grabbed Shawn.
“Run.”
They crawled deeper under the platform.
Behind them, footsteps thundered.
A voice shouted:
“Find Shawn Miller!”
Another answered:
“We have Brenda!”
Shawn stopped.
“They caught her.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
She pulled him into a narrow maintenance tunnel.
“Your sister knew exactly what would happen.”
Shawn stared.
“You think she betrayed us?”
Emma whispered:
“I know she did.”
Shawn felt the world tilt.
“What?”
Then Brenda's voice came through the tunnel speakers.
“I'm sorry, Shawn.”
His stomach dropped.
“I didn't have a choice.”
May you like
Kane's voice followed.
“Bring him to me.”
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