Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Never DiedRachel couldn't speak.
Her fingers trembled over the photograph.
“My mother is dead.”
Daniel looked at the date again.
“According to what you were told.”
Rachel shook her head.
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“When I was three.”
“Who raised you?”
“My aunt.”
“Did she ever tell you why?”
Rachel stared at the photograph.
“She said my mother ran away.”
Daniel sat back.
“Did you believe her?”
“I was a child.”
She looked at him.
“You think my aunt lied?”
“I think everyone has lied to us.”
Rachel took the photo.
The woman standing beside Daniel's father was unmistakable.
She was younger.
But the eyes were the same.
Rachel knew those eyes.
She had seen them in childhood pictures.
She had seen them in the mirror.
Her throat tightened.
“Why would my mother be with your father?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Daniel nodded.
“I will.”
He called Victor.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
At dawn, Daniel received a message.
Come to Warehouse 14 alone.
No signature.
Rachel saw it.
“Don't go alone.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She lifted the photograph.
“You're not the only person whose family has secrets.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I don't want you near this.”
“And I don't want someone else deciding what happened to my mother.”
He knew she was right.
An hour later, they arrived at Warehouse 14.
The building had been abandoned for years.
The doors were unlocked.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Rachel spotted a metal cabinet.
She opened it.
Folders.
Hundreds.
Most were medical records.
Some were coded.
Daniel started searching.
Then Rachel found a name.
Morgan, Elise.
Her heart stopped.
“My mother.”
She pulled out the file.
Inside was a photograph.
A patient intake form.
And one sentence:
Transfer authorized under Project Mercy.
Rachel's hands began to shake.
“Daniel.”
He read the file.
“She wasn't a patient.”
“What?”
“She was an employee.”
“What kind?”
Daniel kept reading.
“Clinical systems auditor.”
Rachel frowned.
“My mother worked in hospitals?”
“For years.”
“She never told me.”
“Maybe she wasn't allowed to.”
Rachel turned the page.
There was a second name.
Victor Hale.
Daniel looked up.
“No.”
Rachel whispered, “He knew her.”
“Apparently.”
Then they heard a sound behind them.
A metal door slammed.
Daniel turned.
The warehouse doors had locked.
Rachel grabbed his arm.
“Someone's here.”
A voice came from the dark.
“You should have stopped digging.”
Daniel stepped in front of her.
“Show yourself.”
A figure emerged.
Black coat.
Gloves.
Face covered.
He held a gun.
Rachel's breathing stopped.
Daniel slowly raised his hands.
“Why are you doing this?”
The man laughed.
“You still think this is about the equipment.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What is it about?”
“Control.”
“Who sent you?”
The man looked at Rachel.
“Your wife knows more than she remembers.”
Rachel frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
The masked man pulled something from his pocket.
A childhood photograph.
Rachel's childhood.
She stepped forward.
“How do you have that?”
The man threw it at her.
It landed on the floor.
On the back was a date.
Rachel picked it up.
Then she saw the handwriting.
Her mother's.
If you ever find this, trust Daniel.
Rachel stared at the sentence.
She looked at Daniel.
“Why would my mother write your name?”
The masked man fired.
Daniel shoved Rachel aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Rachel screamed.
Daniel tackled the attacker.
They crashed through a stack of boxes.
The man struck Daniel across the face and ran.
Daniel chased him.
The warehouse doors suddenly unlocked.
The attacker disappeared into the morning fog.
Daniel returned bleeding above his eyebrow.
Rachel stood frozen.
“You're hurt.”
“I'm fine.”
She touched his cheek.
He gently caught her wrist.
“Rachel.”
She looked at him.
“I don't know who to trust.”
Daniel stared into her eyes.
“Then trust what we find.”
She nodded.
For the first time, neither of them mentioned the bruises.
The investigation had become something larger.
Far larger.
That evening, Daniel confronted Victor.
Victor finally agreed to meet.
He arrived alone.
Rachel stood beside Daniel.
Victor looked older than he had that morning.
“You found the file.”
“Yes.”
Victor sighed.
“Then you know about Project Mercy.”
“Not enough.”
“You know about Elise.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“You knew my mother.”
Victor stared at her.
“Yes.”
The word shattered something inside her.
“How?”
Victor's eyes lowered.
“She worked for us.”
“For your family?”
“For your father-in-law.”
Rachel's voice cracked.
“Did he kill her?”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
Victor didn't answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where is Rachel's mother?”
Victor finally spoke.
“She's alive.”
Rachel couldn't breathe.
May you like
Victor looked directly at her.
“And she's been hiding from the Moretti family for seventeen years.”
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