Chapter 4 - The Name on the Hospital BraceletThe explosion wasn't large.
It was worse than large.
It was precise.
A violent thump beneath the aircraft made the entire cabin jump.
Oxygen masks dropped.
Maya screamed.
I held her against me.
Vincent shouted commands.
His guards moved toward the floor.
"Stop!"
I yelled it before I knew why.
Everyone looked at me.
"The baby."
Vincent turned.
His son's bassinet had shifted.
I saw it before anyone else.
A thin black cable had appeared from beneath the seat.
It was connected to the baby's carrier.
Vincent tore it away.
The baby immediately began to scream.
I shouted, "Put it back."
"Are you insane?"
"It's not hurting him."
"Then why is he screaming?"
"Because you changed it."
Vincent hesitated.
I crawled closer.
The baby reached toward the black disc.
The moment Vincent placed it near the blanket, the child quieted.
Everyone stared.
The guard looked at Vincent.
"Boss..."
Vincent's eyes stayed on me.
"You knew."
"I guessed."
"You keep saying that."
"Because nobody tells me anything."
Something almost like regret crossed his face.
Then he said, "Come here."
I didn't move.
"Leah."
"My name isn't Leah, is it?"
Silence.
Maya looked between us.
Vincent crouched.
"No."
The word landed like a stone.
"Your name was Lena."
I stared at him.
"Lena what?"
He didn't answer.
"You know."
"Yes."
"Tell me."
He looked toward the guards.
"Leave us."
They hesitated.
"Now."
The first-class cabin emptied.
Only three people remained.
Me.
Maya.
Vincent.
And the baby.
Vincent took out the photograph.
"The girl in this photograph isn't you."
I frowned.
"Then who is she?"
"Your mother."
I stared.
"What?"
"That girl is your mother at ten."
My stomach dropped.
I looked again.
The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
The same eyes.
The same scar.
The same hair.
The same expression.
But that meant something impossible.
"What about the woman beside her?"
"My wife."
"Your wife?"
Vincent nodded.
"Elena."
"But my mother is Rachel."
"Rachel was the name she used later."
"Why?"
"Because Elena had to disappear."
"Why?"
Vincent looked toward the ceiling.
"Because she was hunted."
"By the Ravens?"
He nodded.
"What's the Raven?"
"A network."
"Of criminals?"
"Among other things."
"Did they hurt her?"
Vincent didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"They tried."
I looked down at Maya.
"Was she born Lena too?"
Vincent's expression softened.
"No."
"Then who am I?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation scared me more than any answer.
"You were registered under another name."
"Why?"
"Because someone wanted you dead."
My fingers went cold.
"Who?"
Vincent looked at me.
"The people currently trying to hijack this plane."
I thought about the black disc.
"The device is theirs."
"Yes."
"And my mother stole it."
"She stole something much more important."
"What?"
Vincent reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small metal key.
It looked ordinary.
Old.
Scratched.
On the side was one word.
MERCY.
"This belonged to Elena."
"What does it open?"
"A room."
"Where?"
Vincent didn't answer.
Then he looked at Maya.
"Do you remember the house?"
She nodded.
"The secret room."
My skin prickled.
"What secret room?"
Maya hugged her rabbit.
"Mommy told me not to tell."
Vincent looked at her.
"Where is it?"
Maya whispered something.
I couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Behind the wall."
Vincent stood.
"Which wall?"
Maya pointed toward me.
"Leah knows."
I stared.
"I do?"
"Mommy showed you."
I remembered.
A night from three years ago.
My mother had taken my hand.
She pressed it against the kitchen wall.
"Sometimes walls remember things."
I had laughed.
She hadn't.
Then she said:
"If I ever disappear, knock three times here."
My heart started pounding.
I looked at Vincent.
"The wall."
He understood.
"We need to land."
A voice erupted from the cockpit.
"Mr. Moretti, we're descending."
Vincent grabbed the intercom.
"Where?"
The pilot answered.
"Chicago."
I felt relief.
Aunt Celia.
Safety.
Then the pilot added:
"That's what the system says."
Vincent narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"The actual coordinates are different."
He looked at the screen.
The plane wasn't headed toward Chicago.
It was headed north.
Toward Canada.
The navigation display flashed.
DESTINATION: UNKNOWN
Vincent's phone rang again.
He answered.
A child's voice whispered.
"Mister Moretti?"
Vincent froze.
"Who is this?"
"You left us."
His face went white.
The child continued.
"Mommy said you'd come back."
Vincent lowered the phone.
I asked, "Who was that?"
He couldn't answer.
The baby began crying.
Then I heard another sound.
A soft tapping from underneath the floor.
Three taps.
Pause.
Three taps.
Pause.
Three taps.
My mother had taught me that rhythm.
May you like
I looked at Vincent.
"The wall isn't the only place she left a message."
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