Chapter 4 - THE EMPTY HALLWAYI screamed her name.
“EMILY!”
Daniel ran toward the side corridor.
My mother collapsed into a chair.
Rebecca looked horrified.
The gray-suited man was already moving.
“How long?”
“Seconds,” I said.
He checked the doors.
“Someone knew exactly where to take her.”
That sentence made me stop.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
We ran.
The hallway behind the chapel was narrow and empty.
A row of bridal portraits hung on one wall.
The emergency lights flickered.
Then I saw Emily's shoe.
A tiny white shoe lying near the service entrance.
I picked it up.
“Emily!”
Nothing.
Then I heard a muffled sound.
A storage room.
I kicked the door open.
Empty.
Only boxes.
And a wedding veil hanging from a metal hook.
Rebecca stopped behind me.
“That isn't…”
“What?”
She looked at the veil.
“It belonged to Sarah.”
I stared at her.
“Why would my dead wife's veil be here?”
She didn't answer.
Elias crouched near the floor.
“There.”
He pointed.
A strip of white ribbon.
Then another.
Someone had pulled them from Emily's dress.
“They took her through here.”
We followed a hidden corridor behind the storage shelves.
At the end was a staircase.
It led beneath the chapel.
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
“This place has a basement?”
“I've never seen it.”
Rebecca was trembling.
“You weren't supposed to know about this.”
I turned on her.
“You knew?”
She looked away.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my father uses it.”
“For what?”
She was silent.
Then Elias said:
“Records.”
We reached the basement.
Rows of filing cabinets filled the room.
Old documents.
Photographs.
Medical files.
Legal files.
Adoption records.
Names.
Dates.
Families.
I saw my own name on three folders.
Then Sarah's.
Then Emily's.
My hands shook as I opened hers.
Inside was a photograph of Emily taken when she was four.
She was standing beside Sarah.
But Sarah looked different.
Healthier.
Younger.
Alive.
The date on the photo was one year after Sarah's supposed death.
I couldn't breathe.
“Who took this?”
Elias answered:
“Your father.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because he was still alive.”
I closed my eyes.
Everything I believed about my family was collapsing.
Then Daniel shouted.
“Andrew!”
I turned.
He was standing beside a locked cabinet.
On the cabinet door was a handwritten label.
PROJECT EVE.
Below it was another name.
EMILY BENNETT.
I opened it.
Inside was a thick stack of documents.
The first page had one sentence:
Subject is genetically linked to the Bennett family and possesses evidence of unauthorized inheritance transfer.
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Elias took the file.
“It means your daughter may be the reason someone wanted Sarah dead.”
I looked at Rebecca.
“Did you know?”
She began crying.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before we met.”
My stomach twisted.
“You came into my life knowing this?”
“I came into your life because I was trying to stop it.”
“Stop what?”
Rebecca reached for my hand.
Before I could respond, a voice came through a speaker hidden in the ceiling.
My father's voice.
Calm.
Cold.
Almost amused.
“Andrew.”
I froze.
The voice continued.
“You should never have opened that file.”
Rebecca looked terrified.
Then the voice said:
“And now that you've seen it, there is no wedding to stop.”
A pause.
May you like
Then:
“There is only a funeral.”
