Chapter 6 - The Sister Who Wasn't DeadCassidy sat in her father's old office until sunrise.
She had searched every digital archive.
Nothing.
Every public record.
Nothing.
Lily Ellison had supposedly died at age four.
The official cause was drowning.
A private lake accident.
Cassidy had been six.
She remembered the funeral.
But only fragments.
A white coffin.
Her mother's shaking hands.
Her father refusing to speak.
And Diane Morrison standing behind them.
Cassidy stared at the photograph again.
Arthur entered with two cups of coffee.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing public.”
“Then we look where public records aren't.”
He placed a file on the desk.
“Private medical records from 2003.”
Cassidy opened it.
There was a pediatric admission.
Female child.
Age four.
No name.
Transferred to a private hospital owned by Morrison Global's original medical subsidiary.
The discharge name had been altered.
Cassidy looked at Arthur.
“Lily.”
“We don't know.”
“She disappeared the same month.”
“There is more.”
Arthur turned the page.
A signature appeared.
Diane Morrison.
Cassidy's stomach twisted.
“She took my sister.”
“We don't have proof.”
“Then find it.”
Arthur nodded.
A knock came.
Daniel entered.
“We found Adrian Vale.”
Cassidy stood.
“Where?”
“Not physically.”
Daniel placed a photograph on the desk.
A surveillance image from a gas station.
An older man exiting a vehicle.
Cassidy stared.
“He's alive.”
Daniel nodded.
“And he's in the city.”
“Where?”
“Near the old Morrison estate.”
Cassidy felt a strange calm settle over her.
“Take me there.”
Arthur objected.
“You're pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Then you're not going.”
Cassidy looked at him.
“Arthur.”
He stopped.
“Someone kidnapped my sister twenty-two years ago.”
Her eyes hardened.
“I am going.”
The old estate stood beyond the city.
It had been abandoned for years.
Cassidy entered through the side gate.
Dust covered everything.
But the basement door had fresh scratches.
Daniel examined the lock.
“Recently opened.”
Cassidy descended.
At the bottom was a hallway.
Three doors.
The first was empty.
The second contained old medical equipment.
The third was locked.
Daniel forced it open.
Inside was a child's bedroom.
A yellow bed.
A faded rabbit.
A drawing taped to the wall.
Two girls holding hands.
One had brown hair.
The other had dark hair.
At the bottom was written:
Cassidy + Lily.
Cassidy covered her mouth.
She walked forward.
On the desk sat a cassette recorder.
She pressed play.
A woman's voice began.
Diane.
“We can't keep her here.”
Another voice answered.
Adrian Vale.
“She knows too much.”
“She is four.”
“She knows enough.”
Cassidy's blood turned to ice.
Then another voice.
Victor Morrison.
“I promised Nathaniel she would be protected.”
Diane replied.
“You promised too much.”
Victor said:
“Take her and make sure Cassidy never learns the truth.”
The recording stopped.
Cassidy stared at the machine.
Arthur whispered:
“That confirms it.”
“No.”
Cassidy looked toward the bedroom.
“This is only the beginning.”
A door slammed upstairs.
Daniel drew his weapon.
Footsteps crossed the floor above.
Fast.
They ran.
By the time they reached the main hall, the intruder was gone.
But something had been left behind.
A single envelope.
Cassidy opened it.
Inside was a recent photograph.
A woman in her thirties.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A scar near her left eyebrow.
Cassidy stared at the face.
It was like looking into a mirror from another life.
On the back:
Her name is Lily Vale.
Cassidy's knees nearly gave out.
Arthur caught her arm.
“Cassidy.”
A phone rang.
This time it was Brendan.
She answered.
Silence.
Then he whispered:
“Don't go looking for her.”
Cassidy's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because she's not the person you think she is.”
“Where is she?”
Brendan took a breath.
Then said:
“She knows what you did.”
“What did I do?”
He hung up.
Cassidy stared at the phone.
Arthur asked:
“What does he mean?”
Cassidy looked back at the photograph.
“I don't know.”
Then her baby kicked.
Hard.
And suddenly Cassidy realized something.
The child in the photograph wasn't just her sister.
Lily was wearing a necklace.
A small silver pendant Cassidy recognized immediately.
It had belonged to their mother.
May you like
And Cassidy had seen that same necklace three months ago.
Around Jessica's neck.
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