Chapter 12 - We returned to the Sterling mansion with every officer available.The house looked different now.
Not because the building had changed.
Because I knew what had been hiding inside it.
Every hallway felt like a trap.
Every closed door felt like a confession.
We searched room by room.
Nothing.
Then Maya stopped outside Charles's study.
“There.”
She pointed toward the wall.
A painting.
An ordinary landscape.
She pushed it aside.
A fingerprint scanner.
The detective used Charles's fingerprint from evidence.
Green light.
The door opened.
Inside was a narrow room.
At the center stood a computer.
And beside it, a chair.
Empty.
A camera was still blinking.
The detective checked the feed.
“Movement in the garage.”
We ran.
The garage door opened.
A black SUV exploded through it.
Police chased.
Daniel shouted,
“Emma!”
The vehicle crashed through the gates.
I saw someone in the back seat.
A young woman.
Dark hair.
Hands tied.
Emma.
“Stop!”
The SUV disappeared into the night.
The detective swore.
“Get every road blocked.”
Daniel collapsed against a car.
“I failed her again.”
Evelyn stood beside him.
“No.”
“She trusted me.”
“She trusted you enough to stay alive.”
I turned.
“What happened twelve years ago?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
“Your mother helped me escape.”
“What about Emma?”
Daniel answered.
“Charles found her.”
I stared.
“He knew she existed?”
“Yes.”
“So why didn't he kill her?”
“Because she inherited something.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Memory.”
I frowned.
Daniel continued.
“Emma saw things.”
“She was a child.”
“She was old enough to remember faces.”
“And Charles?”
“He was terrified she would identify everyone.”
My skin prickled.
“So he kidnapped her.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother hid her.”
Daniel nodded.
“She moved Emma every few years.”
“Until she died.”
“Until we lost contact.”
I stepped back.
“You said she was safe.”
“I believed she was.”
“Because?”
Daniel looked at the garage.
“Because Evelyn found her.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I found her three days ago.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
“She contacted me.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know whom to trust.”
“You could have trusted me.”
“I didn't know you yet.”
A police officer ran toward us.
“Detective!”
“What?”
“We found a vehicle abandoned two miles away.”
“Emma?”
“No.”
He handed over a phone.
“It's hers.”
The screen contained one message.
To Claire.
I opened it.
DON'T COME LOOKING FOR ME.
Then another message appeared.
HE WANTS YOU TO FOLLOW.
I felt sick.
Then a third.
THE MAN YOU THINK IS CHARLES IS NOT CHARLES.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Maya stepped beside me.
“Maybe she means your father.”
“No.”
I looked toward Daniel.
He was staring at the phone.
Then his face changed.
He whispered,
“That's not possible.”
“What?”
He pointed to the last message.
LOOK AT THE MIRROR.
A photograph appeared.
Emma was sitting in a dark room.
A man stood behind her.
His face was partially visible in a mirror.
I zoomed in.
Charles.
I zoomed further.
Something was wrong.
The face in the mirror had a scar.
Charles didn't have a scar.
The detective stared.
“Who is that?”
Daniel whispered,
“Charles's twin brother.”
The room fell silent.
I looked at him.
“Charles has a twin?”
Daniel nodded.
“And everyone thought he died.”
Maya's face went white.
“Peter.”
I looked at her.
“Who is Peter?”
She whispered,
“The man who taught Charles everything.”
Then she looked at the mansion.
“He has been dead for twenty years.”
A police siren sounded outside.
A second later, every light in the house came on.
And a voice came through the speakers.
Not Charles.
A man's voice.
Cold.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Hello, Claire.”
May you like
Then he said,
“Your mother lied about your father.”
