Chapter 4 - The first thing Ethan said was:“No.”
Rowan stared at the screen.
“Your father died fourteen years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Funeral?”
“I attended it.”
“Body?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Yes.”
Ava looked at him.
“You're not sure.”
“My mother handled everything.”
Rowan exchanged a glance with another investigator.
Then he said:
“That's the problem.”
Ethan sat down.
“You think my father is alive?”
“We think someone wants you to believe he is.”
The mansion suddenly felt colder.
Ava looked toward the staircase.
Every shadow seemed occupied.
Every room seemed to have another door behind it.
Rowan reopened the safe.
“There are forty-three files here.”
“About whom?”
“Different people.”
He held up photographs.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Accountants.
Politicians.
Business owners.
And ordinary people.
Some were marked:
ACTIVE
Others:
TERMINATED
One file was labeled:
CLAIRE HART
Ava's hands shook.
“Open it.”
Inside were medical records.
DNA reports.
Photographs.
A psychological evaluation.
Then a final page.
Ava read it.
Her face went blank.
“What does it say?”
She looked at Ethan.
“It says Claire survived the accident that killed her.”
Ethan stood.
“Your sister's death wasn't an accident?”
Ava slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Rowan took the document.
“According to this, Claire was declared dead after a hospital fire.”
Ava remembered.
Twelve years ago.
A small private clinic.
A fire at 3:17 in the morning.
Her family told her Claire had been inside.
No body was recovered.
Only dental records.
Rowan frowned.
“There is no official death certificate.”
Ava looked at him.
“What?”
“The record inside this file is forged.”
“Then Claire…”
“Could still be alive.”
Ava's heartbeat accelerated.
The photograph of the woman at the motel appeared in her mind.
Same face.
Same scar.
Same eyes.
She had been telling the truth.
Someone wanted Ava to believe her sister was dead.
But why?
Then Lena entered the room carrying her phone.
“I found something.”
Everyone turned.
She opened a video.
A security recording from the estate.
The footage showed Margaret speaking to someone in the greenhouse.
The man's back was to the camera.
Lena paused.
“Look at his hand.”
The black compass ring.
Ava leaned closer.
Then the man turned slightly.
His profile was visible.
Ethan's face changed.
“That's him.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
Ava stared.
“Who is your father?”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Daniel Hale.”
Rowan searched the database.
“Daniel Hale died fourteen years ago.”
“Apparently not.”
The video continued.
Daniel handed Margaret an envelope.
Margaret opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
The camera couldn't capture it clearly.
But the detective enhanced the frame.
Ava gasped.
The photograph showed Ava sitting in the wheelchair.
Taken that morning.
Inside the house.
From the second floor.
Someone had been watching.
“Who took that photo?”
Rowan looked at the security system.
“Your cameras have been compromised.”
Ethan turned.
“Since when?”
“Months.”
Ava whispered:
“The crash.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The cameras at the intersection.”
She remembered flashing lights.
Rain.
The black SUV.
Ava's hands tightened around the blanket.
“There was a red traffic light.”
Rowan frowned.
“What?”
“I stopped.”
“You stopped?”
“Yes.”
“The car behind me was honking.”
“Then what?”
Ava closed her eyes.
“The light changed.”
“To green?”
“No.”
Silence.
“It stayed red.”
She opened her eyes.
“But my car moved.”
Ethan stared.
“You weren't driving?”
“I was.”
“Then how?”
Ava's voice shook.
“Someone remotely started the car.”
Rowan immediately called a technician.
Thirty minutes later, the answer came.
The vehicle had been equipped with a remote ignition module.
Someone had accessed it from another device.
The technician traced the signal.
One location.
A private clinic.
The same clinic where Claire was supposedly killed twelve years earlier.
Ava stared at the address.
“I know that place.”
Rowan nodded.
“So do we.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What's there now?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“The building was demolished eight years ago.”
Ava shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“I was there three months ago.”
“How?”
“A doctor sent me.”
“Which doctor?”
Ava tried to remember.
The name.
The face.
The letter.
Then it came back.
“Dr. Bennett.”
Rowan froze.
“What did you say?”
“Dr. Arthur Bennett.”
Rowan looked at Ethan.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Dr. Bennett died eleven years ago.”
Ava's blood ran cold.
Again.
Dead people.
Again.
False deaths.
Again.
People appearing from graves.
Then a phone rang.
Not Ethan's.
Not Rowan's.
Ava's.
An unknown number.
She answered.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
“You finally opened the safe.”
Ava couldn't breathe.
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then:
“Ask your father.”
The call ended.
Ava stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
A single photograph.
It showed Daniel Hale standing outside the hospital.
May you like
Watching Ava's room.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
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