Chapter 6: The Woman Behind the Voice
“Daniel…”
Anna's voice echoed through the hospital speakers.
“I need you to come find me.”
I stood frozen in the middle of the corridor.
Every officer around me was moving, shouting, calling for reinforcements.
I heard none of it.
All I could hear was Anna.
My wife.
Dead for two years.
Speaking to me through the hospital intercom.
“Where is she?” I shouted.
Static answered.
Then Lily's voice returned.
“Daddy…”
“Lily! Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Look around you.”
“I can't see.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is someone with you?”
Silence.
Then Lily whispered:
“Yes.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
A woman's voice answered.
“Someone who loved you very much.”
Anna.
I nearly collapsed.
“Let me talk to her!”
“Daniel.”
The voice was calm.
“Not yet.”
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
“No.”
“You saw me today.”
My mind raced.
The woman from the hospital.
The fake nurse.
The blonde woman.
Anna's voice.
Could it be her?
“Rachel?”
A quiet laugh.
“That's not my name.”
“What is your name?”
Silence.
Then:
“Ask Detective Collins.”
I looked at Collins.
Her face had gone pale.
“You know her?”
Collins didn't answer.
“Detective?”
She slowly lowered her radio.
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
Collins stared at me.
Then whispered:
“Her name is Mara Vale.”
I frowned.
“Who is Mara Vale?”
Collins looked toward the ceiling speakers.
“Anna's private investigator.”
My blood ran cold.
“You said that woman was Anna's investigator.”
“I said she was.”
“What does that mean?”
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“After Anna died?”
Collins nodded.
“Three days after.”
I stared at the speaker.
The voice returned.
“Detective Collins…”
Mara sounded almost amused.
“You still haven't told him the truth.”
Collins clenched her jaw.
“Mara, where is the girl?”
“You know where she is.”
“Bring her back.”
“No.”
“Then we're coming for you.”
A pause.
“You've been coming for two years.”
The line went dead.
I turned toward Collins.
“What the hell is happening?”
She didn't answer.
“Tell me everything.”
“Not here.”
“Tell me now.”
She grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, if Mara has Lily, then we have minutes.”
“Then talk while we move.”
We ran toward the elevator.
Collins pulled out her phone.
“She was hired by Anna to investigate financial fraud.”
“Whose fraud?”
“Your company.”
I stopped.
“My company?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Money transfers.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
“From where?”
“Anna's company.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she discover?”
“She found payments going to shell companies.”
“Owned by whom?”
Collins hesitated.
“Your brother.”
I stared at her.
“Michael?”
“Yes.”
“Then why wasn't he arrested?”
“Because the companies weren't registered under Michael's name.”
“Whose name?”
She looked at me.
“Yours.”
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
“What?”
“Someone created accounts using your identity.”
“How?”
“We don't know.”
“My signature?”
“Forged.”
“My passport?”
“Copied.”
“My bank information?”
“Compromised.”
I felt sick.
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
Seven years.
Before Anna died.
Before Lily was born.
Before I ever suspected anything.
The elevator doors opened.
We ran into the basement.
Police vehicles were moving through the loading area.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Collins pointed toward the old service tunnels.
“According to the intercom signal, Lily's voice came from below.”
“Below?”
“There are abandoned tunnels underneath the hospital.”
I stared at her.
“The red door.”
She nodded.
“Exactly.”
We ran.
The tunnel entrance was behind a maintenance door.
Collins forced it open.
Cold air rushed toward us.
The corridor stretched into darkness.
I pulled out my phone.
The intercom signal had stopped.
Then my phone vibrated.
A text.
Come alone.
Another.
Leave the detective.
Another.
Or Lily dies.
I showed Collins.
She shook her head.
“Don't respond.”
“She's testing us.”
“Exactly.”
We moved deeper into the tunnel.
The walls were covered with old pipes.
Every few meters, there were doors.
Most were rusted shut.
Then I saw it.
Red paint.
At the end of the corridor.
The red door.
My heart pounded.
Collins raised her weapon.
I stepped forward.
“Lily?”
No answer.
I opened the door.
Inside was a small room.
A chair.
A table.
A single lamp.
And Lily.
She was sitting on the chair.
Alive.
Uninjured.
I rushed toward her.
“Daddy!”
I pulled her into my arms.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“I wasn't hurt.”
“Where is the woman?”
Lily pointed toward the corner.
“She left.”
“Where?”
“She said she had to find something.”
“What?”
Lily looked at the table.
There was another envelope.
I picked it up.
My name was written across it.
Again.
Anna's handwriting.
I opened it.
Daniel,
If Mara found Lily before you found this letter, then everything has gone wrong.
I looked at Collins.
She read over my shoulder.
Mara believes she is protecting our daughter. She isn't.
My heart tightened.
She has spent years trying to expose the people who took control of my life. But she doesn't know who the real enemy is.
I read faster.
Do not trust Mara.
Then:
Do not trust Michael.
Then:
And whatever you do, do not trust Detective Sarah Collins.
I stopped.
Collins stared at the page.
“What?”
I slowly turned toward her.
The room became silent.
Lily looked between us.
“Daddy?”
I didn't answer.
Collins took a step backward.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“You knew Anna.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Mara.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the red door.”
“I knew about the investigation.”
“You knew my wife was investigating Michael.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying?”
She swallowed.
“I didn't know who I could trust.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently neither did Anna.”
Collins looked at the letter.
“Daniel…”
“Did you kill my wife?”
Her face changed.
“No.”
“Did you help fake her death?”
“No.”
“Then why did Anna write your name?”
Collins said nothing.
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Because Mommy was scared of her.”
We both turned.
“What?” I asked.
Lily pointed at Collins.
“Mommy said that lady had a secret.”
Collins went pale.
“What secret?”
Lily shook her head.
“She didn't tell me.”
“Lily, what else did Mommy say?”
“She said…”
Lily hesitated.
“Mommy said if Detective Collins ever found us…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“She would know where the second door is.”
Collins stared at the wall.
Then she walked toward it.
“What are you doing?”
She touched the brickwork.
Her fingers stopped at a small metal plate.
She pressed it.
A section of the wall moved.
Behind it was another passage.
A hidden corridor.
I stared at her.
“How did you know that was there?”
She didn't answer.
“Detective?”
She looked at me.
“I didn't.”
“Then how?”
Her eyes filled with something I couldn't identify.
Fear.
Or guilt.
She reached into the opening.
Pulled out a small black box.
On it was written:
A.C.
My wife's initials.
Collins handed it to me.
“Open it.”
Inside was a USB drive.
And a photograph.
I picked up the photograph.
It showed Anna.
But this time she wasn't alone.
She was standing beside a man.
I recognized him immediately.
Michael.
But the date on the photograph made no sense.
It was from twelve years ago.
And Michael looked exactly the same.
No older.
No younger.
Exactly the same.
I stared at Collins.
“What is this?”
She looked at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“That's not Michael.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“That man isn't your brother.”
“Then who is he?”
Collins turned the photograph over.
There was one word written on the back.
Elias.
I looked at the USB drive.
“What's on this?”
“I don't know.”
“Then let's find out.”
I inserted it into my phone adapter.
A video opened.
The screen showed Anna.
Alive.
Sitting in a dark room.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel.”
I stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this, then you finally found the red door.”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“Michael is not your brother.”
My heart shattered.
“He hasn't been your brother for years.”
I stared at the screen.
Then Anna said something that made my entire world collapse.
“Your real brother died when you were nine.”
The video cut to black.
Then a second file appeared.
Its title was:
ELIAS CARTER - SUBJECT 17
I looked at Lily.
Then at Collins.
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly I understood.
Locker 17 wasn't a locker number.
It was a designation.
And whoever Elias was...
he wasn't just impersonating my brother.
He had been part of the plan from the beginning.
My phone buzzed.
One new message.
From Michael.
Now you know who I am.
Another appeared.
But you still don't know who your father was.
Then the final message:
Ask Detective Collins what happened in 2005.
I slowly turned toward her.
May you like
She was staring at me.
And for the first time, Detective Sarah Collins looked like someone who had just realized the past had finally caught up with her.
