Chapter 9: The Call From Anna
My phone rang again.
ANNA CARTER.
I couldn't move.
Lily was still holding onto my shirt.
Detective Collins stared at the screen.
Neither of us spoke.
The phone kept ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then Collins whispered:
“Don't answer.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because if someone can make your phone display your wife's name…”
She didn't finish.
I already knew.
The fourth ring.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Static.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Deliberate.
“Daniel.”
My knees weakened.
It was Anna's voice.
Again.
“Where is Lily?”
A pause.
“She is with you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I can see you.”
I looked around the room.
Nothing.
“Where are you?”
“You're standing in my old office.”
“Yes.”
“You found the room.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Anna, are you alive?”
Silence.
Then a soft laugh.
“I knew you would ask that first.”
“Because I need to know.”
“No, Daniel.”
Her voice became colder.
“You need to know whether the woman you're talking to is your wife.”
I looked at Collins.
She was already examining the phone.
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
The voice whispered:
“I'm the woman who watched you bury me.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
“I watched you cry.”
My throat tightened.
“I watched you tell Lily that Mommy had gone to heaven.”
I couldn't breathe.
“I watched you put my photograph beside the bed.”
“Where?”
“Where you couldn't see me.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Anna…”
“You weren't supposed to find the room.”
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Are you alive?”
A long silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
The word destroyed me.
I grabbed the table.
Collins stared at me.
“What did she say?”
I couldn't answer.
The voice continued.
“But I'm not the person you need to find.”
“Who?”
“The woman who looks like me.”
My blood ran cold.
“The woman at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Mara?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Her name is Claire.”
Collins suddenly looked up.
“Claire?”
Anna's voice continued.
“She was my sister.”
I froze.
“Anna never had a sister.”
“She did.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
“Then how is she at the hospital?”
“She isn't.”
I looked at Collins.
“What does that mean?”
Anna's voice became almost a whisper.
“Because Claire died before you ever met me.”
I stared at the phone.
“Then who is the woman pretending to be you?”
“She isn't pretending to be me.”
“Then what?”
“She was trained to look like me.”
A chill ran through me.
“For what?”
“To replace me.”
The call suddenly crackled.
I heard another voice.
A man's voice.
“Anna.”
She went silent.
“Who's that?”
No answer.
“Anna?”
The man spoke again.
“Time's up.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Collins immediately took it from me.
“Did you record the call?”
“I don't know.”
She checked.
“It's still recording.”
She played the last few seconds.
The man's voice came through.
“Time's up.”
Collins stopped the recording.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“I know that voice.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Detective.”
She looked toward Lily.
“Your father.”
My blood went cold.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then whose voice is that?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I looked around the room.
The hidden office.
The photographs.
The medical records.
The photographs of Lily.
The picture of Anna holding her.
Everything was connected.
But one question kept burning in my mind.
Why had Anna let me believe she was dead?
“Daddy?”
I looked down.
Lily was staring at me.
“Mommy called.”
“Yes.”
“Is she coming home?”
I swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Lily's face fell.
Then she reached into her pocket.
“Mommy gave me this.”
She handed me a small folded paper.
I opened it.
There were three words.
ASK ABOUT THE BABY.
I frowned.
“What baby?”
Lily shrugged.
“I don't know.”
Collins took the note.
Her expression changed.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
She pointed to the bottom.
There was a hospital stamp.
From seventeen years ago.
The same hospital.
Same building.
Same basement.
I looked at Lily.
Then at the photograph of Anna holding a newborn.
“Lily was born eight years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So what's this?”
Collins turned the paper over.
There was another sentence.
The first child was never Lily.
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Collins didn't answer.
I grabbed the old medical file from the table.
It had Anna's name on it.
Pregnancy records.
Delivery records.
Then something strange.
The file listed two pregnancies.
The first one:
2006.
The second:
2018.
I stared at it.
Anna had only ever told me about one pregnancy.
Lily.
“What happened in 2006?”
Collins looked through the papers.
“There's no birth certificate.”
“No child?”
“No.”
“Then why is there a pregnancy record?”
She flipped through another page.
“Because someone was born.”
“Who?”
The name was blacked out.
Only one word remained.
SUBJECT 17.
I felt sick.
“That's Lily's designation.”
“Yes.”
“Then who was the first child?”
“We need the original records.”
“Where?”
Collins looked toward the hidden corridor.
“The hospital archive.”
We left the room.
But before we could reach the hallway, Lily grabbed my hand.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“Don't go downstairs.”
“Why?”
She pointed toward the red door.
“Mommy said the basement is where they keep the people who aren't supposed to exist.”
I stared at her.
“What people?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then she whispered:
“But I saw one.”
“Who?”
“A little boy.”
My heart stopped.
“What little boy?”
“He looks like you.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where did you see him?”
Lily pointed toward the wall.
“Behind there.”
Collins immediately moved toward the wall.
“There is nothing there.”
Lily shook her head.
“It's behind the wall.”
We searched.
Nothing.
Then Collins noticed a loose brick.
She pulled it.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was a child's photograph.
I took it.
The boy was around nine years old.
Dark hair.
Same eyes as mine.
Same face.
I knew him.
Elias.
But something was wrong.
The photograph had been taken recently.
The timestamp on the digital print read:
August 8, 2026.
Three days ago.
My hands started shaking.
“That's impossible.”
Collins stared at the photograph.
“He's alive.”
I couldn't speak.
Then my phone buzzed.
Another message.
Michael.
You wanted the truth.
Another.
Here it is.
Then:
Elias is alive.
My heart exploded.
I stared at the photograph.
Another message arrived.
And he knows what you did.
I typed:
Where is he?
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Finally:
Ask Anna.
I looked at the phone.
“Anna.”
The screen lit up.
Incoming call.
ANNA CARTER.
I answered.
“Where is Elias?”
Silence.
Then Anna whispered:
“Under the hospital.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
“He has been there for twenty-one years.”
“Why?”
“Because he saw the wrong thing.”
“What did he see?”
She took a breath.
“Your father killing someone.”
I stared at Collins.
“What?”
“Who did he kill?”
Anna's voice broke.
“Your mother.”
I stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“No, Daniel.”
Her voice became urgent.
“Your mother didn't die in 2005.”
My heart stopped.
“She escaped.”
“Where is she?”
Anna whispered:
“She became Detective Sarah Collins.”
The call ended.
I turned slowly toward Collins.
She was standing completely still.
Her face was pale.
“Is it true?”
She didn't answer.
“Are you my mother?”
Silence.
“Detective?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Then she whispered:
“Yes.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Collins stepped toward me.
“Daniel…”
I backed away.
“No.”
“I never wanted you to know this way.”
“You're my mother?”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead?”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I shook my head.
“Then why did Anna say you were dangerous?”
Collins looked toward Lily.
“Because Anna didn't know the whole truth.”
“What truth?”
She swallowed.
“Your father wasn't the only person involved.”
“Who else?”
She looked directly at me.
“Anna.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your wife didn't discover this conspiracy.”
Collins' voice trembled.
“She helped create it.”
Before I could respond, every light in the house went out.
A door slammed downstairs.
Then a man's voice echoed from the basement.
“Daniel.”
Michael.
“Bring your mother.”
A pause.
“It's time for the family reunion.”
And from somewhere beneath the floor came another sound.
A child crying.
A boy.
Then a voice I hadn't heard since I was nine years old.
“Daniel…”
My brother.
Elias.
May you like
“Please…”
“Don't let them take me again.”
