Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN I MARRIEDSarah's gun remained aimed at my chest.
Lily was standing behind her.
My daughter looked confused.
“Mommy?”
Sarah's hand trembled.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared at my wife.
Eight years.
Every breakfast.
Every birthday.
Every night she fell asleep beside me.
Every time she'd said, I love you.
Was all of it a lie?
“Sarah.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted this.”
“You ordered them to kill us.”
“No.”
“The voice said your name.”
“I know.”
“Then what the hell is happening?”
She lowered the gun.
Ethan shouted:
“Don't!”
A shot cracked.
The bullet struck the wall beside Sarah.
She grabbed Lily and ran.
“Sarah!”
I chased them.
Noah followed.
Ethan covered us.
We burst into another chamber.
Sarah slammed the door.
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“You have to listen.”
“Where are you taking Lily?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“There is nowhere safe in this building.”
She looked at me.
“There is one place.”
“Where?”
She whispered:
“The original lab.”
My father's voice came through the intercom.
“Sarah.”
She froze.
“Don't take them there.”
She closed her eyes.
“Too late.”
I realized something.
My father was afraid.
Not angry.
Afraid.
“What's in the original lab?”
Sarah looked at me.
“The truth.”
We moved through a hidden tunnel.
At the end was a small room with a single metal table.
Sarah opened a drawer.
Inside were photographs.
Hundreds.
I picked up the first.
Me.
Twenty years younger.
Beside me was another young man.
David.
My brother.
A baby rested in my arms.
I looked at the photograph.
The date was stamped beneath it.
Sixteen years ago.
I remembered nothing.
Sarah stood beside me.
“That was Noah.”
I looked at her.
“You told me I had never seen him.”
“I was ordered to say that.”
“By my father?”
She nodded.
“And Ethan?”
“Ethan was the scientist who helped you escape.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did you say he was dead?”
“Because everyone who knew he survived was hunted.”
“What about David?”
Sarah swallowed.
“David didn't die in a car accident.”
“What happened?”
“He discovered the program.”
“And?”
“He tried to destroy it.”
I stared at the photos.
“Where is he?”
Sarah's silence answered before her words did.
“He never left the facility.”
I looked at her.
“You said he was dead.”
“He wanted the world to believe that.”
“Is he alive?”
Sarah didn't answer.
The door behind us opened.
A man stepped inside.
He was older than the photograph.
His face was thin.
His eyes were tired.
But I recognized him.
David.
My brother.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Daniel.”
My knees almost failed.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“Barely.”
Lily stared at him.
“Are you my uncle?”
David smiled.
“I've been trying to be.”
Then he turned toward Sarah.
“Did you tell him why we brought Lily here?”
Sarah shook her head.
David's expression changed.
“Then you haven't told him the worst part.”
“What worst part?”
David looked directly at me.
“Lily isn't being hunted because of her blood.”
He paused.
“She is being hunted because of what she remembers.”
I frowned.
“What does a seven-year-old remember?”
David's voice dropped.
“A night that happened before Lily was born.”
A terrible silence filled the room.
Then Lily spoke.
“I remember it.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at me.
May you like
And whispered:
“Daddy was there.”
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