Chapter 13 - The Woman Who Started It AllSarah couldn't accept it.
“My grandmother?”
Vale said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Elizabeth looked at him.
“You knew.”
Vale nodded.
“Your grandmother founded the first network.”
Sarah felt sick.
“Why?”
“To survive.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you know what came before.”
Vale opened a hidden drawer in the basement wall.
Inside were old documents.
Older than the Directorate.
Older than Vale.
Older than Frank.
Sarah picked up the oldest one.
It was signed by her grandmother.
MARGARET MITCHELL.
Underneath was a list of names.
Banks.
Politicians.
Judges.
Military officials.
And a handwritten note.
CONTROL THE INFORMATION, CONTROL THE WAR.
Sarah looked up.
“My grandmother created the network.”
“Yes,” Vale said.
“And Frank tried to destroy it.”
“Yes.”
“And Michael tried to expose it.”
“Yes.”
Sarah turned toward Elizabeth.
“And you?”
Elizabeth's face was exhausted.
“I tried to take you out.”
Sarah frowned.
“You failed.”
“No.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“I succeeded.”
Sarah stared.
“What?”
“Sarah Mitchell was supposed to be a cover identity.”
She pointed to the documents.
“The real child was removed from the project.”
Sarah felt cold.
“You mean me?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to another file.
Inside was a photograph.
A baby.
The same face as Sarah.
But the name beneath it was different.
ANNA MITCHELL.
Sarah stared.
“Who is Anna?”
Elizabeth whispered:
“You.”
Sarah couldn't speak.
“Then Sarah…”
“Was the cover name.”
“Anna was your original name.”
Sarah's mind raced.
“Why hide my real identity?”
“Because Margaret wanted to control you.”
“How?”
“By making everyone believe Sarah Mitchell was the daughter of Frank.”
Elizabeth looked at Vale.
“And Frank helped me steal you.”
Sarah stared at her mother.
“You stole me?”
“We saved you.”
“From my grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“And Michael?”
“Michael stayed behind.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the project.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Memory returned.
A little boy holding her hand.
Michael.
A red door.
He had whispered:
Run when the lights go out.
She remembered.
The night of the fire.
Michael had stayed behind.
Frank had taken her.
Vale had arranged the escape.
Cutter had helped.
Hank had watched the road.
Everyone had lied.
But not everyone had betrayed her.
Sarah opened her eyes.
“Where is my grandmother's archive?”
Vale looked at her.
“You already found it.”
“The notebook?”
“No.”
He pointed to Sarah's chest.
“Your memories.”
Suddenly Sarah understood why the first archive and second archive had always seemed connected.
The first archive was physical.
The second was biological.
But there was a third.
A final set of memories.
Margaret's.
Transferred to Sarah before the facility burned.
Sarah remembered her grandmother.
Not as an old woman.
As a younger woman.
Cold.
Brilliant.
Terrified.
And saying:
If the child survives, she must never know who she is.
Sarah opened her eyes.
“I remember everything.”
Vale looked afraid.
“What did you see?”
Sarah smiled.
“My grandmother's final order.”
“What order?”
Sarah stepped forward.
“She didn't want to control the Directorate.”
Vale's smile disappeared.
“She wanted to destroy it.”
Silence.
“She created the entire system so she could dismantle it when the right person appeared.”
“Who?”
Sarah looked at herself.
“Me.”
A gunshot erupted.
Vale fell backward.
Dale Cutter stood behind him.
But Cutter wasn't aiming at Vale.
He was aiming at Sarah.
He lowered the gun slowly.
“I'm sorry.”
Sarah stared.
“Why?”
Cutter looked at Hank.
Then at Frank.
Then at Sarah.
“Because your grandmother's final order wasn't to destroy the Directorate.”
He raised the weapon again.
May you like
“It was to destroy you.”
THE SECOND ARCHIVE
