Chapter 4 - Julian didn't think.He moved.
One hand around Noah.
The other grabbed Mara.
Arthur groaned from the floor.
“Back door,” he gasped.
Julian dragged Mara toward it.
Another shot tore through the office.
Glass exploded behind them.
They slammed through the emergency exit.
The alley was dark.
Rain had begun falling.
Mara stumbled.
Julian caught her.
“Keep moving.”
“But Arthur—”
“He's alive.”
They ran.
Behind them, footsteps echoed.
Three men.
Maybe four.
Julian knew they couldn't outrun them.
He pulled Mara behind a parked delivery truck.
“Stay here.”
“What are you doing?”
“Getting us a car.”
“You'll get yourself killed.”
Julian looked at her.
“Then don't make me come back for you.”
He ran.
Mara crouched in the darkness with Noah.
The baby was awake.
Strangely quiet.
His tiny hand reached toward her face.
She touched his fingers.
A memory flashed.
Her own hospital room.
Her pregnant belly.
A nurse leaning over her.
A sentence:
Your son didn't make it.
Then another voice.
A man's voice.
Cold.
That's not your son anymore.
Mara gasped.
A shadow moved across the alley.
She held Noah tighter.
A man stepped around the truck.
She backed away.
“Where is Julian?”
She said nothing.
The man raised a gun.
Then Noah began crying.
The man's face changed.
“Give me the baby.”
Mara ran.
She sprinted toward the street.
The man followed.
Headlights appeared.
A car screeched to a stop.
Julian jumped out.
“Get in!”
Mara threw herself into the passenger seat.
Julian accelerated.
The gunman fired twice.
The rear window shattered.
They disappeared into traffic.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Julian asked:
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He looked at Noah in the rearview mirror.
“Is he?”
Mara checked him.
“He's okay.”
Julian exhaled.
Then his phone rang.
Arthur.
Julian answered immediately.
“Arthur?”
A weak voice replied.
“Listen carefully.”
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“What happened?”
“They knew I had the file.”
“Who?”
“Your father built Project Mercer.”
Julian's grip tightened.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“Not the project.”
Arthur coughed.
“They continued it.”
“Who?”
“The foundation.”
Julian glanced at Mara.
“Evelyn?”
Arthur didn't answer.
“Arthur.”
“She found out.”
“About what?”
A pause.
“Your wife wasn't your son's biological mother.”
Julian slammed the brakes.
The car swerved.
Mara cried out.
“What?”
Arthur continued.
“She couldn't have children.”
Julian stared ahead.
“No.”
“Evelyn discovered the truth after the baby was born.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she was already being watched.”
Julian's voice cracked.
“Then whose baby is Noah?”
Arthur's answer came quietly.
“Yours.”
Julian's chest tightened.
“And the mother?”
Arthur looked as though he was struggling to stay conscious.
“The girl beside you.”
Mara stopped breathing.
Julian looked at her.
Arthur continued:
“Her name is not Mara Ellis.”
Mara shook her head.
“No…”
Arthur's voice became faint.
“She was registered under a different name after the hospital took the child.”
Julian asked:
“What name?”
Arthur answered.
“Marissa Bell.”
Mara froze.
That was the name on the hospital bracelet she had found in a box years ago.
The name she had always been told belonged to a woman who died before she was born.
Arthur whispered:
“Your sister was Elise Bell.”
Julian felt the pieces collide.
Mara wasn't the sister of Evelyn Mercer by accident.
Evelyn had been Elise Bell.
She had changed her name.
Marissa had been erased.
Her baby had been taken.
And Julian had unknowingly raised him.
“Arthur,” Julian said.
No response.
“Arthur?”
Silence.
The line went dead.
Mara stared at Julian.
“So I'm his mother?”
Julian couldn't answer.
She looked at Noah.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I knew him.”
“What?”
“I've seen him before.”
“Where?”
“In my dreams.”
She touched his cheek.
“I thought they were nightmares.”
She looked at Julian.
“They weren't.”
A memory came back.
A hospital corridor.
A newborn crying.
A woman standing over her.
Evelyn.
Her sister.
Holding the baby.
And saying:
I'm sorry. But if he stays with you, they'll kill him.
Mara gasped.
Julian watched her.
“What did you remember?”
Mara looked terrified.
“My sister saved him.”
“From whom?”
She stared at him.
“From your family.”
Julian's phone vibrated.
An incoming video.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A live image appeared.
His house.
His private bedroom.
Someone had entered.
Then the camera turned.
A woman stood in the nursery.
Alive.
Smiling.
Julian nearly dropped the phone.
Mara looked at the screen.
The woman whispered:
“You shouldn't have brought her back.”
Julian knew that face.
His wife's face.
But his wife was dead.
The woman smiled wider.
“Hello, Julian.”
May you like
And then she looked directly at Mara.
“Hello, little sister.”
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