Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHSarah raised her weapon.
“Marcus.”
He didn't move.
Daniel looked confused.
“What are you doing?”
Marcus's gun remained steady.
“You lied.”
Daniel laughed nervously.
“About what?”
“Lucy.”
Daniel's face changed.
Sarah noticed.
“What do you know?”
Daniel looked at Leo.
“She wasn't supposed to survive.”
Marcus's jaw clenched.
“You told me she was dead.”
“I believed she was.”
“You saw the report.”
“A fake report.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Who signed it?”
Daniel looked at her.
“You already know.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No. I know the name, not the face.”
Daniel smiled.
“Then you're closer than you think.”
A loud noise came from the corridor.
Someone was coming.
Daniel grabbed Sarah.
Marcus fired.
The bullet hit the wall.
Lights exploded.
Chaos.
Leo grabbed Mia.
“Run!”
They raced through a side corridor.
Doors slammed open around them.
Men shouted.
A red emergency light flashed.
Leo saw a room marked ARCHIVE.
He pulled Mia inside.
Sarah followed.
Marcus remained outside.
The door slammed shut.
They hid behind shelves.
Footsteps passed.
Then silence.
Sarah whispered:
“We need to leave.”
Leo shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“What?”
He pointed at the shelves.
There were files.
Thousands.
Names.
Dates.
Photographs.
He found one.
His mother's name.
ELENA VALE.
Under it:
STATUS: SUBJECT SUPPORT.
Leo opened the file.
Inside was a photograph of his mother holding Lucy as a baby.
Another showed Leo.
Another showed Mia.
Leo's hands shook.
“Mia wasn't supposed to be here.”
Sarah took the file.
“What do you mean?”
Leo read the next line.
“Replacement child.”
Sarah's expression changed.
“What?”
Mia stared.
“I don't understand.”
Sarah kept reading.
“She was assigned to replace Lucy.”
Leo looked at his sister.
“You're not my sister.”
Mia's face collapsed.
“No.”
Sarah continued.
“She was placed with the family after Lucy disappeared.”
Leo remembered.
The little girl in the photograph.
The dark curls.
The bracelet.
Mia had the same bracelet.
Leo felt the world tilt.
“Mia.”
She started crying.
“I didn't know.”
Sarah knelt.
“You are not responsible.”
Mia shook her head.
“I remember something else.”
“What?”
“Lucy.”
Leo stepped closer.
“What about her?”
Mia whispered:
“She wasn't taken away.”
“Then where is she?”
Mia looked toward the archive door.
“She was sleeping.”
Sarah frowned.
“Where?”
Mia pointed at the floor.
“Under us.”
A hidden alarm suddenly began to beep.
Sarah looked up.
“Oh no.”
A red light flashed.
Then a recorded announcement sounded:
“Memory recovery detected.”
The door handle started moving.
Someone was outside.
The announcement continued:
“Initiating containment.”
The door burst open.
A man in a white coat stood there.
May you like
He smiled at Leo.
“You finally remembered.”
