Chapter 8
Nobody moved.
The name remained on the screen.
BENJAMIN CARTER.
Heart rate: 68.
Alive.
Charles stared at it as if the numbers were coming from a ghost.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Bennett picked up the tablet.
“Could the device simply be using an old patient name?”
“Yes,” Charles said immediately.
But his voice lacked conviction.
“Could Jessica be doing that deliberately?” Ryan asked.
“Yes.”
I looked at Charles.
“But you don’t believe that.”
He didn’t answer.
Bennett began issuing orders.
The situation had changed.
Hostages.
Possible armed suspects.
An unknown underground structure.
Potentially another victim who had been hidden for eleven years.
“Emily,” Bennett said, “you stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
It was the first instruction I had agreed to all day.
My body was beginning to betray me.
My incision throbbed.
My head felt light.
My daughter was still in the NICU.
I couldn’t rescue everyone.
But I could stop making decisions from panic.
Charles, however, had already started toward the elevators.
Bennett blocked him.
“Where are you going?”
“To the house.”
“No.”
“My father may be alive.”
“And walking into a hostage scene helps how?”
“He knows the property.”
“So give us everything you know.”
Charles stared at the elevator doors.
Then nodded.
For the next hour, he described the old Carter estate.
Every entrance.
Every hallway.
Every room he remembered.
Police found old architectural plans.
Then older ones.
Then one blueprint from 1968 with a strange notation beneath the wine cellar.
Utility storage.
The dimensions matched the hidden room.
“Your father had a bunker,” Bennett said.
Charles stared.
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“What business was he in during the sixties?”
“Construction.”
“Government contracts?”
“Some.”
“Could the room have been built as a storm shelter?”
“Maybe.”
But his face said he suspected something else.
I sat beside Sophie again.
Ryan remained nearby.
He didn’t speak unless I spoke first.
For once, he understood that silence was the only thing he could give me.
I touched Sophie’s hand.
“Your family is a disaster.”
Ryan gave a broken laugh.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at him.
“Don’t apologize for them.”
“For me, then.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“I believed a lie about you.”
“Yes.”
“I used it to justify another lie.”
“Your affair.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Sophie.
“You could’ve asked me.”
“I know.”
“You could’ve woken me that night.”
“I know.”
“You could’ve called an ambulance.”
“I know.”
“Instead you left.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He swallowed.
“Because part of me wanted you to be guilty.”
The answer surprised me.
“At least you finally said it.”
“I felt insecure. You were happier than me. Better at your work. Your friends loved you. My father respected you even when he pretended he didn’t.”
Charles looked over from the conference table but said nothing.
Ryan continued.
“I always thought eventually you’d realize you married into a family that looked impressive from the outside and rotten from the inside.”
“So when someone gave you evidence I betrayed you…”
“I believed it because it made my fear feel true.”
“And Jessica?”
“She made me feel wanted.”
I looked at him.
“That isn’t love.”
“I know.”
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her you did?”
His silence answered.
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
“I wanted her to stop asking questions.”
“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
Ryan looked down.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“But I want the chance to become someone Sophie deserves.”
I stared at him.
“She may not be biologically yours.”
“I don’t care.”
“You cared when Jessica told you.”
His voice cracked.
“For ten seconds.”
“Ten seconds can destroy a person.”
“I know.”
I looked back at Sophie.
“We’ll see what the test says.”
An independent genetic team had already collected samples.
From me.
Sophie.
Ryan.
Charles.
Police were trying to obtain Daniel’s stored medical DNA through a warrant.
Results would take hours, not days, because of the emergency.
Until then, nobody knew.
A nurse approached.
“Emily, you need to rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
She was right.
I stood too quickly.
The room tilted.
Ryan caught me.
“Sit.”
I hated needing help.
But I sat.
The nurse checked my blood pressure.
“Too low.”
“I’m okay.”
“You lost blood during surgery.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“You don’t have to sleep. Just lie down.”
I agreed to return to my room for thirty minutes.
I never got the thirty minutes.
Ten minutes later, Detective Bennett entered.
“They’re moving.”
I sat upright.
“Who?”
“Jessica.”
“How do you know?”
“Thermal imaging shows several people leaving the old house.”
“Police are already there?”
“Perimeter only.”
“Why not go in?”
“Because we don’t know where the hostages are, and Jessica threatened to kill them if she sees police.”
“Where is she going?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Bennett’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression sharpened.
Then she looked at Charles.
“Does the property have tunnels?”
Charles blinked.
“No.”
“Think.”
“I said no.”
“Two heat signatures disappeared near the west barn.”
Charles stared.
“There was an old drainage line.”
“How large?”
“Large enough for a person.”
“Where does it exit?”
“A creek half a mile west.”
Bennett cursed.
Her team moved immediately.
I grabbed her hand before she left.
“My mother.”
“We’re going to get her.”
“Alive.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Marcus and Daniel too.”
“Yes.”
“And if Benjamin Carter is alive…”
She looked toward Charles.
“We’ll find out.”
Then she left.
For forty-five minutes, I heard nothing.
It was unbearable.
My mother might be running through a tunnel.
Or dying in a bunker.
Sophie might crash again.
Daniel might be her father.
Marcus might be victim or accomplice.
Jessica might escape.
Every possible future seemed worse than the one before it.
Then my phone rang.
Mom.
I answered instantly.
“Mom?”
“Emily!”
She was crying.
But alive.
“Where are you?”
“With police.”
I started sobbing.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“Daniel?”
“With me.”
“Marcus?”
A pause.
“Mom.”
“He went back.”
“What?”
“Marcus went back inside.”
“Why?”
“Benjamin.”
My chest tightened.
“He’s really alive?”
“I saw him.”
Across the room, Charles froze.
“You saw Benjamin Carter?”
“Yes.”
Mom’s voice shook.
“He’s alive.”
Charles sat down hard.
Ryan stared at him.
“How?”
I asked.
Mom began talking fast.
“Jessica took us into the basement. There was a room behind a steel door. He was inside.”
“What condition?”
“Old. Weak. Confused.”
“Who has been keeping him there?”
“We don’t know.”
“Jessica?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
“Jessica seemed shocked too.”
“Then who?”
Mom started crying harder.
“Emily, there was someone else in the house.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom.”
“He wore a mask.”
My skin crawled.
“Jessica was taking orders from him?”
“No.”
“She was afraid of him.”
That changed everything.
Jessica had seemed in control.
Maybe she wasn’t.
“What happened?”
“He came through the basement while Jessica was arguing with Marcus.”
“And?”
“He shot at the ceiling.”
I flinched.
“Did he hurt anyone?”
“No.”
“He ordered Jessica to leave Daniel behind and take Charles when he arrived.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how did you escape?”
“Marcus attacked him.”
My pulse jumped.
“They fought. Daniel got free. I ran.”
“And Marcus stayed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed to get Benjamin out.”
Charles was standing now.
“I’m going there.”
Ryan blocked him.
“No.”
“That’s my father.”
“Police are there.”
“My brother is inside.”
Ryan stopped.
Marcus.
For the first time, Ryan called him what he was.
His brother.
I put Mom on speaker.
“Where is Jessica?”
“We don’t know.”
Bennett’s voice suddenly came through in the background.
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“We recovered Susan and Daniel. They’re being transported to the hospital.”
“What about Jessica?”
“Missing.”
“Marcus?”
“Still inside.”
“The masked man?”
“Still inside.”
“Benjamin?”
“Thermal imaging shows two people in the bunker area.”
“Two?”
“Yes.”
“Marcus and Benjamin?”
“Possibly.”
“Then where’s the masked man?”
“We don’t know.”
My skin prickled.
Bennett continued.
“Our team is entering now.”
The call ended.
Charles looked ready to break.
I had never seen him emotional about his father.
“Did you love him?” I asked.
Charles stared at me.
“What?”
“Benjamin.”
He looked away.
“When I was young.”
“What changed?”
“I learned who he was.”
“Did you hate him?”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
Charles’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
I almost laughed.
For once, those words sounded honest.
A nurse returned with news.
“Sophie is improving.”
My heart lifted.
“Really?”
“Her oxygen requirements are lower.”
I grabbed her hand.
“Thank you.”
“There’s more.”
She smiled.
“If she continues this way, you may be able to hold her tonight.”
I started crying again.
For the first time all day, the tears were not from terror.
Ryan wiped his eyes.
“She can hold her?”
“Yes.”
“Can I?”
The nurse looked at me.
My decision.
I stared at Ryan.
Then Sophie.
“Yes.”
His face broke.
“After me.”
A tiny smile touched the nurse’s face.
“After you.”
Before that could happen, my phone buzzed.
A message from Detective Bennett.
FOUND BENJAMIN ALIVE.
Charles covered his mouth.
Ryan grabbed his father’s shoulder.
Then a second message arrived.
MARCUS IS INJURED BUT CONSCIOUS.
Relief.
Then a third.
MASKED SUSPECT ESCAPED.
I stared at it.
The person who had terrified Jessica was still free.
A minute later, Bennett called.
“What happened?”
“We found Marcus beside Benjamin.”
“Was he shot?”
“No. Head injury.”
“Benjamin?”
“Severely dehydrated, malnourished, but alive.”
“How has he survived eleven years?”
“There are medical supplies and food deliveries in the bunker.”
“Someone has been taking care of him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“We found paperwork.”
My skin prickled.
“What kind?”
“Medical logs.”
“Name?”
“Most are signed with initials.”
“Which initials?”
Bennett paused.
“M.W.”
The room went silent.
My father.
Michael Warren.
I couldn’t breathe.
“No.”
Charles stared at the phone.
Bennett continued.
“We also found a recent photograph.”
“Of who?”
“A man standing beside Benjamin’s bed.”
“How recent?”
“Timestamped three days ago.”
“Who is he?”
Another pause.
“Emily…”
My entire body began shaking.
“We compared the image to photographs of your father.”
I closed my eyes.
“Just say it.”
Bennett did.
“Michael Warren appears to be alive.”
The sentence cracked open thirteen years of grief.
My father.
Alive.
Not a possibility.
Not a theory.
Alive three days ago.
“Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
I couldn’t speak.
Then Bennett added something else.
“There was a second person in the photograph.”
“Who?”
She sent it.
I opened the image.
My father was older.
Gray hair.
Beard.
But unmistakably him.
I stared at his face until tears blurred it.
Then I noticed the woman standing beside him.
Younger than him.
Blonde.
One hand resting on his shoulder.
I knew her too.
Jessica.
My stomach turned.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The resemblance between them was suddenly obvious.
The eyes.
The smile.
The shape of the face.
I looked up at Charles.
“No.”
He saw it too.
Ryan whispered, “What?”
I could barely say the words.
“Jessica isn’t Thomas Monroe’s biological daughter.”
Charles stared at the photograph.
Then at me.
“Oh God.”
Jessica had spent years believing Thomas was her father.
But if the photograph meant what it looked like…
Then she had been lied to too.
And Michael Warren—my father—was not only alive.
He might also be Jessica’s father.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice came through.
Older.
Rougher than I remembered.
But I knew it immediately.
Because some voices live inside a child forever.
“Emily.”
I started sobbing.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then Michael Warren said,
“I’m sorry, baby.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You let me think you were dead for thirteen years.”
“I know.”
“You watched me bury you.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
“I almost died today!”
His voice broke.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Jessica told me.”
I stopped.
“You’ve been talking to Jessica.”
“Yes.”
“Is she your daughter?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
The truth hit harder than I expected.
Jessica was my half sister.
My husband’s mistress.
The woman who destroyed my marriage.
The woman who drove an SUV into me.
My sister.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She doesn’t know.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
“She believes Thomas was her father.”
“Then why were you with her three days ago?”
“She found me.”
“How?”
“Thomas’s files.”
“Dad, where are you?”
“I need you to listen.”
“No. I need you to come here.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the man who kept Benjamin alive is looking for you.”
My blood ran cold.
“You?”
“No.”
“Who?”
My father took a breath.
“The man who created this entire plan.”
“What plan?”
“Your marriage to Ryan.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Jessica separating you.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
My hand instinctively covered my stomach although Sophie was no longer inside me.
“Dad.”
“None of it happened by accident.”
“Who planned it?”
He was silent too long.
“Who?”
May you like
Then my father whispered,
“Ryan’s mother.”
