The emergency lights came on one by one.
Red.
Dim.
Unsteady.
Ortiz drew her weapon.
“Everyone stay together.”
The receptionist was crying.
“I don't know what's happening.”
My mother looked at her.
“Where is the basement?”
The woman pointed toward a service corridor.
“Down there.”
We moved quickly.
The corridor ended at a freight elevator.
The doors were already open.
Someone had called it.
My father stared into the darkness.
“This is a trap.”
“Probably,” Ortiz said.
“Then why are we getting in?”
“Because your family has spent twenty-six years leaving clues for people to find.”
She stepped inside.
We followed.
The elevator descended.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Then the display went blank.
The elevator continued.
My mother gripped my hand.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired of everyone deciding what I should know.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A long concrete corridor stretched ahead.
At the far end, a woman waited.
She was old.
Thin.
Her silver hair fell around her shoulders.
She was seated in a wheelchair.
My father stopped breathing.
“Clara.”
The woman looked at him.
“You grew older.”
He stepped toward her.
“So did you.”
She smiled.
“I wasn't supposed to.”
My mother began crying.
Clara looked at her.
“You came back.”
“I never stopped looking.”
“You did.”
My mother lowered her head.
Clara turned toward me.
“And this must be Lena.”
I nodded.
“You know me.”
“I know everything.”
The words made my stomach tighten.
“Who are you?”
Clara smiled.
“Your aunt.”
I stepped closer.
“Anna called me little sister.”
“She was trying to frighten you.”
“Where is she?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Clara looked toward my father.
“Ask him.”
My father shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Clara sighed.
“Then you still don't remember.”
“What?”
“The night Richard took you.”
My father frowned.
“I wasn't taken.”
“Yes, you were.”
She looked at me.
“Your father was never the person who disappeared voluntarily.”
My mother closed her eyes.
Clara continued.
“Richard kidnapped Elias after learning that he had discovered the final account.”
“What account?”
“The Mercer reserve.”
I knew the term from the files.
“What's in it?”
“Control.”
That wasn't an answer.
Clara smiled.
“Everything Richard wanted to own.”
She reached toward a small table.
There was a black envelope.
She handed it to me.
“Open it.”
Inside was a list.
Not financial records.
Names of people Richard had blackmailed.
Judges.
Investigators.
Politicians.
Military officers.
Journalists.
Then I saw one name.
Commander Helen Ward.
I looked at Clara.
“She was compromised.”
“Yes.”
“Did she work for Richard?”
“No.”
“Then why is she here?”
“Because Richard threatened her family.”
I thought about Ward's behavior.
The hesitation.
The secrecy.
The recording.
She hadn't been protecting the network.
She had been trapped inside it.
“Where is she now?”
Clara smiled.
“Probably trying to rescue you.”
My father looked toward the corridor.
“We need to leave.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard wants you to leave.”
My mother stared.
“He's here.”
Clara nodded.
“He has been here all morning.”
A door opened behind us.
Captain Vale walked in.
Alive.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Lena.”
Ortiz raised her weapon.
“Drop yours.”
Vale smiled.
“You still believe you control this?”
He wasn't carrying one.
That made it worse.
A second man entered behind him.
Richard.
He looked tired.
But alive.
He held no weapon either.
“Enough,” Richard said.
My father stepped forward.
“You killed Vale.”
“No.”
“Then whose body?”
Richard looked at him.
“An unfortunate substitute.”
I felt sick.
“You killed someone else.”
“He volunteered.”
“That doesn't make it better.”
Richard looked at me.
“You have the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
He looked toward Clara.
“She has been filling your head with stories.”
Clara laughed.
“Stories?”
Richard's face hardened.
“You were always difficult.”
“You were always cruel.”
He ignored her.
“Lena, your mother lied to you. Your father lied to you. Daniel lied to you. I am the only person who can tell you the whole truth.”
I laughed.
“You've spent twenty-six years lying.”
“I lied to keep the family alive.”
“Which family?”
He pointed toward my father.
“Ours.”
My father shook his head.
“I'm not yours.”
Richard's expression changed.
“You are my son.”
“And Lena?”
Richard looked at me.
“She is the reason you all survived.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother was pregnant when Elias disappeared.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“She was pregnant with twins.”
My mother went white.
I couldn't speak.
Richard smiled.
“One child was Lena.”
He looked toward the corridor.
“The other was Anna.”
My heart stopped.
My father whispered, “That's impossible.”
Richard shook his head.
“Daniel falsified the birth records.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Richard.”
“You want the truth?”
He looked at me.
“Anna is your sister.”
I turned toward my mother.
She was crying.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Richard would have used her against you.”
Richard laughed.
“Exactly.”
Vale stepped forward.
“You should ask where Anna is now.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
He smiled.
“She's already inside this building.”
A loud crash came from above.
Then another.
Someone was fighting.
Clara looked toward the elevator.
“She came back.”
My mother whispered, “Anna.”
Richard suddenly moved toward me.
My father blocked him.
The room erupted.
Ortiz tackled Vale.
Clara shouted.
My mother grabbed my arm.
We ran toward the service corridor.
At the far end, a woman appeared.
She looked exactly like the photograph.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Older than me by a few minutes.
She looked at me.
“Lena.”
I stopped.
She smiled.
“I'm sorry.”
Then she raised a small device.
Every light in the facility went out.
Click here to continue reading: PART 16: My Sister Finally Stood Beside Me, but the Evidence She Carried Revealed the Person Who Had Started This War
The Night the Locked Door Opened and Everything I Thought I Knew About My Family Changed
Part 15 of 20
