CHAPTER 22 — THE MAN WHO ESCAPED
The man on the floor was alive.
The bullet had struck the wall beside his head.
Grant helped him sit up.
“Who fired?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Which man escaped?”
The survivor looked at Emily.
“The one who called himself Nathan.”
Emily felt something inside her tighten.
“You also called yourself Nathan when you first entered the clinic.”
“Because I believed I was Nathan.”
“Do you still believe that?”
He touched the side of his head.
“I don’t know what I believe.”
Claire examined a small wound near his hairline.
“There is scar tissue behind his ear.”
Grant looked closer.
“A surgical implant?”
“Possibly.”
The man pulled away.
“You are not cutting into my head.”
Emily crouched in front of him.
“Did they give you Nathan’s memories?”
“I remember you.”
“That was not my question.”
“I remember the first time you fell asleep beside me. I remember you hated the sound of the old clock in the western hall. I remember you once told me you wanted a child who would never learn the Bennett name.”
Emily’s eyes burned.
Those moments had belonged to her and Nathan.
Yet memories were no longer proof.
Grant received an update from the coast guard.
Lydia’s boat had been found drifting near an empty marina.
There was no sign of Lydia or the baby.
Inside the boat, officers found a cloth stained with infant formula and a board invitation addressed to Helena Bennett.
Midnight.
Preston examined the invitation.
“She wants us at the board chamber.”
“It could be a trap,” Claire said.
“It is a trap,” Emily replied. “That does not mean we can avoid it.”
Charles remained near the wall of photographs.
He pulled down the image of the third man.
“I saw him once.”
Emily looked at him.
“When?”
“After the explosion. Helena told me he was a rescue diver.”
“Did he look like Nathan?”
“Not then.”
Preston understood first.
“Helena used reconstructive surgery.”
“And Project Mirror supplied the memories,” Grant added.
Emily looked at the man on the floor.
“Who was the candidate?”
Charles turned the photograph over.
A name was written on the back.
SILAS VALE.
Preston went pale.
Emily noticed.
“You know him.”
Preston stared at the name.
“He was my older brother.”
No one spoke.
Preston sat down slowly.
“My family was employed by the Bennetts. Silas disappeared fourteen years ago after being accused of stealing from Charles.”
Charles shook his head.
“He did not steal anything.”
“Then why did you let everyone believe he did?”
“Because Helena took him.”
Preston’s hands closed into fists.
“All these years, I thought he was dead.”
“He may be.”
Preston looked at the surviving man.
“Or he may be standing in front of us.”
The man’s expression changed.
A memory seemed to move behind his eyes.
“Vale,” he whispered.
Preston approached him.
“What do you remember?”
“A red staircase.”
Preston froze.
Their childhood home had contained a red wooden staircase.
Silas had fallen from it when he was nine.
The surviving man looked at his hands.
“I remember you hiding beneath it.”
Preston stumbled backward.
Only Silas could have known that.
Emily looked at Charles.
“Helena did not create one duplicate.”
Charles understood.
“She created at least two.”
One man had escaped the lighthouse.
Another stood before them carrying memories belonging to Nathan, Nicholas, and Silas.
The board meeting was less than three hours away.
Emily’s phone received a new message.
It contained a photograph of her biological daughter sleeping safely in Lydia’s arms.
Below it were coordinates and one instruction:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT NATHAN.
Emily deleted the message before anyone else could see it.
But when she looked up, Preston was watching her.
“You received something.”
“No.”
“You are a poor liar.”
Emily stepped closer.
“And you are the brother of the man who may have stolen my child.”
Preston looked toward the surviving duplicate.
“Silas would never harm a baby.”
“You do not know what Helena turned him into.”
Preston lowered his voice.
“Neither do you.”
As the others prepared to leave, Emily slipped Vanessa’s data key into her coat.
She intended to meet Lydia alone.
May you like
She did not realize Claire had seen the coordinates reflected on the dark computer screen.
And Claire was already sending them to someone else.
