CHAPTER 27 — THE MEMORY ROOM
Grant forced the man to his knees.
Emily searched the house.
Her daughter was not there.
“Where did you take her?” Grant demanded.
The man stared at Emily.
“I brought her to the memory room.”
Silas reacted to the phrase.
“There was a room below Bennett House East.”
Charles shook his head.
“We searched the entire property.”
“No,” Silas said. “You searched the medical levels. The memory room was beneath the water system.”
The duplicate closed his eyes.
“They put us there after every procedure.”
“Us?” Emily asked.
“Nathan. Nicholas. Silas. Me.”
“If you are not one of them, who are you?”
“I do not know.”
Preston stepped toward him.
“You must have had a name before Helena gave you theirs.”
The man looked at Preston.
“I remember your father.”
Preston’s anger sharpened.
“My father died before Silas disappeared.”
“He did not die in the accident.”
Preston grabbed the man’s shirt.
“What did you say?”
“He worked for Helena. He selected Mirror candidates.”
Silas covered his face.
A buried memory surfaced.
“He brought me to the clinic.”
Preston released the duplicate.
Their father had not lost one son.
He had surrendered him.
Emily refused to let the revelation distract her.
“My daughter.”
The duplicate looked at her.
“The memory room is where Laura hid children during Helena’s inspections.”
“Is the baby there?”
“I left her with someone who used Laura’s access code.”
“Who?”
“A woman wearing Vanessa’s bracelet.”
All eyes moved to Vanessa.
She raised her bare wrist.
“My bracelet was taken years ago.”
Lydia touched the wooden bird charm in Emily’s hand.
“Laura had the matching bracelet.”
“Laura is dead,” Claire whispered.
“Did you see her body?” Lydia asked.
Claire hesitated.
“No.”
The group returned to Bennett House East.
Silas led them beneath the water control room.
Behind a rusted pipe, they discovered a biometric lock.
Emily used the key Claire had given her.
The door opened.
The memory room contained four medical chairs facing large screens.
Old recordings filled the walls.
Nathan being questioned.
Nicholas being injected with medication.
Silas repeating Nathan’s childhood memories.
A fourth man undergoing facial reconstruction.
His original face appeared clearly for several seconds.
Preston stared at him.
“His name was Adrian Cross.”
The duplicate looked at his former face without recognition.
“You know me?”
“He was one of my father’s employees.”
Charles searched the archived files.
“Adrian was reported dead two months before the boat explosion.”
“He became the first successful Mirror replacement,” Claire said.
Emily looked at Adrian.
“So you are not Nathan.”
His eyes remained on the screen.
“I remember loving you.”
“The memory belonged to someone else.”
“The pain does not.”
A cry came from behind a second door.
Emily ran toward it.
Her biological daughter lay safely in a crib.
Lydia reached the child first, checked her breathing, and placed her in Emily’s arms.
Emily held both relief and rage inside her chest.
“Who brought her here?”
A screen activated.
Laura Shaw appeared in a live video.
Lydia stumbled backward.
“Laura?”
Her sister looked older and thinner, but alive.
“I could not allow Helena to find the child.”
Lydia approached the camera.
“Where are you?”
“Jonathan moved Trinity-D before the board meeting.”
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
“Because Helena placed a tracker inside you during the pregnancy.”
Lydia touched her neck.
Laura continued.
“I stayed hidden so I could protect the first child.”
Emily looked at her daughter.
“Where is Trinity-D?”
Laura’s eyes moved toward something off camera.
“At the Bennett vault.”
“We are going there.”
“No. Helena is already inside.”
“How?”
“The vault recognized her guardian request.”
Emily tightened her hold on the baby.
“You said the first heir already chose a guardian.”
Laura looked directly at Emily.
“She did.”
“Who did she choose?”
Before Laura could answer, someone entered the room behind her.
A man spoke from off camera.
His voice made Emily stop breathing.
“Tell her I am sorry.”
Emily knew that voice.
May you like
Nathan’s voice.
The screen went black.
