CHAPTER 8 — THE DAUGHTER AT THE DOOR
Every phone inside the Whitmore estate rang at the same time.
Hundreds of identical tones echoed through the darkened mansion.
Guests stopped running.
Security officers froze in the hallways.
Even Charles lowered the gun in his hand.
The screens displayed the same message.
HELLO, FATHER.
Daniel stared through the steel barrier at the photograph of the missing twin.
The woman had delivered mail to his house for six years.
She had stood on his porch in summer rain.
She had handed him Christmas cards.
She had once helped him carry a heavy package into the kitchen.
Daniel had offered her coffee.
She had smiled and declined.
Her name tag had said Sarah Mercer.
But Sarah Mercer did not exist.
Rebecca pressed both hands against the glass.
“My daughter is alive.”
Another message appeared.
GET AWAY FROM THE VAULT.
Daniel looked up.
“Everybody move!”
A second later, an explosion tore through the wall behind the vault.
The steel barrier buckled outward.
Daniel threw himself over Emily.
Rebecca shielded Anna.
Glass, stone, and pieces of metal filled the chamber.
When the smoke cleared, a black armored vehicle had crashed through the lower service entrance.
Six masked figures entered through the opening.
Their weapons were aimed at Charles.
Chief Reed reached for his pistol.
One of the masked figures shot the weapon from his hand.
“Everyone down!”
Charles grabbed the red folder and ran toward the wine cellar.
Two figures chased him.
The leader approached Daniel.
She removed her helmet.
The woman from the photograph stood before him.
Sarah Mercer.
Rebecca’s missing daughter.
Daniel’s daughter.
She had Rebecca’s eyes and Daniel’s jaw.
A thin scar ran beneath her left ear.
Daniel could not move.
“Sarah…”
“That is not my name.”
Her voice was calm.
Hard.
“My name is Mara.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
Mara raised her weapon.
“Stay where you are.”
Rebecca stopped.
“I’m your mother.”
“You’re a photograph in a classified file.”
“They took you from me.”
“That is what everyone says when they need something.”
Daniel slowly stood.
“I didn’t know you existed.”
Mara looked at him.
For six years, she had called him Mr. Cross.
For six years, she had studied the father who never knew her.
“You saw me every week,” she said.
“I saw a mail carrier.”
“You never looked closely.”
The accusation struck deeper than any weapon.
Mara turned toward the vault.
The transfer had completed.
Every file inside had been copied.
But she did not look relieved.
She searched the shelves quickly.
“What are you looking for?” Emily asked.
“The Omega Ledger.”
Charles had taken the red folder.
Mara touched the communication device in her ear.
“Status?”
A voice answered.
“Whitmore entered the eastern tunnel. He has one hostage.”
Daniel turned.
Anna was gone.
Charles had taken her during the explosion.
Rebecca moved toward the tunnel.
Mara blocked her path.
“My team will handle it.”
“That woman is my sister.”
“She is also the last person who can unlock the Whitmore Continuity Fund.”
Daniel picked up a rifle.
“Then Charles won’t kill her.”
“No,” Mara replied. “He’ll do something worse.”
Chief Reed groaned from the floor.
Blood covered his side.
Mara looked at him without sympathy.
“My brother.”
Reed stared back at her.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“So were you.”
Outside, gunfire spread through the mansion.
The mysterious armed units had reached the lower level.
Mara’s team formed a defensive line.
Evelyn’s voice came through Daniel’s earpiece.
“Those aren’t federal officers. I don’t recognize their equipment.”
Mara looked toward the ceiling.
“Neither do I.”
One of her agents checked the security feed.
His face changed.
“Commander, we have a problem.”
He turned the screen toward her.
Dozens of armed men were moving through the estate.
They wore no insignia.
They were not attacking Charles’s guards.
They were executing them.
Guest by guest.
Witness by witness.
Someone was cleaning the entire crime scene.
Mara raised her rifle.
“Seal the chamber.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“Who are they?”
Mara’s eyes remained fixed on the screen.
“The people who trained me.”
Then the lights turned red.
A voice came through the mansion’s speaker system.
“Subject B has been located.”
Every camera inside the estate rotated toward Mara.
May you like
The voice continued.
“Recover her alive.”
