CHAPTER 11 — TWO FATHERS
The man approached slowly.
Evelyn studied his face.
The eyes were right.
The shape of his hands was right.
Even the way he tilted his head matched her memories.
“Evie,” he said.
Her chest tightened.
“Tell me what happened on my sixteenth birthday.”
The man smiled faintly.
“You drove my car through the garage door.”
“That happened when I was fifteen.”
His smile disappeared.
Beatrice watched with satisfaction.
“You see the problem.”
Evelyn looked down at Julian.
He was still breathing.
Barely.
“Who is he?”
“One of Daniel’s replacements.”
“Replacements?”
“Nightingale did not merely collect secrets,” Beatrice said. “It collected people.”
The man’s expression remained empty.
“Faces can be changed. Voices trained. Memories implanted. Powerful men often needed doubles for dangerous meetings.”
Evelyn felt sick.
“And my father created this?”
“Your father perfected it.”
A second gunshot struck the wall beside Beatrice.
Nathan descended from the balcony.
“Step away from Evelyn.”
Beatrice laughed.
“My adopted little spy.”
Nathan aimed at her.
“You killed my parents.”
“I barely remember them.”
“That is the difference between us.”
Sirens approached outside.
Mara’s voice filled Evelyn’s earpiece.
“Federal tactical units are coming. We need to move.”
Beatrice looked toward the doors.
“They are not coming for me.”
She tossed Evelyn a small key card.
“Saint Augustine Tower. Underground level four. Your real father may still be there.”
“May?”
Beatrice stepped backward into the shadows.
“Daniel created so many versions of himself that even I no longer know which one survived.”
Nathan fired.
Beatrice disappeared behind a stone column.
Smoke flooded the courtroom.
Evelyn dragged Julian toward the prisoner tunnel.
“Leave him,” Nathan said.
“He knows something.”
“He tried to destroy you.”
“And now his mother tried to kill him.”
Julian’s eyes opened.
His voice was weak.
“Evelyn…”
She leaned closer.
He pressed something into her hand.
A small wedding photograph.
On the back was a number.
“Room… forty-two.”
Then he lost consciousness.
Evelyn turned the photograph over again.
The image showed their wedding day.
May you like
Behind them, almost hidden among the guests, stood Daniel Vance.
And he was looking directly at Julian.
