CHAPTER 29: NOAH’S CALL
Noah called Amelia at 3:07 a.m.
His voice was weak.
“Don’t let the police trace this.”
“Where are you?”
“I escaped.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ll survive.”
“Where is Morales?”
“He let me go.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted me to tell you something.”
Amelia gripped the phone.
“What?”
“Thomas Reed is alive.”
Noah’s father had survived the mill fire.
William kept him inside a private medical facility for years.
Thomas had helped Evelyn hide evidence from the research program.
“Do you know where they are?” Amelia asked.
“No.”
“What did Morales want?”
“He wants the metal box.”
“The one from beneath the mill?”
“Yes.”
“It’s with the police.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Amelia frowned.
“We gave it to Detective Grant.”
“The box she received was a duplicate.”
“Who switched it?”
“I did.”
Amelia went silent.
Noah continued.
“My mother warned me not to trust the department, the police, or the Whitmores.”
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to know whether the letters were real.”
“Where is the original box?”
“In your apartment.”
Amelia’s blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“Beneath the loose floorboard in Theo’s room.”
“What is inside it?”
“The rest of your mother’s letter.”
Amelia looked toward the hospital door.
“Why didn’t you read it?”
“It was sealed with your name.”
“Noah, come to the hospital.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Morales told me who Subject Two is.”
Amelia waited.
Noah’s breathing became uneven.
“Who?”
“He said Subject Two is my biological father.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.”
A vehicle stopped near Noah.
He lowered his voice.
“Go to the apartment. Open the box alone.”
“Why alone?”
“Because the person who betrayed Evelyn is still beside you.”
The line went dead.
Amelia turned toward the hospital hallway.
Mara stood near Theo’s room.
Detective Grant spoke with security.
Dr. Shah checked the baby’s monitor.
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And Ethan, released temporarily after Claire’s recording, waited beside the window.
Any one of them could have been the person Noah meant.
