CHAPTER 30: THE FINAL CHOICE
Amelia entered her apartment shortly before dawn.
She told no one where she was going.
Theo remained under guard at the hospital.
Ethan believed Amelia was sleeping in Mara’s office.
Mara believed Amelia was with Detective Grant.
Amelia locked the apartment door behind her.
The nursery looked exactly as she had left it.
A white crib.
Blue curtains.
A stuffed bear Ethan had purchased the day they learned they were having a boy.
Amelia found the loose floorboard.
Beneath it was the original metal box.
Noah’s brass key had been taped to the lid.
Inside were medical records, photographs, and the missing section of Evelyn’s letter.
Amelia unfolded it.
My dearest daughter,
Ethan was not placed in your path by William alone.
I approved the meeting.
Amelia stopped reading.
Her hands began to shake.
I believed Ethan’s blood could protect the child you would one day have. I told myself I was saving future generations. I did not understand that William intended to control them.
Forgive me.
Do not trust the person who claims Noah is Thomas Reed’s son.
Thomas could not have children.
Amelia read the line again.
If Noah was not Thomas Reed’s biological son, then who was his father?
A photograph lay beneath the letter.
It showed Evelyn holding two infant boys.
One was Ethan.
The second baby wore a hospital bracelet marked:
NOAH.
William Carter stood behind them.
Beside William was the man who later became Captain Morales.
On the back, Evelyn had written:
MY TWO SONS.
Amelia dropped the photograph.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman spoke.
“Amelia?”
Amelia could not breathe.
She recognized the voice from the cassette recording.
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
Tears filled Amelia’s eyes.
“Where are you?”
“There isn’t time.”
“Is Noah my brother?”
Silence.
Then Evelyn whispered:
“Do not trust Noah.”
“Why?”
“Because Noah is not trying to find William.”
The nursery door slowly moved behind Amelia.
Evelyn continued.
“He is trying to finish what William started.”
A floorboard creaked.
Amelia turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
His face remained hidden in the darkness.
He held Theo’s hospital bracelet in one hand.
And Amelia’s wedding ring in the other.
On the phone, Evelyn screamed:
“RUN!”
May you like
The apartment lights went out.
TO BE CONTINUED
