CHAPTER 29 THE WOMAN WITH NO NAME
The wounded woman leaned against the stone wall.
“You still believe death certificates, Margaret?”
“I saw Veronica’s body.”
“You saw the body Cole wanted you to see.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Put the weapon down.”
Margaret kept it aimed.
“That woman has used three names since she entered our family.”
The stranger touched the blood on her shoulder.
“Names were never permanent inside Blackwood.”
Claire moved closer.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“The person who protected your daughter from Margaret.”
“Where is she?”
“At Foundation House.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“That place was destroyed.”
“No. The building above it was destroyed.”
“What is Foundation House?” Nathan asked.
Evelyn answered.
“The first clinic Cole used before St. Orla.”
The woman removed a chain from around her neck.
A small brass disk hung from it.
The number Four had been stamped into the metal.
Vanessa stared at it.
“You were part of the program.”
“We all were.”
“Are you Veronica?”
“Sometimes.”
Claire’s voice became cold.
“I don’t care what name you use. Take me to my daughter.”
The woman removed a folded map from her coat.
“The final ferry leaves in thirty minutes.”
Nathan examined it.
Foundation House was located on a small island beyond the lighthouse.
A service tunnel connected it to the mainland, but the tunnel had flooded years earlier.
“Who has the baby?” Nathan asked.
“Cole.”
Silence filled the mausoleum.
Margaret lowered the weapon slightly.
“He is dead.”
The woman looked at her.
“You helped him disappear.”
“I helped move a body.”
“Not his body.”
Margaret went pale.
The woman held out the map to Claire.
“Cole wanted every survivor to come together. The lighthouse, the graves, Subject Seven and the ledger were designed to lead all of you to him.”
“Why?”
“Because the Shaw trustees are meeting tomorrow morning.”
Claire understood.
“He needs my daughter before the trust transfers.”
“He needs more than her presence.”
“What?”
The woman looked at Nathan.
“He needs both parents to sign.”
Nathan tore the guardianship document in half.
“I will never sign anything.”
“You already did.”
Before Nathan could respond, the mausoleum lights went out.
Someone struck him from behind.
Claire heard Evelyn scream.
A child began crying.
When the emergency lights returned, Subject Seven was gone.
So was the woman with the brass disk.
Margaret lay unconscious near the stairs.
Vanessa found a phone on the empty cradle.
A video call was active.
Cole appeared on-screen.
Behind him, two babies lay in separate bassinets.
One was Subject Seven.
The other had dark hair and Claire’s mouth.
Claire moved toward the screen.
“My daughter.”
Cole smiled.
“Come to the island, Claire.”
The image widened.
A photograph hung on the wall behind him.
It showed Claire as a child standing outside Foundation House.
Nathan saw the date.
Claire had been nine years old.
Claire stared at the photograph.
“I’ve never been there.”
Cole’s smile deepened.
May you like
“You have.”
The call ended.
