CHAPTER 28 : Victoria’s Mother
The apartment was empty when police arrived.
No broken lock.
No fingerprints.
No elderly woman.
Thomas’s ring rested on Victoria’s kitchen table.
Beside it was a cup of tea that remained warm.
The security camera outside the building showed Victoria entering the apartment at 6:12 p.m.
Victoria had been with Daniel at that time.
The woman on the footage wore Victoria’s face.
Another replacement.
Another message.
Someone could enter any part of their lives while wearing an identity the world already trusted.
The address sent to Victoria led to a cemetery.
Rebecca Lane’s grave stood near the back wall.
Victoria had visited it every year as a child.
The headstone said her mother died when Victoria was eight.
Mara obtained permission to open the grave.
The coffin contained no human remains.
Only bags of sand.
Victoria watched from beneath a black umbrella.
“My father brought me here after the funeral,” she said.
“He let me place flowers on an empty box.”
Daniel stood beside her.
“What did he tell you about her death?”
“Car accident.”
“Did you see her body?”
“No.”
Every lie in their families began with a closed casket.
Olivia.
Gideon.
Rebecca.
Mara traced the cemetery payment to the Continuity Trust.
The account had been established by Thomas Mercer.
Victoria looked toward Eleanor.
“Thomas helped fake my mother’s death.”
“We do not know that.”
“You signed the Registry charter.”
“Yes.”
“You gave a baby to a woman named Rebecca.”
“I believe I did.”
“And that woman said her son would marry yours.”
Eleanor did not defend herself.
“We need more evidence.”
Victoria laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“That is what powerful families say when the truth becomes inconvenient.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Victoria.”
“No.”
She faced him.
“You were allowed to hate me for what I did to your mother. You were right.”
Her voice remained steady.
“But I am allowed to question what your parents did to mine.”
Daniel accepted the words.
“Yes.”
That answer stopped her anger from becoming another argument.
Maya called from Henry’s hospital room.
Henry had disappeared again.
This time, he left voluntarily.
His bed was empty.
The window was open.
On the pillow lay a page torn from Peter Holloway’s ledger.
It listed three names.
Rebecca Mercer.
Rebecca Lane.
Victoria Lane.
A line connected all three.
At the bottom, Henry had written:
SAME IDENTITY. THREE LEGAL LIVES.
Mara examined the hospital cameras.
Henry left with a woman wearing a nurse’s uniform.
Her face was visible.
Victoria stared at the image.
“That’s my mother.”
The woman looked younger than the elderly figure photographed in the apartment.
But Victoria recognized her eyes.
Henry and Rebecca entered a car registered to the National Center for Guardianship Justice.
The driver used Eleanor’s authorization code.
At that exact moment, reporters surrounded the center.
An anonymous source had leaked the Registry charter.
Headlines identified Eleanor Reed as the founder of the secret identity program that later became Hartwell’s network.
Victims gathered outside demanding answers.
Donors suspended funding.
Federal officials announced an investigation into the foundation.
Daniel prepared to hold a press conference.
Eleanor stopped him.
“They want you defending me.”
“Why?”
“So no one asks where Henry and Rebecca are going.”
Grace opened a city map.
She traced the route taken by the center’s vehicle.
It led toward the old Reed International headquarters.
The building had been empty for five years.
According to municipal records, demolition was scheduled for the following morning.
Eleanor stared at the route.
“There was a Registry room beneath my office.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You never mentioned it.”
“I thought it was sealed.”
Victoria picked up Thomas’s ring.
“Everything you thought was sealed keeps opening.”
The building’s demolition permit listed the contractor.
SAINT ORISON DEVELOPMENT.
The scheduled demolition time was 6:00 a.m.
May you like
Mara checked her watch.
They had ninety-three minutes.
