Chapter 8 - THE FAMILY SECRET WASN'T THE WORST ONE
We left the hospital through the service entrance.
Not because we were running.
Because Reed had learned that every public exit was being watched.
Lily held my hand.
Ethan walked beside her.
Jessica stayed close to me.
Mom and Dad followed behind.
For the first time in years, we looked like a family.
Not a happy one.
Not yet.
But together.
The federal team moved us into a secure facility outside the city.
Inside, Reed placed the microfilm under a scanner.
The screen filled with names.
Some were crossed out.
Others were marked with numbers.
Then one name appeared.
RICHARD BENNETT.
Dad closed his eyes.
Jessica whispered, “Dad.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Another name appeared.
SARAH VALE.
Ethan stepped closer.
“My mother.”
Then another.
ELIAS VOSS.
Then mine.
NIGHTFALL.
But there was one final name.
LILY MORGAN.
I stared.
“Why is a child on that list?”
Ethan answered.
“Because she isn't just a witness.”
He reached into his pocket.
He removed a small metal key.
“She carries something.”
Lily looked frightened.
I crouched beside her.
“What do you have?”
She reached beneath her red coat.
A tiny metal capsule hung around her neck.
“Mommy said never give it to anyone.”
I looked at Ethan.
“What is inside?”
“We don't know.”
Reed carefully removed the capsule.
Inside was a memory card.
He inserted it.
A video appeared.
Sarah sat in a dark room.
Older.
Exhausted.
Alive.
Ethan covered his mouth.
“Mom.”
Sarah looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, I'm already gone.”
Ethan whispered, “No.”
Sarah continued.
“Richard, you were right about one thing. The network was never controlled by Elias.”
Dad stepped forward.
“Who was?”
Sarah looked toward the camera.
“The person above him.”
A file appeared.
One name.
Victor Hale.
Reed's face changed.
“Deputy Director Hale.”
I stared at him.
“You know him?”
“I worked under him.”
Sarah continued.
“Hale created the system. Elias was only the collector.”
The room went silent.
“And Nightfall,” Sarah said, “you were never supposed to discover the children.”
My chest tightened.
“You were supposed to retrieve the records and leave.”
The video paused.
Then Sarah added one final sentence.
“Your sister was part of the reason you were chosen.”
Jessica froze.
“What?”
I looked at her.
Sarah's voice continued.
“Jessica Bennett was unknowingly used as bait.”
Jessica stepped backward.
“No.”
Dad looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Sarah explained.
“Jessica's wedding was not random.”
The room went silent.
“The guest list contains three people connected to Hale.”
Jessica stared.
“My wedding?”
“Yes.”
I remembered the gray-coated man.
The black bracelet.
The watch.
The photograph.
It all began to fit.
Elias had not followed me home.
He had followed Jessica.
And my family had unknowingly placed everyone in one location.
Jessica started crying.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“I swear.”
“I believe you.”
Reed interrupted.
“There are three names here.”
He pointed at the screen.
“Your father. Your sister. And you.”
“Why me?”
He enlarged the final file.
A photograph appeared.
It was taken twenty-five years earlier.
A young Dad held baby Ethan.
Mom stood beside him.
And behind them was another infant.
Me.
I stared.
Two babies.
Twins.
My entire world tilted.
Jessica whispered, “Twins?”
Dad nodded.
“You and Ethan were born eleven months apart.”
“That isn't twins.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“Ethan was your mother's first child.”
I stared at him.
“Then why did you say he was my brother?”
“He is.”
“But why hide him?”
Dad looked at Mom.
“Because the people hunting us wanted one child.”
Mom's voice broke.
“We gave them a story about Ethan dying.”
“And me?”
“You were kept visible.”
I understood.
I had been the decoy.
The child everyone could see.
The child whose life looked ordinary.
The child they could track.
Ethan had been hidden.
Until now.
I looked at Jessica.
“You weren't the bait.”
She stared at me.
“Then who was?”
I pointed at myself.
“Me.”
Before anyone could speak, every screen in the room went black.
A single message appeared.
BRING NIGHTFALL TO PLATFORM 17.
COME ALONE.
Then another line appeared.
OR YOUR SISTER DIES.
Jessica looked at me.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I'll go.”
Reed grabbed my arm.
“You're not going anywhere.”
I looked at him.
“They have my sister.”
Jessica stepped forward.
“They want you alone.”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“No.”
She pulled the black bracelet from her wrist.
She held it out.
“You gave me this because you trusted me.”
I took it.
She whispered, “Now let me return the favor.”
Then the secure phone rang.
Reed answered.
His face went pale.
He handed it to me.
I heard Elias Voss say one sentence.
“Nightfall, your sister isn't the hostage.”
May you like
A pause.
“Your mother is.”
