CHAPTER 40 — THE OTHER DANIEL
Daniel watched his own face speaking on the tablet.
“That isn’t me.”
Ward signaled to her agents.
They separated everyone.
Claire held Lily tighter.
Mason moved in front of them.
“You are not taking the child.”
Ward studied him.
“Mason Reed. Former military intelligence. Discharged after an unauthorized operation in Prague.”
“I was cleared.”
“Your file says otherwise.”
“My file was changed.”
Sarah laughed.
“All your files were changed.”
Ward ordered the agents to scan Daniel’s face.
The device confirmed his identity.
One hundred percent match.
Daniel shook his head.
“Gray Tide can build faces, voices, medical histories—”
“And memories?” Ward asked.
Daniel had no answer.
An agent approached Olivia.
Her monitor suddenly activated.
The screen displayed a healthy fetal heartbeat.
Olivia stared at it.
“I thought the connection was broken.”
Sarah looked toward the nearest federal vehicle.
“It isn’t coming from the hospital.”
Ward’s radio crackled.
Her own voice spoke through it.
“Bring Subject Seven and the Anchor to the east vehicle.”
Ward went pale.
“I did not say that.”
All the federal radios repeated the command.
Rose backed away.
The doors of the east vehicle opened automatically.
Inside sat another Daniel.
His shoulder was uninjured.
He wore a gray suit.
The real Daniel stared at him.
The second Daniel smiled.
“You always were difficult to replace.”
Agents began turning their weapons toward one another, uncertain whom to trust.
The second Daniel raised a small remote.
Olivia’s monitor turned red.
“Give me Rose,” he said, “or the baby dies.”
Claire looked at the wounded Daniel beside her.
Then at the identical man in the vehicle.
Lily whispered into Claire’s ear.
“The man in the car was at my school.”
The second Daniel heard her.
His smile disappeared.
May you like
He pressed the remote.
Olivia collapsed.
