CHAPTER 11 THE STOLEN BLOODLINE
Daniel read the laboratory report three times.
Mara was identified as either his biological child or his full sibling.
Neither possibility made sense.
“I have never met Celia Mercer,” he said.
Nathan looked equally shocked.
“She told me Mara was mine.”
“She may have lied to you.”
Mara stood near the window.
“So neither of you knows who I am.”
Elena moved toward her.
“We know you’re a child who deserves the truth.”
Mara stepped away.
“That’s what adults say before they decide the truth is too dangerous.”
Lily joined her.
“They told me everything after they realized hiding it made things worse.”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“Run the test again.”
“I already ordered a second test through a separate laboratory.”
“Could the samples have been changed?”
“Yes.”
“That network has altered identities before. This could be another attempt to divide us.”
Nathan examined the report.
“There’s another possibility.”
Daniel waited.
“Arthur collected biological samples from every family. Blood. Hair. Medical tissue. He could create a false genetic trail by replacing Mara’s sample.”
Clara nodded.
“Or Mara may have been raised under a false identity.”
Mara’s eyes filled with anger.
“I remember my mother.”
“Memories can be real even when documents are false,” Elena said.
“She sang to me.”
“No one is saying she didn’t love you.”
“She told me to find Lily.”
Daniel opened the brass map.
“The lake house may contain Rebecca’s ledger. That could explain why Lily and Mara were labeled 200 and 201.”
Clara opposed the idea of taking either child.
Daniel agreed.
This time, Lily did not argue.
She was learning that courage did not always require walking into danger.
Sometimes courage meant trusting someone else to return.
Before Daniel left, Lily gave him the key marked 200.
“You might need both.”
Daniel closed his hand around it.
“I’ll bring it back.”
“Bring yourself back too.”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
He left for the lake house with Clara, Nathan, Marcus, and a federal team.
The property stood miles from the nearest town.
A narrow road led through dense forest toward a dark body of water.
At the end was a stone house surrounded by dead trees.
No vehicles were visible.
No lights were on.
The front door contained two locks.
Daniel inserted the keys marked 200 and 201.
Both turned simultaneously.
The door opened.
Inside, the house appeared untouched for decades.
Dust covered the furniture.
Family photographs lined the walls.
Daniel recognized himself as a child.
He recognized his father.
He recognized Rebecca Whitmore.
In one photograph, Rebecca stood beside a teenage girl.
The girl had Elena’s face.
A scar crossed her eyebrow.
On the back, someone had written:
REBECCA AND ISABEL.
Elena’s missing sister had known Daniel’s mother.
Nathan entered another room.
“Daniel.”
A large family tree had been painted across one wall.
The branches connected the Whitmores, the Bells, the Marsh family, and several names Daniel had seen in Arthur’s financial files.
Two branches remained unfinished.
One ended with Lily.
The other ended with Mara.
Beneath them were the words:
THE SISTERS MUST NEVER MEET.
Daniel stared at the message.
“They aren’t sisters.”
Clara moved closer.
“Maybe not biologically.”
A telephone rang somewhere inside the house.
An old landline.
Daniel followed the sound into a study.
He answered.
A woman spoke.
“You brought Nathan.”
Daniel gripped the receiver.
“Celia?”
Nathan entered the room.
The woman continued.
“You should have left him in prison.”
Nathan moved closer to the phone.
“Celia, is Mara my daughter?”
“She was supposed to be.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Arthur changed more than documents.”
Daniel felt Clara watching him.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
“What is Subject 201?”
The woman laughed softly.
“You still believe the numbers identify children.”
“What do they identify?”
“Doors.”
Daniel looked toward the keys in his hand.
“Where does Door 201 lead?”
“To the person Arthur feared more than prison.”
“Rebecca?”
The line became quiet.
Then Celia whispered, “Your mother is alive.”
Nathan took the receiver.
“Where is Mara’s real birth record?”
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Ask why Daniel’s blood was found in a child born while he was living on another continent.”
The call disconnected.
A mechanical sound came from beneath the floor.
The bookcase moved aside.
Stone steps descended into darkness.
On the first step lay a recent newspaper.
Today’s newspaper.
Beside it was a cup of hot tea.
May you like
Someone was living below the house.
And they had been listening to every word.
