Chapter 11 – The Child Marcus Was Really Hunting
Chapter 11 – The Child Marcus Was Really Hunting
Nathan read the first sentence again.
Then a third time.
The words refused to change.
The child Marcus has wanted all these years... has been Lily.
His hands began to tremble.
Ryan quietly took the letter.
He continued reading while Nathan stared toward the police SUV.
Lily sat inside with Owen sleeping against her shoulder.
Ethan rested peacefully beside her.
She looked like an ordinary little girl.
She had no idea her life had become the center of a war that had started years before she was born.
Ryan slowly lowered the letter.
"There's more."
Nathan forced himself to breathe.
"Read it."
Ryan unfolded the next page.
John Pierce's handwriting remained neat despite the years.
Marcus believes Lily is the key to my entire estate.
He is wrong.
Nathan frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Ryan kept reading.
Lily was never important because of money.
She became important because Sarah accidentally witnessed something she was never supposed to see.
Nathan's heart sank.
Sarah hadn't been running because of an inheritance.
She had been running because she knew the truth.
Charlie quietly stepped closer.
"Is Lily in danger?"
Nathan looked down at him.
"Yes."
Charlie nodded sadly.
"I knew."
Nathan frowned.
"You knew?"
Charlie looked toward the snowy forest.
"Sarah told me if anything happened..."
"...I had to protect Lily."
Nathan knelt beside him.
"Why Lily?"
Charlie slowly shook his head.
"She never told me."
"She just cried."
Several miles away...
Marcus Kane sat inside one of the black SUVs speeding through the mountains.
His shoulder was bleeding from Ryan's bullet.
One of his men wrapped a bandage around the wound.
"We lost the envelope."
Marcus stared out the window.
"No."
"We lost one envelope."
His voice remained calm.
"The real prize is still alive."
The driver looked in the mirror.
"You mean the little girl?"
Marcus smiled.
"Lily."
"Bring me Lily..."
"...and the rest will follow."
At the hospital...
Emily Harper refused to leave the twins' room.
Additional police officers now guarded every entrance.
Every visitor was being searched.
Every hallway was locked down.
Emily gently adjusted Ethan's blanket.
The baby opened his eyes.
He smiled.
Emily smiled back.
"You have no idea how much trouble you've caused."
A nurse entered carrying a stack of paperwork.
"Dr. Harper?"
Emily looked up.
"Yes?"
"There's a woman downstairs asking for Dr. Pierce."
Emily frowned.
"Did she give a name?"
The nurse nodded.
"She said her name is Grace."
Emily's smile disappeared.
Grace.
Charlie had said Grace was dead.
Emily hurried downstairs.
The hospital lobby was nearly empty.
An elderly woman sat alone near the fireplace.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Walking cane.
She looked up as Emily approached.
"I'm Grace."
Emily remained cautious.
"Charlie told us Grace died."
The woman nodded slowly.
"She did."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
"The Grace Charlie knew..."
"...is dead."
She reached into her purse.
She removed an old photograph.
It showed Sarah standing beside another woman.
They looked almost identical.
Twins.
Emily stared at the picture.
"Who is this?"
The elderly woman smiled sadly.
"My daughters."
"Sarah's best friend..."
"...and Charlie's guardian."
Emily looked back at the woman.
"Then who are you?"
The woman took a deep breath.
"I'm their mother."
"My daughter used my name to protect Charlie."
Emily felt the pieces shifting again.
Nothing about Charlie's past had been what it seemed.
Nathan and Ryan arrived at the hospital less than twenty minutes later.
Emily met them in the lobby.
"You need to hear this."
She introduced them to the elderly woman.
Nathan sat across from her.
"My name is Eleanor Brooks."
Nathan nodded politely.
"You said you know Charlie."
Tears filled Eleanor's eyes.
"I've known him since the day he was born."
Nathan leaned forward.
"Who are his parents?"
Eleanor looked down at her hands.
"I promised never to tell."
Ryan calmly placed John's letter on the table.
"People have already died."
"More people will die."
"The promise is over."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
After several long seconds, she spoke.
"Charlie's mother was my daughter, Hannah."
Nathan listened carefully.
"And his father?"
Eleanor hesitated.
Then she slowly answered.
"I never met him."
"Hannah wouldn't tell anyone."
Nathan felt his frustration growing.
"Did she leave anything?"
Eleanor nodded.
"A box."
"I've kept it hidden for six years."
Ryan immediately asked, "Where?"
Eleanor reached into her handbag.
She removed a small brass tag.
Engraved across the front were two words.
Pierce Harbor.
Nathan looked confused.
"Pierce Harbor?"
Eleanor nodded.
"An old boathouse."
"It belonged to your father."
Nathan stared at the tag.
"I didn't know he owned a boathouse."
Ryan quietly smiled.
"I don't think we're done discovering your father's secrets."
Upstairs...
Lily sat beside Owen and Ethan.
She gently held each of their tiny hands.
She looked out the hospital window.
Snow continued falling.
A familiar whistle drifted through the night.
Three slow notes.
Exactly the same as before.
Lily's eyes widened.
She carefully climbed off the chair.
She walked toward the window.
Standing beneath a streetlight was a woman wearing a long dark coat.
The hood slipped back just enough for Lily to see her face.
"Mommy..."
Sarah smiled weakly.
She lifted one trembling hand.
Then she pointed urgently toward the hospital entrance.
Lily followed her finger.
A black delivery van had just pulled into the emergency loading dock.
Two men wearing hospital uniforms climbed out.
Lily watched them.
Something felt wrong.
One of the men opened his jacket for only a second.
She saw the handle of a pistol hidden beneath his scrubs.
Lily's heart began racing.
She spun toward the hallway.
At that exact moment...
The fire alarm exploded throughout the hospital.
Red emergency lights began flashing.
Sprinklers activated across every floor.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Patients.
Everyone started moving.
In the confusion, the two fake hospital workers quietly walked toward the pediatric wing.
One of them smiled.
May you like
"Find the little girl."
"The boss wants her alive."
