Chapter 13 – The Woman Who Couldn’t Be There
Chapter 13 – The Woman Who Couldn’t Be There
The security footage replayed on the tablet.
Nathan watched it again.
And again.
The timestamp never changed.
Sarah was clearly standing outside the hospital.
Yet according to everything they knew, she had already been rescued miles away in the mountains.
Ryan rubbed his forehead.
"One of these timelines is wrong."
Emily shook her head.
"Hospital surveillance is synchronized with the state network."
"It can't be off by that much."
Nathan zoomed in on the video.
Sarah looked exhausted.
Her coat was torn.
One arm hung lower than the other.
The injury matched Lily's description perfectly.
She was real.
No one had faked that.
Ryan pointed toward the hooded woman.
"But who is she?"
Nathan enlarged the image.
The woman's face became slightly clearer.
She looked familiar.
Painfully familiar.
Then it hit him.
"The photograph."
Emily looked at him.
"The one from your father's journal?"
Nathan nodded.
"It's the same woman."
Ryan frowned.
"But why would your father keep her picture hidden for years?"
Nathan didn't have an answer.
Across town...
The elderly man who had rescued Sarah parked his pickup behind a weathered cabin overlooking a frozen lake.
He carefully carried Sarah inside.
The cabin smelled of pine and wood smoke.
A fire already burned in the stone fireplace.
Sarah slowly opened her eyes.
She looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
The man smiled gently.
"Somewhere Marcus won't think to search."
Sarah tried to sit up.
"My children."
"They're safe."
"You don't know that."
The old man walked to a bookshelf.
He removed a faded framed photograph.
He handed it to Sarah.
Her eyes widened.
"You..."
The man nodded.
"Yes."
"I knew John Pierce."
Sarah stared at the picture.
It showed John standing beside the elderly man nearly thirty years earlier.
Both were much younger.
Both were smiling.
"My name is Walter Bennett."
"Your father-in-law once saved my life."
Sarah whispered, "Walter."
John had mentioned that name only once.
Years ago.
"He told me if anything ever happened..."
"...I was to protect one particular child."
Sarah looked up quickly.
"Lily?"
Walter slowly shook his head.
"No."
His answer chilled the room.
"Charlie."
Back at the hospital...
Ryan received a call from one of his detectives.
He answered immediately.
"What did you find?"
His expression changed.
"When?"
Nathan watched him closely.
Ryan lowered the phone.
"The abandoned chapel."
Nathan felt his stomach tighten.
"What about it?"
"We found blood."
"A lot of it."
Nathan looked toward the security video again.
"Sarah's?"
Ryan nodded.
"Most likely."
Emily folded her arms.
"So she was there."
Ryan continued.
"But that's not all."
"They found another body."
The room fell silent.
Nathan slowly asked,
"Who?"
Ryan looked down at his notes.
"The priest."
Nathan closed his eyes.
He had protected Sarah until the end.
Charlie quietly walked into the room.
He looked at everyone's faces.
"Somebody died."
Nathan didn't want to answer.
Charlie already understood.
"The old man at the church?"
Ryan nodded gently.
Charlie lowered his head.
"He gave me candy every Sunday."
"He always remembered my birthday."
Nathan felt another wave of anger toward Marcus.
Every innocent person seemed to pay the price.
Suddenly, Lily tugged on Nathan's sleeve.
"I remember something else."
Nathan knelt beside her.
"What is it?"
Lily closed her eyes.
"Mommy and the hooded lady argued."
Nathan leaned closer.
"What were they saying?"
"I couldn't hear everything."
"But Mommy kept saying..."
"...'You promised John.'"
Ryan immediately looked at Nathan.
John.
Nathan's father.
Lily continued.
"The other lady said..."
"...'I'm tired of hiding.'"
Nathan's pulse quickened.
"Did she say anything else?"
Lily nodded slowly.
"One name."
Nathan held his breath.
"What name?"
"Ava."
The room fell completely silent.
Emily looked at Ryan.
"Do we know an Ava?"
Ryan slowly shook his head.
"Not yet."
Nathan wasn't listening anymore.
His memory had suddenly awakened.
"Ava..."
Emily turned toward him.
"You know her?"
Nathan slowly nodded.
"When I was ten..."
"My father used to receive letters."
"They always ended with one signature."
He looked at everyone in the room.
"Ava."
At that same moment...
Marcus Kane sat inside an abandoned hunting lodge.
One of his men entered carrying a laptop.
"We intercepted hospital surveillance."
Marcus looked up.
"Show me."
The video played.
Marcus watched Sarah hand the blue bundle to the hooded woman.
His smile disappeared.
He slammed the laptop shut.
"So..."
"You finally came out of hiding."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
Marcus slowly stood.
"Ava."
Daniel looked confused.
"I thought she was dead."
Marcus's cold eyes narrowed.
"So did I."
He walked toward the window.
Snow covered the forest below.
"If Ava is alive..."
"...everything changes."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Should we keep looking for Lily?"
Marcus turned around.
His answer came without hesitation.
"No."
Daniel looked shocked.
"No?"
Marcus smiled.
"Lily was only bait."
He paused.
"The real war..."
"...has always been about Ava."
Miles away...
Walter Bennett placed another log on the fire.
Sarah struggled to stay awake.
Walter carefully unrolled an old map across the kitchen table.
"I've kept this hidden for twenty-three years."
Sarah looked at it.
Several locations had been circled in red.
One stood out above all the others.
Pierce Harbor Boathouse.
Sarah immediately recognized the name.
"Eleanor gave Nathan the harbor tag."
Walter nodded.
"Good."
"He's following the trail."
Sarah looked closer at the map.
Another location had been circled.
One Nathan had never heard of.
Blackstone Island.
Sarah frowned.
"What is that?"
Walter's expression turned serious.
"The place where John Pierce buried the final truth."
Sarah whispered,
"The final truth?"
Walter slowly opened a locked wooden box.
Inside rested a yellowed birth certificate.
He handed it to Sarah.
She unfolded it.
Her eyes widened in horror.
"No..."
"That can't be right."
Walter's voice was barely above a whisper.
"John asked me to destroy it."
"I couldn't."
Sarah looked up at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
"If Nathan sees this..."
"...his entire life will fall apart."
At that exact moment, Nathan's phone vibrated.
An unknown number flashed across the screen.
He answered cautiously.
"This is Nathan."
A calm woman's voice replied.
"My name is Ava."
Nathan's heart nearly stopped.
"I've been waiting twenty years to tell you the truth about your father."
The line suddenly filled with static.
Then Ava whispered one final sentence before the call disconnected.
"Don't trust Walter Bennett."
Nathan stared at the silent phone.
Across the room, Ryan looked at him.
Nathan slowly lowered the device.
His face had gone pale.
May you like
The only man protecting Sarah...
...might have been leading them into another trap all along.
