Chapter 7: The Woman Anna Called Rebecca
David read the message until the words blurred.
*Ask Lauren why Anna called her “Rebecca.””*
The alley suddenly felt too narrow.
Ethan stood a few feet away, breathing hard.
“David.””
He didn't answer.
“David, look at me.””
David lifted his head.
“Lauren's name is Rebecca?””
Ethan nodded.
“And her mother is alive.””
“Yes.””
“And Anna knew.””
“Yes.””
David stared at the photograph again.
Anna was sitting in a hospital bed.
Lauren was beside her.
Both women looked serious.
But there was something else.
A detail David had missed.
On Anna's wrist was the silver watch David had given her for their fifth anniversary.
He remembered it.
It had disappeared after her death.
He had searched the house for weeks.
Now it was in the photograph.
His eyes moved to Lauren.
She was wearing a bracelet David had once thought belonged to Anna.
He had seen it on Lauren during their second date.
When he asked about it, she had said it was “a family piece.””
David suddenly understood why the photograph had been sent.
It wasn't proof of one lie.
It was proof that thousands of details he had ignored had been arranged around him.
“Where is she?”” David asked.
Ethan looked toward the street.
“Who?””
“Lauren.””
“I don't know.””
“Then we're finding her.””
“You can't just walk into this.””
“She's carrying a flash drive that may explain who killed Anna.””
“And she's probably carrying a second thing.””
“What?””
“Fear.””
David looked at him.
Ethan's voice softened.
“People don't run like that unless someone has something on them.””
David thought about Lauren standing in the chapel.
The tears.
The trembling hands.
The way she had said I need to explain.
Then the lights went out.
The crash.
The blood.
The ring.
She had disappeared.
Maybe she hadn't been escaping him.
Maybe she had been escaping whoever came for her.
David pulled out his phone.
He called Lauren.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then someone answered.
No one spoke.
“Lauren?””
A breath.
Then silence.
“Where are you?””
Still nothing.
David closed his eyes.
“I'm not going to hurt you.””
A faint voice finally came through.
“You shouldn't have gone to the warehouse.””
“I know.””
“You shouldn't have found the files.””
“I know.””
“You shouldn't have trusted Ethan.””
David glanced at his brother.
“I don't know if I trust anyone.””
Lauren gave a broken laugh.
“That makes two of us.””
“Tell me where you are.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because they're watching.””
“Who?””
A pause.
“Do you remember the first night you took me to Anna's house?””
David frowned.
“Yes.””
“It was raining.””
“Yes.””
“You left your car unlocked.””
He searched the memory.
A restaurant.
Rain hitting the windshield.
Lauren laughing because she had forgotten an umbrella.
He had walked her inside.
“What about it?””
“I saw her.””
“Who?””
“Anna.””
David's heart stopped.
“You saw my wife that night?””
“Not in person.””
“Then what are you talking about?””
“Through the window.””
Lauren's voice shook.
“She was standing upstairs.””
David gripped the phone.
“Lauren, Anna was dead.””
“I know.””
“She died years before I met you.””
“I know that too.””
“Then what did you see?””
“The woman in the window.””
Silence.
David could barely breathe.
“That was my first warning.””
“Warning from who?””
“From Anna.””
“How?””
“She wasn't supposed to be there.””
David looked at Ethan.
His brother's expression had become unreadable.
Lauren continued.
“Three days later, I received a package.””
“What was in it?””
“A key.””
“To what?””
“The blue door.””
David closed his eyes.
The warehouse.
The files.
The photographs.
Everything.
“You've had that key all this time?””
“No.””
“Then where is it?””
“I gave it to Anna.””
David felt a chill.
“You gave my dead wife a key to the warehouse?””
“She asked me to.””
“Why?””
“Because she knew what my mother was doing.””
David stiffened.
“Your mother?””
“Rebecca.””
David stared into the darkness.
“You're calling her your mother.””
“I haven't called her that in years.””
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You said she was alive.””
“I said I knew she was alive.””
“Where is she?””
Lauren didn't answer.
David heard another voice in the background.
A man's voice.
“Time.””
Lauren whispered, “I have to go.””
“No.””
“David…”
“Don't hang up.””
“I need you to listen carefully.””
“I'm listening.””
“Whatever happens next, don't let your father take Sophie.””
David's entire body stiffened.
“Why?””
“Because he already tried once.””
The call ended.
David lowered the phone.
Ethan looked at him.
“What did she say?””
David told him.
Ethan swore.
“He tried to take Sophie?””
“Apparently.””
“That explains the hospital records.””
“What?””
Ethan walked back toward the warehouse.
David followed.
“Those files weren't just surveillance.””
“What were they?””
“Placement records.””
David stopped.
“Placement?””
“Your father had been arranging for Sophie to be sent away.””
David felt sick.
“Where?””
Ethan pulled a folder from inside his jacket.
He had taken it from the warehouse before they left.
He opened it.
There was a school transfer request.
A boarding school in Switzerland.
The authorization signature belonged to David.
David stared.
“I never signed this.””
“I know.””
“Then who did?””
Ethan turned the page.
A notary stamp.
A witness.
And a second signature.
*Lauren Cole.*
David looked up.
“She was helping him.””
“At first.””
“What changed?””
Ethan closed the folder.
“Anna.””
David remembered the way Lauren had cried in the chapel.
Not like someone whose plan had failed.
Like someone who had finally run out of places to hide.
“Take me to her.””
“I told you, I don't know where she is.””
“Then find someone who does.””
Ethan looked at the road.
“There's one person.””
“Who?””
“Nathan Cole.””
David felt his chest tighten.
“The doctor.””
“Yes.””
“The doctor on Sophie's records.””
“Yes.””
“Is he Lauren's father?””
Ethan nodded.
“And Rebecca's husband?””
Another nod.
David understood.
The family tree was turning into a maze.
“Where is he?””
“His private clinic closed years ago.””
“Then where?””
“His house.””
They drove across town.
Nathan Cole's house stood behind a stone wall in an old neighborhood where every property looked expensive enough to hide a crime.
A single upstairs light was on.
Ethan parked across the street.
David reached for the door.
“Wait.””
“What?””
Ethan pointed.
A black SUV sat outside the house.
“The same one from the warehouse.””
David's pulse raced.
“Someone's inside.””
Ethan nodded.
They approached on foot.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, the house smelled of old wood and antiseptic.
David called out.
“Dr. Cole?””
No answer.
They moved deeper into the house.
A lamp flickered in the study.
Nathan Cole was sitting behind his desk.
His hands were tied.
There was blood at his temple.
David ran toward him.
“Doctor.””
Nathan lifted his head.
His eyes widened.
“You.””
David cut the rope.
“Who did this?””
Nathan stared at him.
“Your father.””
David's stomach dropped.
“Where's Lauren?””
Nathan shook his head.
“She was here.””
“When?””
“Twenty minutes ago.””
“Where did she go?””
Nathan looked toward the window.
“He took her.””
“Who?””
Nathan's eyes filled with fear.
“Your father.””
Ethan stepped into the room.
Nathan saw him.
For a moment, he looked terrified.
Then relieved.
“You're alive.””
“Yes.””
Nathan laughed weakly.
“I knew you would come back.””
David knelt beside him.
“You knew Ethan was alive?””
Nathan nodded.
“You knew about Anna?””
“Yes.””
“You knew about Sophie?””
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
Nathan looked at David for a long moment.
“You're asking the wrong question.””
“What should I ask?””
“The first test wasn't for Sophie.””
David felt cold.
“I know.””
Nathan shook his head.
“No.””
He reached beneath the desk.
His fingers found a hidden drawer.
He pulled out a sealed envelope.
There was a hospital logo on the front.
David took it.
“What is this?””
Nathan looked directly at him.
“The original DNA report.””
David stared at the envelope.
“You said the first test wasn't for Sophie.””
“It wasn't.””
“Then who?””
Nathan hesitated.
“Anna.””
David frowned.
“Anna?””
Nathan nodded.
“We were testing Anna's DNA against someone else.””
“Who?””
Nathan's eyes moved toward Ethan.
Then back to David.
“Your mother.””
David stopped breathing.
“My mother died eleven years ago.””
Nathan shook his head.
“That's what your father wanted everyone to believe.””
David opened the envelope with shaking hands.
The report inside contained two names.
*Anna Mercer.*
*Rebecca Mercer.*
David stared.
The probability of a biological relationship was listed beneath them.
*99.98%.*
David looked at Nathan.
“They were related.””
“Yes.””
“That's impossible.””
Nathan's voice became barely audible.
“Anna wasn't just your wife.””
David looked at him.
“She was Rebecca's daughter.””
Silence.
Ethan's face changed.
David couldn't speak.
Nathan reached for another document.
“And Lauren wasn't Rebecca's daughter.””
David's head snapped toward him.
Nathan slid the paper across the desk.
A birth certificate.
The mother's name was *Anna Mercer*.
The father's name was blank.
And the child's name was not Lauren.
It was *Sophie Mercer*.
David stared at the paper.
His hands went numb.
Nathan whispered, “Your daughter was taken from the hospital the night she was born.””
David looked up.
“What?””
“And Anna spent the next four years trying to get her back.””
A crash sounded upstairs.
All three men looked toward the ceiling.
Then a woman's scream.
David knew the voice.
Lauren.
Ethan drew his weapon.
David ran toward the stairs.
Nathan shouted behind them.
“David!””
He stopped.
Nathan pointed at the birth certificate.
“The girl you've been raising isn't the child Anna gave birth to.””
David went white.
“What are you saying?””
Nathan's voice trembled.
May you like
“Sophie has a sister.””
And upstairs, Lauren screamed David's name again.