Chapter 17: The Woman Called Evelyn Cross
Chapter 17: The Woman Called Evelyn Cross
Marcus didn't wait for another word.
Before Samuel could finish explaining, he was already running toward the elevator.
Daniel followed close behind.
"Marcus!"
"We don't even know if Khloe is in danger."
Marcus didn't slow down.
"I'm not waiting to find out."
Within minutes...
A convoy of black SUVs sped through Manhattan toward the private hospital.
Police escorts cleared intersections.
Daniel coordinated with federal agents over the radio.
"Lock down every entrance."
"No one leaves the maternity wing."
"Verify every staff identity."
Rebecca listened to the updates.
Then another message came through.
Her expression changed.
"Daniel..."
"What?"
"The surveillance system went offline."
For three minutes.
Exactly three minutes.
Marcus's heart sank.
Three minutes.
It was the same amount of time someone had used to delete hospital footage weeks earlier.
Daniel immediately understood.
"They've done this before."
The convoy reached the hospital.
Marcus ran inside without waiting for security.
Doctors and nurses rushed through the corridors.
The maternity floor had already been sealed.
Khloe stood outside her room surrounded by agents.
The moment she saw Marcus...
She rushed into his arms.
"I'm okay."
Marcus held her tightly.
For several seconds...
Neither of them spoke.
Finally he whispered,
"I thought I lost you."
Khloe smiled through tears.
"Not today."
Daniel began interviewing hospital staff.
The missing obstetrician, Dr. Laura Simmons, had left after receiving what appeared to be an emergency phone call.
No one had seen her since.
A nurse approached cautiously.
"I remember something."
Daniel turned.
"What?"
"There was another woman."
"Elegant."
"Silver hair."
"She told Dr. Simmons she represented the Thorne family."
Marcus looked up immediately.
"Evelyn Cross."
The nurse nodded.
"That's the name she used."
Samuel reviewed the restored security system.
Most cameras showed ordinary hospital activity.
Except one.
For less than two seconds...
A hallway camera captured Evelyn Cross.
She wore a charcoal-gray coat.
Dark sunglasses.
She wasn't looking at the camera.
She was looking directly toward Khloe's room.
Then...
She smiled.
Not at Khloe.
At the camera.
Almost as if she knew someone would eventually watch the footage.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"She wanted us to see her."
Across the Hudson River...
An abandoned riverside warehouse had become Adrian Blackwood's temporary headquarters.
Leonard entered carrying fresh intelligence.
"They're protecting Khloe."
Adrian nodded.
"As they should."
Leonard hesitated.
"Evelyn Cross has entered the game."
For the first time...
Adrian's calm expression disappeared.
He slowly stood.
"Then we're already running out of time."
Leonard frowned.
"I've never seen you afraid of anyone."
Adrian looked toward the river.
"I'm not afraid of Evelyn."
"I'm afraid of what happens..."
"...when Marcus learns who she really is."
Back at FBI Headquarters...
Rebecca finally received a response from international financial investigators.
She hurried into the conference room.
"I've got something."
Samuel projected the report.
Thirty-two offshore accounts.
Hundreds of shell companies.
Every one eventually connected to the same trust.
Created thirty-one years earlier.
Trust beneficiary:
The Hawthorne Foundation.
Marcus frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
Rebecca continued.
"It doesn't exist publicly."
Daniel folded his arms.
"So it's another ghost."
Rebecca shook her head.
"No."
"It existed."
"It was dissolved one day after Edward Thorne died."
Samuel enlarged another document.
Trust administrator:
Evelyn Cross.
Silence filled the room.
Marcus slowly sat down.
"So she controlled the money."
Rebecca nodded.
"For decades."
Daniel looked thoughtful.
"Not just money."
"Influence."
Meanwhile...
Federal agents located Dr. Laura Simmons' abandoned vehicle in an underground parking garage.
The doors were unlocked.
Her purse remained inside.
Her phone had been smashed.
No signs of blood.
No indication of violence.
Only one object seemed out of place.
A folded sonogram image.
Daniel examined it carefully.
It wasn't Khloe's.
Rebecca looked closer.
"No..."
"It belongs to another patient."
Marcus frowned.
"Why would Dr. Simmons have this?"
Samuel checked hospital records.
His fingers stopped typing.
"Oh..."
Daniel looked up.
"What?"
Samuel answered quietly.
"The mother listed on this sonogram..."
"...is Evelyn Cross."
Marcus blinked.
"Impossible."
"She's at least seventy."
Rebecca agreed.
"The scan is only six months old."
Daniel studied the paperwork.
Then noticed something unusual.
"The patient age isn't seventy."
He pointed at the file.
"It's forty-three."
Everyone looked confused.
Rebecca whispered,
"So this isn't the same Evelyn Cross."
Samuel searched deeper.
"There are two."
One born seventy-one years ago.
Another...
Born forty-three years ago.
Mother and daughter.
Both using the same name.
Marcus slowly realized the implication.
"The woman at the hospital..."
"...wasn't the original Evelyn."
Across the country...
Inside a secluded mountain estate...
An elegant woman in her forties removed her gray wig.
She looked into a mirror.
The disguise had transformed her into an elderly woman.
Now...
She appeared decades younger.
Her assistant entered quietly.
"They've figured it out."
She smiled.
"Good."
"They were supposed to."
The assistant hesitated.
"Should we move?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"They're still chasing the wrong Evelyn."
She walked toward a large oil portrait hanging above the fireplace.
The portrait depicted the original founders.
Edward.
Anthony.
Arthur.
Adrian.
And standing beside them...
A young woman.
The assistant looked surprised.
"You knew them all?"
She smiled faintly.
"I didn't just know them."
"I built them."
Back in Manhattan...
Samuel continued restoring corrupted files taken from Sterling Security.
One encrypted directory finally opened.
Its title read:
Project Legacy
Inside were hundreds of surveillance photographs.
Marcus.
Khloe.
Daniel.
Rebecca.
Even Isabella Rossi.
Every photograph had been taken years before the recent attacks.
Rebecca frowned.
"They've been watching Khloe long before she became pregnant."
Marcus looked at one timestamp.
Three years ago.
He whispered,
"This was before I even proposed."
Daniel slowly understood.
"Khloe wasn't targeted because she married into the Thorne family."
Marcus looked at him.
"Then why?"
Samuel opened one final file.
A scanned birth certificate appeared.
The mother's name had been redacted.
The father's name had been removed.
Only one line remained visible.
Family Bloodline Classification: Founder Descendant
Marcus stared at the screen.
Khloe stepped closer.
"What does that mean?"
Samuel swallowed.
"I think..."
"...Khloe wasn't chosen by chance."
Rebecca looked from Khloe to Marcus.
"If this file is genuine..."
"...Khloe herself is descended from one of the original founders."
Complete silence filled the room.
Marcus slowly turned toward his wife.
Khloe's eyes widened.
"My entire life..."
"...I thought I was an orphan."
The room fell silent.
Outside...
A black sedan parked across from the hospital.
Inside...
The younger Evelyn Cross watched the lights in Khloe's room through binoculars.
She smiled.
Then whispered to herself,
"You've finally remembered who you are..."
May you like
"...Miss Blackwood."
End of Chapter 17
