Chapter 16 - ELEANOR'S GHOST
Hadrian thought he had misunderstood.
Eleanor had been dead four years.
The girl called B-6 was frightened.
Drugged.
Traumatized.
Her perception could easily be distorted.
Dr. Cole cautioned everyone.
“Do not lead her.”
Hadrian nodded.
He sat several feet away.
The girl held Eleanor’s photograph.
“What is your name?”
She looked down.
“Six.”
“That is what they called you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have another name?”
She shook her head.
Hadrian felt anger.
A child had lived eleven years known only by an experiment number.
“Would you like another name?”
Six looked uncertain.
“Am I allowed?”
Hadrian’s throat tightened.
“Yes.”
She thought.
“Not yet.”
“That is okay.”
Hadrian pointed gently at the photograph.
“You said this woman gave it to you yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the white room.”
“On Crosshaven?”
Six nodded.
“What did she look like?”
Six pointed at Eleanor.
“Like that.”
“Exactly?”
“Older.”
Hadrian’s heartbeat changed.
“Did she say her name?”
“Ellie.”
Eleanor’s family nickname.
Only close relatives used it.
Hadrian looked at Julian.
Julian’s face had gone pale.
“Who told you to call her Ellie?”
Hadrian asked.
“She did.”
“What did she say?”
Six closed her eyes.
“She said not to be afraid.”
“She said Hadrian would come.”
Hadrian felt chills.
“What else?”
“She said Sorrel was safe.”
No one outside the closest circle knew Six had any connection to Sorrel.
Hadrian leaned forward.
“Where did Ellie go?”
Six pointed toward the hallway.
“She left before the loud men came.”
The tactical raid.
Hadrian looked at Ortiz.
Security footage from Crosshaven was immediately reviewed.
At first, nothing.
Then a camera near the laboratory showed a woman entering at 5:12 p.m.
Thirty minutes before the raid.
Baseball cap.
Dark jacket.
Face partially obscured.
She moved with familiarity.
Used access codes.
Entered Six’s room.
Exited fourteen minutes later.
The woman crossed another camera.
This time her face appeared for less than one second.
Hadrian’s heart stopped.
Eleanor.
Older.
Thinner.
But Eleanor.
Julian staggered backward.
“That is my sister.”
Hadrian could not speak.
The timestamp was indisputable.
Ortiz replayed the frame.
Dr. Sethi cautioned.
“Facial resemblance does not prove identity.”
Hadrian knew.
But he knew Eleanor’s walk.
Her left shoulder sat slightly lower from an old tennis injury.
The woman had the same imbalance.
Eleanor touched door handles with two fingers instead of her palm.
The woman did too.
Hadrian felt his reality collapsing again.
“Eleanor died.”
Ortiz said nothing.
“The car was recovered.”
“Yes.”
“A body was buried.”
“Yes.”
Hadrian looked at Julian.
Julian whispered.
“The body was badly burned.”
Hadrian remembered.
The coffin had been closed.
Identification used dental records and a wedding ring.
Hadrian had accepted it.
Because why would he not?
Ortiz immediately requested exhumation.
Hadrian felt nauseated.
Two family funerals now faced questions.
Sebastian’s coffin contained someone else.
What if Eleanor’s did too?
At 8:00 a.m., a DNA comparison from preserved autopsy material returned.
The body buried as Eleanor Cross Vale was female.
Similar age.
But not Eleanor.
Hadrian sat down.
For four years, his wife had been alive somewhere.
Maybe.
The idea should have created joy.
Instead, it created terror.
If Eleanor survived the crash, why did she not come home?
Why leave Sorrel?
Why leave Hadrian?
Why allow everyone to mourn?
Unless she could not return.
Six provided another clue.
“Ellie has a scar.”
“Where?”
Six touched the side of her face.
A burn scar.
The woman on camera kept that side hidden.
Hadrian remembered Eleanor’s car exploding after the crash.
Maybe she survived with severe injuries.
Ortiz searched hospital records from the region.
One unidentified woman had been admitted the night of the crash.
Severe burns.
Head trauma.
Transferred after three days to a private rehabilitation facility.
Who arranged the transfer?
Dr. Conrad Bell.
Hadrian stared.
Bell again.
The woman disappeared from medical records afterward.
Sebastian may have taken Eleanor alive.
Why fake her death?
Because a dead woman could not testify.
Why keep her alive?
Maybe he needed information about Project Orchard.
Maybe he tortured or manipulated her for years.
Hadrian’s anger became something beyond rage.
Then a message arrived from an encrypted account.
A single photograph.
Eleanor standing beside a window.
Current.
Alive.
Her face carried burn scars along one side.
Her eyes remained unmistakable.
Hadrian stopped breathing.
Beneath the image were words.
DO NOT LOOK FOR ME.
Hadrian read them again.
Ortiz began tracing.
The message used sophisticated routing.
Hadrian typed a reply.
IS THIS ELEANOR?
Three minutes passed.
Then an answer.
YES.
Hadrian’s hands shook.
He typed.
TELL ME SOMETHING ONLY WE KNOW.
A response came.
THE BLUE UMBRELLA WAS NEVER LOST.
Hadrian closed his eyes.
Their first date had ended in rain.
Eleanor left a blue umbrella in his apartment intentionally so she would have a reason to return.
They had joked about it for years.
Nobody else knew.
Hadrian typed.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
The answer took longer.
TRYING TO KEEP YOU ALIVE.
Hadrian stared.
WHY DIDN'T YOU COME HOME?
BECAUSE MY FATHER WOULD HAVE KILLED SORREL.
Hadrian felt tears rise.
HE HURT HER ANYWAY.
A long pause.
Then.
I KNOW.
Hadrian’s anger surfaced.
YOU KNEW?
The reply came.
NOT UNTIL THREE WEEKS AGO.
HOW?
MARTA FOUND ME.
Hadrian looked at Ortiz.
Marta?
Marta had been in rehabilitation.
Unless before her crash she had contacted Eleanor.
Hadrian typed.
WHERE ARE YOU?
I CANNOT TELL YOU.
WHY?
BECAUSE SEBASTIAN STILL HAS PEOPLE NEAR YOU.
WHO?
I DON'T KNOW ALL OF THEM.
Hadrian stared at the board directors in his mind.
Police.
Security.
Employees.
Anyone.
Eleanor continued.
DO NOT TRUST JULIAN COMPLETELY.
Hadrian froze.
He looked across the room.
Julian was speaking with Gideon.
Hadrian typed.
WHY?
The response took almost a minute.
HE MADE A DEAL WITH OUR FATHER.
Hadrian’s heart sank.
WHEN?
AFTER MY CRASH.
ABOUT WHAT?
The answer came.
SORREL.
Hadrian’s expression changed.
He walked away from Julian.
WHAT DEAL?
Julian, according to Eleanor, had discovered she survived.
Sebastian offered a bargain.
Julian would remain silent.
In exchange, Sebastian would never touch Sorrel.
Julian believed him.
For years, Sebastian stayed away.
Then Project Orchard resurfaced.
Marcus became ambitious.
Celeste entered Hadrian’s life.
Sebastian broke the agreement.
Hadrian looked at Julian with fury.
He typed.
WHY WOULD JULIAN DO THAT?
Eleanor answered.
BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE WAS MY FATHER KILLING ALL OF US.
Hadrian did not know whether to forgive or condemn.
Eleanor sent another message.
I ESCAPED EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO.
Hadrian froze.
Eighteen months.
Before Celeste moved into the mansion.
WHY DIDN'T YOU RETURN THEN?
BECAUSE I LEARNED NORTH CEDAR HAD ALREADY ENTERED YOUR LIFE.
Hadrian understood.
Celeste.
Marcus.
His compromised phone.
The house surveillance.
Eleanor may have feared appearing would trigger Sebastian’s plan.
Hadrian typed.
SORREL THINKS YOU ARE DEAD.
The reply stopped for several minutes.
Then.
I KNOW.
He could feel Eleanor’s pain through the words.
Hadrian typed.
SHE DESERVED HER MOTHER.
Eleanor answered.
YES.
SO DID I.
A long silence.
Then.
YES.
Hadrian covered his face.
He had dreamed of Eleanor alive for years.
Now she was alive, and the reunion existed only through encrypted text.
He typed.
COME HOME.
No answer.
COME HOME, ELEANOR.
Still nothing.
Then his phone rang.
Video call.
He answered.
Eleanor appeared.
Alive.
Hadrian could not speak.
Neither could she.
Four years passed between them in silence.
Her hair was shorter.
A burn scar crossed her left cheek and neck.
Her eyes filled immediately.
“Hadrian.”
He closed his eyes.
Hearing her voice nearly broke him.
“Eleanor.”
She cried.
He cried.
Neither apologized.
Not yet.
Not through a phone.
Hadrian whispered.
“Sorrel is here.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
“No.”
“She needs to know.”
“Hadrian, wait.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
Eleanor’s fear returned.
“Because Sebastian escaped.”
“We know.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
Eleanor looked behind her.
“He did not escape alone.”
Hadrian’s heartbeat changed.
“Who is with him?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“The person who created Project Orchard.”
“Sebastian created it.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked directly at him.
“My mother.”
Hadrian frowned.
“Your mother died twenty-six years ago.”
Eleanor gave a broken laugh.
“So did my father.”
The screen froze.
Then disconnected.
Hadrian stared.
Another dead member of the Cross family had apparently survived.
But before he could process it, Sorrel entered the room.
She had heard a voice.
She saw the frozen final frame on Hadrian’s phone.
Her stuffed rabbit slipped from her hand.
“Mommy?”
Hadrian turned.
Sorrel stared at Eleanor’s face.
For four years, the child had believed her mother was dead.
Hadrian slowly nodded.
Sorrel began shaking.
“Mommy is alive?”
Before Hadrian could answer, the phone rang again.
Eleanor.
He accepted.
Sorrel stepped closer.
Eleanor saw her daughter.
Everything else disappeared.
“Sorrel.”
Sorrel screamed.
Not from fear.
From four years of grief breaking open at once.
May you like
“Mommy!”
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