Chapter 11 - THE DAUGHTER VICTOR RAISED
The little girl beside Amelia did not cry.
That frightened Ethan more than tears would have.
Rose sat perfectly still.
Hands folded.
Back straight.
Eyes lowered.
A child trained not to react.
Lily watched the video from the safe house.
“That’s her.”
Ethan turned.
“You know Rose?”
Lily nodded slowly.
“She was in the dark place.”
The room fell silent.
“Did you speak to her?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did she call herself?”
“Number Six.”
Ethan felt rage burn through him.
Victor had not raised Rose as family.
He had raised her as property.
Lily continued.
“She was always punished when she asked about Mommy.”
Nora, now cooperating with investigators, began crying.
“I thought Victor moved her overseas.”
“You knew about her?”
“I knew there was another girl.”
“You never thought to tell me?”
“I didn’t know she was yours until Lily found the hospital bracelet.”
Ethan turned away.
Every answer created another betrayal.
Victor sent instructions thirty minutes later.
Midnight.
An abandoned Blackwood shipping terminal on the Hudson River.
Lily in exchange for Amelia and Rose.
No police.
No tracking devices.
Ethan showed the message to his security chief.
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“You cannot bring Lily.”
“I’m not planning to.”
Lily appeared in the doorway.
“Yes, you are.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“Rose is my sister.”
“You are seven years old.”
“She’s seven too.”
“That is exactly why I’m not putting either of you in danger.”
Lily lifted her chin.
“You said you were bringing Mommy home.”
“I am.”
“Then let me help.”
Ethan knelt.
He had spent seven years imagining what kind of father he might have been.
Now fatherhood had arrived in its most brutal form.
Protect one daughter by abandoning another.
Or risk one to save two.
“There is something you can do.”
Lily watched him.
“What?”
“Tell me everything you remember about the dark place.”
She described hallways.
Metal doors.
A room with no windows.
A bell that sounded whenever a boat passed.
A red light outside at night.
Samuel pulled up maps.
One facility matched the description.
Blackwood Shipping Terminal 12.
The exact place Victor selected for the exchange.
Lily had been there before.
That meant Victor knew every hidden exit.
But so did Lily.
“There’s a tunnel under the stairs.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Where does it go?”
“To the water.”
That changed everything.
Ethan began forming a rescue plan.
Then a security officer entered.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
“We intercepted a call from Victor.”
“To whom?”
The officer placed headphones on the table.
The recording played.
Victor’s voice was clear.
“If Ethan arrives with Lily, kill Amelia first.”
A second voice answered.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
May you like
Charles.
His father.
