Chapter 14 - The Mother With Two Faces
Noah should not have been anywhere near the lake.
He had been weak, feverish, and connected to intravenous fluids only hours earlier.
Yet Eleanor carried him through the gunfire as though his presence were necessary.
Perhaps it was.
Daniel pressed the communication button.
“Mom, get him out of there!”
Eleanor looked directly toward the lake camera.
“He has to hear my voice.”
Rachel gripped the panel.
“What is she doing?”
Charles shouted from behind the stone wall.
“Eleanor, stop!”
His panic revealed more than his words.
Eleanor placed Noah inside the police vehicle beside Lily.
Then she walked toward Charles with her hands raised.
“You told me the heir protocol was disabled,” she said.
Charles aimed his gun at her.
“It should have been.”
“You lied to me for thirty-six years.”
“This is not the moment.”
“It is the only moment we have left.”
Eleanor removed a necklace from beneath her dress.
A tiny black capsule hung from the chain.
Rachel inhaled sharply.
“The root certificate.”
Daniel asked, “What does it do?”
“It proves legal ownership of the original Nightingale architecture.”
“Why does my mother have it?”
Rachel stared at the screen.
“I gave it to her before the accident.”
Daniel looked at his wife.
“You trusted her too?”
“I had no one else.”
Above the water, Eleanor opened the capsule.
Charles fired.
Detective Cole tackled Eleanor as the bullet struck the vehicle.
The capsule rolled across the mud.
Lily crawled from behind the door and grabbed it.
Charles shouted, “Lily, bring that to me.”
The child froze.
Daniel pressed the microphone.
“Lily, listen to me.”
Her face turned toward the lake.
She could hear him through the terminal.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe. Mommy is with me.”
Lily began crying.
“Is it really her?”
Rachel pressed the button.
“It’s me, little bird.”
Little bird had been Rachel’s private name for Lily.
The child covered her mouth.
“Mommy?”
Rachel’s voice broke.
“I need you to do something brave.”
Charles moved toward Lily.
Detective Cole raised her weapon.
“Stop!”
Charles ignored her.
“Lily, your grandmother is confused. Give me the capsule.”
Eleanor pushed herself up.
“Don’t listen to him.”
The gunfire had stopped.
Adrian’s remaining men had either fled or surrendered, but Adrian himself remained missing.
Every person near the lake watched the child.
Lily held the capsule in one hand and her pink notebook in the other.
Rachel gave instructions.
“Open the black cap.”
Lily did.
Inside was a small metal contact.
“Place it against the silver terminal.”
Charles raised his gun.
Daniel shouted, “Don’t!”
A shot rang out.
Charles fell to one knee.
The bullet came from the trees.
Adrian Vale stepped into view, wounded but alive.
Blood covered one side of his coat.
He aimed at Charles.
“I told you the old system was finished.”
Charles fired back.
Adrian disappeared behind a tree.
Detective Cole pulled Lily toward the terminal.
The child pressed the capsule against it.
The submerged panel illuminated.
ROOT CERTIFICATE VERIFIED.
HEIR AUTHORIZATION AVAILABLE.
Rachel entered a command.
“Lily, say your full name.”
“Lily Rose Mercer.”
“Now ask Noah to say his.”
Noah’s weak voice came through the camera.
“Noah James Mercer.”
The system responded.
HEIRS VERIFIED.
SELECT TRUST GUARDIAN.
Three names appeared on the submerged screen.
Eleanor Mercer.
Vanessa Mercer.
Daniel Mercer.
Daniel stared.
“Why am I listed?”
“You were not supposed to be,” Rachel said.
“Did Charles alter it?”
“No. The guardian list was created after I disappeared.”
“By whom?”
The panel flashed.
GUARDIAN SELECTION IN PROGRESS.
“We didn’t select anyone,” Daniel said.
Rachel tried to cancel the command.
The controls stopped responding.
On the camera feed, the silver terminal began glowing in Lily’s hands.
Eleanor shouted, “Drop it!”
The system spoke.
GUARDIAN SELECTED.
Daniel waited for his name.
Or Eleanor’s.
Instead, the display showed:
VANESSA MERCER.
Daniel felt the chamber go silent.
“Vanessa is in surgery,” he said.
Rachel looked terrified.
“No. The system requires a live voice confirmation.”
A speaker activated.
Vanessa’s voice emerged.
“I accept guardianship.”
Daniel stared at the panel.
“That recording could be artificial.”
Rachel shook her head.
“The emotional signature was accepted.”
The system continued.
ORPHEUS CONTROL TRANSFER INITIATED.
Daniel pressed every command.
Nothing worked.
On the camera feed, Lily screamed.
A hand reached from inside the police vehicle and pulled her backward.
The door slammed.
The engine started.
Detective Cole ran after it.
Through the rear window, Daniel saw the driver.
Vanessa.
No bandage.
No gunshot wound.
No sign that she had ever entered an ambulance.
May you like
She looked directly toward the lake camera.
Then she smiled.
