Chapter 35 - Where Ethan Had Been WaitingThe Pennsylvania farmhouse contained no Ethan.
But beneath it was a tunnel.
At the end stood a medical facility that officially had never existed.
There were twelve rooms.
Eleven were empty.
The twelfth was locked.
Clara stood behind federal agents as they opened it.
A man sat beside a window.
His hair was longer.
Gray appeared at his temples.
A scar crossed his left hand.
He looked up.
Clara knew him immediately.
Not because of his face.
Because of the way he looked guilty before anyone accused him.
Ethan.
The real Ethan.
He stood too quickly.
"Clara?"
She said nothing.
His eyes moved to Sienna.
Then Daniel.
Then the agents.
He seemed to understand.
"How long?"
Naomi answered.
"Three years and eight months."
Ethan sat down.
He had believed it was fourteen months.
The facility had manipulated calendars, news access and medication schedules.
Arthur's network had kept him available as a living identity asset.
Ethan laughed once.
It sounded broken.
"I spent half my life pretending to be someone else."
He looked around the room.
"Then somebody stole me."
Clara finally spoke.
"Now you understand."
He looked at her.
There was no accusation in her voice.
That hurt him more.
At the hospital, Ethan underwent identification.
DNA confirmed him.
His legal identity was restored.
The impostor in Ohio cooperated immediately.
His real name was Samuel Price.
He had been another erased child.
Arthur offered him freedom if he agreed to become Ethan.
He had taken the deal.
But something unexpected had happened.
Samuel used Ethan's identity to help other victims restore theirs.
"Why?" Clara asked him.
Samuel looked ashamed.
"Because if I had to steal a man's name, I wanted to do something with it that he might not hate."
Ethan heard the statement from the doorway.
For a long moment, neither man spoke.
Then Ethan said:
"Keep the clinic."
Samuel stared at him.
"The name?"
"No."
May you like
For the first time, Ethan smiled.
"Get your own."
Related Stories
