Chapter 19 - BENEATH HALE HOUSEThey entered through the greenhouse.
Evelyn led them to a stone planter beneath Laura’s favorite white roses.
She pressed three metal butterflies embedded in the rim.
The floor opened.
A stairwell descended beneath the house.
Nolan ordered officers to secure the grounds, but their radios failed as soon as they entered.
The underground corridor smelled of disinfectant and damp stone.
Harper saw observation windows, medical chairs and shelves filled with family photographs.
Some showed Bennett sleeping.
Others showed him eating, arguing and holding Harper as a baby.
Daniel had studied her father for years.
In one room, dozens of recordings played Bennett’s voice repeating common phrases.
“I love you, Bug.”
“Your mother would be proud.”
“Do not touch the trust documents.”
Harper covered her ears.
Evelyn opened Patient Room 09.
The bed was empty.
Restraints lay cut on the floor.
Fresh blood marked the wall.
Bennett had escaped or been moved.
Adrian found a hidden camera.
Its last recording showed Bennett waking alone, removing a medical line and pressing his thumb against a butterfly carved into the wall.
A door opened.
Laura entered.
Harper moved closer to the screen.
The date on the video was three days after Laura’s official death.
Laura looked thinner, but alive.
Bennett tried to reach her.
She remained outside the glass.
“I am sorry,” she said.
Bennett struck the barrier.
“You let Harper believe you were dead.”
“I needed Victor to stop searching.”
“You used me as bait.”
“I needed them to reveal the replacement.”
Bennett’s expression filled with horror.
“Who is with our daughter?”
Laura looked directly at the camera.
“Not you.”
The recording ended.
Harper turned toward Adrian.
“My mother survived.”
“For a time,” he said.
“How long?”
He did not answer.
Evelyn opened another archive.
The patient list appeared.
09-BH — BENNETT HALE
08-DC — DANIEL CREST
07-LH — LAURA HALE
06-EM — EVELYN MERCER
Harper stared at Evelyn.
“You were a patient too.”
Evelyn touched the scar beneath her hairline.
“Victor did not recruit me.”
“He replaced me first.”
A door closed behind them.
The corridor filled with gas.
Through the glass wall ahead, Daniel appeared wearing Bennett’s face.
Beside him stood the real Bennett.
A gun was pressed against his neck.
Daniel looked at Harper.
“One of us is your father.”
May you like
Then he smiled.
“Choose correctly.”
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