Chapter 11 - The Daughter of the Enemy
Sarah contacted Richard first.
A burner phone rang at midnight.
"Colonel Hayes?"
"Sarah."
Silence.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Are you working for Michael?"
"No."
"Did you hurt Emily?"
Sarah's breath caught.
"No."
"Were you there?"
"After."
"Explain."
"I followed the van."
Richard stood.
"You knew she had been taken?"
"I knew someone was watching her."
"And you didn't call police?"
"Michael has police."
"Then call me."
"I didn't trust you."
Richard almost shouted.
"Why?"
"Because Michael told me you killed my mother."
Nathan flinched.
Richard said, "Evelyn is alive."
"I know that now."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Sarah cried softly.
"I spent years believing she abandoned me."
Richard's anger weakened.
Michael had shaped another life through lies.
Sarah continued.
"I joined St. Catherine because I found records connecting Evelyn to the hospital. Then Emily started investigating."
"You met her?"
"Yes."
"Did she know who you were?"
"No."
"Why protect her?"
"Because she reminded me of Katherine."
Richard closed his eyes.
"Did you know my wife?"
"She saved my life."
Sarah explained that her earliest clear memory was of Katherine driving through a snowstorm.
Michael had locked Sarah inside a remote house after Evelyn tried to leave.
Katherine helped her escape.
For years, Sarah lived under different identities.
Then Katherine died.
The protection network collapsed.
Sarah disappeared on her own.
"Did you see who hurt Emily?" Richard asked.
"No."
"But you followed the van."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"An abandoned hotel near the airport."
"Address."
"I'll send it."
"Why didn't you rescue her?"
"I tried."
Richard became silent.
"I got inside after they left the room. Emily was conscious."
"What happened?"
"She gave me the fabric."
Richard froze.
"The piece with Daniel's initials?"
"Yes."
"She gave it to you?"
"She ripped it from a coat hanging in the room."
Richard understood.
"So Daniel was there."
"His clothing was."
"But not Daniel."
"No."
"Then why put it in Emily's hand?"
"She wanted you to find it."
Richard frowned.
"Why?"
"Because there was something sewn inside."
Richard remembered the fabric had been taken into evidence.
He immediately called Claire.
They examined it under a forensic light.
Inside the embroidered initials was a tiny strip of plastic.
A micro-storage chip.
Encrypted.
Daniel had hidden information inside his clothing.
Emily had found it.
The chip contained one audio file.
Daniel Mercer speaking.
"If this recording reaches Richard Hayes, then Michael has already moved against Emily."
Richard listened.
"I need protection. I also need you to understand something. Michael believes Katherine's ledger can destroy his network. He's wrong."
Richard frowned.
"The ledger is outdated. Names changed. Companies changed. Accounts changed."
Claire leaned closer.
"But Katherine created something else."
Richard waited.
"A live archive."
Emily whispered, "What?"
Daniel continued.
"She designed a system that copied every identity transaction Michael's network made."
Richard stared at the speaker.
"Where is it?"
Daniel's recorded voice answered as though he had heard the question.
"The archive is still operating."
A pause.
"And it is hidden inside the last place Michael would ever destroy."
The file ended.
Claire looked at Richard.
"What place?"
Richard's phone rang.
Sarah again.
Her voice was panicked.
"Colonel, you need to get Emily out of St. Catherine."
"Why?"
"I remembered what Michael said when I was a child."
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"What?"
"He called the hospital his library."
