Chapter 15 - THE VOICE INSIDE THE COFFIN
Amelia surrendered without resistance.
It was the only move Gabriel would not expect.
The federal agents placed her inside an armored vehicle while Nathaniel demanded access to the warrant. Cassandra and Julian were separated for questioning. Victor vanished before authorities sealed the cemetery.
Theodore’s coffin remained suspended above the open grave.
Rainwater gathered along its polished lid.
As the convoy prepared to leave, Amelia looked through the vehicle window.
Samuel Kane stood beside the coffin.
He appeared to be adjusting the folded flag.
Then he pressed his palm against the wood three times.
Pause.
Two times.
Pause.
Three times.
A military distress code.
Someone was inside.
Amelia turned toward the agent beside her.
“I need to return to the grave.”
“No.”
“The coffin contains evidence.”
“The cemetery is secured.”
“You do not understand.”
The vehicle began moving.
Amelia struck the emergency latch with the edge of her hand. The door remained locked.
Nathaniel’s car pulled across the cemetery exit, blocking the convoy.
Agents drew their weapons.
Nathaniel stepped out with both hands visible.
“The arrest warrant is invalid,” he shouted.
The lead agent approached him.
“It was signed by a federal judge.”
“A judge who died six hours ago.”
The cemetery fell into confusion.
Amelia used the moment to force the inner safety release.
She jumped from the vehicle.
“Stop her.”
She ran toward the grave.
Samuel had disappeared.
Amelia reached the coffin and pressed her ear against the lid.
At first, she heard nothing.
Then a faint scratching came from within.
Nathaniel reached her side.
Together, they released the ceremonial locks.
The coffin opened.
It did not contain Theodore.
Inside lay Evelyn Kane, bound and barely conscious.
A small speaker had been taped to her chest.
As Amelia removed the gag, the speaker activated.
Gabriel’s voice emerged.
“Congratulations, Amelia. You have inherited Hart Meridian, Orpheus, and every crime committed in your name.”
Federal agents surrounded the grave.
Nathaniel cut Evelyn’s restraints.
Gabriel continued.
“You are now exactly where your mother stood before she died. Powerful enough to expose the truth and compromised enough that no one will believe you.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“He has Theodore,” she whispered.
Amelia froze.
“Theodore was moved from the secure facility,” Evelyn said. “The doctor helped them.”
Nathaniel looked toward the agents.
Theodore’s physician was one of the six people who knew he remained alive.
The speaker crackled.
“Your father has one hour,” Gabriel said. “Come to the coordinates alone, or I will finally give him the funeral you prepared.”
Amelia removed Theodore’s letter from her uniform.
The coordinates beneath the old factory matched Gabriel’s demand.
Nathaniel read them over her shoulder.
“It is a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You are not going alone.”
“He will kill my father.”
“He may kill him anyway.”
Amelia looked at the surrounding agents, mourners, and cameras.
Gabriel had turned the cemetery into a stage.
Every possible move would be recorded.
Cassandra approached with an agent beside her.
“There is something you need to know,” she said.
Amelia faced her.
Cassandra held out the transfer code she had taken from Gabriel’s coat.
“I remembered where I saw this sequence before.”
“Where?”
“In Theodore’s private medical records.”
Amelia took the paper.
Cassandra pointed to the final six digits.
“It is not a bank code.”
“What is it?”
“A genetic identification number.”
Nathaniel entered the sequence into a secure database.
The search returned a sealed family record.
Access required Amelia’s authorization as Hart Meridian’s controlling beneficiary.
She pressed her thumb to the screen.
The file opened.
SUBJECT: AMELIA HELEN HART
PATERNAL MATCH: THEODORE JAMES HART
MATERNAL MATCH: HELEN MARIE HART
SECOND REGISTERED OFFSPRING MATCH: CLASSIFIED
Amelia stared at the final line.
“Second offspring?”
Cassandra looked equally confused.
“You have a sibling.”
“I do not.”
Nathaniel opened the sealed attachment.
A birth certificate appeared.
The child had been born eleven months after Amelia.
The name was partially redacted.
Only the surname remained visible.
HART.
Status:
Presumed deceased.
Amelia’s pulse quickened.
Evelyn struggled to sit upright inside the coffin.
“Gabriel kept asking about two Hart heirs,” she said. “I thought he meant Cassandra.”
Nathaniel decrypted another section.
A photograph began loading.
Amelia watched the blurred face sharpen pixel by pixel.
The child in the image was approximately eight years old.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A thin scar along the chin.
Amelia had seen that face before.
Not in a family album.
Not in Theodore’s files.
She had seen an adult version standing near the chapel during the funeral.
One of the federal agents.
Amelia turned.
The lead agent was gone.
His vehicle remained beside the gate with its engine running.
On the driver’s seat lay his badge, his weapon, and a photograph of Helen Hart holding two infants.
A message had been written across the back.
ONE CHILD WAS RAISED AS A HART.
THE OTHER WAS RAISED TO DESTROY THEM.
Nathaniel’s phone rang.
Theodore’s number appeared.
Amelia answered immediately.
“Dad?”
A man breathed on the other end.
Then a voice spoke.
It was not Theodore.
It was not Gabriel.
It belonged to the missing federal agent.
“Hello, sister.”
Behind his voice, Amelia heard machinery, rushing water, and Theodore groaning in pain.
The man continued.
“Gabriel thinks he is the architect. He has never understood that Orpheus existed before Sebastian Hart learned how to hate.”
Amelia tightened her grip on the phone.
“Who are you?”
A quiet laugh answered.
“You already read my death certificate.”
The call ended.
Nathaniel looked at the coordinates.
Amelia looked toward the cemetery gates.
A black vehicle sped away through the rain.
Inside the open coffin, beneath where Evelyn had been lying, Amelia noticed a narrow hidden compartment.
She reached inside and removed a sealed glass vial.
The label carried her name.
AMELIA HART
SAMPLE COLLECTED: AGE SEVENTEEN
PROJECT DESIGNATION: ORPHEUS SUCCESSOR A
A second empty space lay beside it.
Its label remained attached.
ORPHEUS SUCCESSOR B
Nathaniel stared at the empty slot.
“Your sibling has the other sample.”
Amelia looked at the clock on her phone.
Fifty-seven minutes remained.
She placed the vial inside her uniform and picked up the weapon an agent had abandoned near the grave.
Nathaniel caught her wrist.
“You cannot walk into this without knowing which enemy is waiting.”
Amelia looked at the coffin, the scattered funeral papers, and the grave prepared for a father who was still alive.
Then she looked toward the road where her unknown brother had disappeared.
“I am not going to meet an enemy,” she said.
“I am going to meet the man who was taught to believe that I stole his life.”
Far beyond the cemetery, thunder rolled across the darkening sky.
At the abandoned Hart Meridian factory, Theodore Hart opened his eyes.
Two men stood before him.
Gabriel Rowe held a bloodied knife.
The federal agent held the original Orpheus ledger.
Gabriel looked toward him.
“You should never have contacted Amelia.”
The agent smiled.
“You should never have believed she was the only successor.”
A steel door opened behind them.
Someone entered the underground chamber.
Theodore’s face filled with horror.
“No,” he whispered. “You died with Helen.”
A woman stepped into the light.
May you like
She wore Amelia’s mother’s pearl earrings.
And she had Helen Hart’s face.
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