Chapter 8 - The Woman in the Photograph
The address led Arthur to an abandoned church on the edge of Ashford.
Emily insisted on coming.
Arthur argued.
She ignored him.
The church doors were unlocked.
Richard sat beneath the altar with his hands bound.
The woman stood behind him.
Older than in the photograph.
Dark hair threaded with gray.
A thin scar along her jaw.
She pointed the pistol toward the floor.
"My name is Claire Monroe."
Arthur stopped.
"You're the woman with Daniel."
Claire nodded.
Emily asked, "Are you the baby's mother?"
Pain crossed Claire's face.
"No."
Arthur's disappointment was immediate.
"Then who is?"
Claire looked at Richard.
"Tell him."
Richard remained silent.
Claire pressed the gun against his shoulder.
"Tell him."
Richard whispered, "Rebecca."
Arthur stared.
"Rebecca died eight years ago."
Richard closed his eyes.
"She gave birth before she died."
Emily frowned.
"But this infant was born days ago."
Claire said, "The child in your NICU is not Rebecca's daughter."
Arthur looked between them.
Claire continued.
"She's Rebecca's granddaughter."
The church seemed to become completely silent.
Arthur struggled to process it.
"Rebecca had a child."
Claire nodded.
"A daughter named Anna."
"Where is Anna?"
Claire looked at Richard again.
"Missing."
Arthur turned on Richard.
"You knew."
Richard spoke quietly.
"Anna was raised under another identity."
"Why?"
"To protect her."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"You mean to monitor her."
Arthur crouched in front of Richard.
"Did Anna give birth to the baby?"
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Arthur grabbed Richard's shirt.
"You keep saying that."
"Because people started moving without my control."
"Who?"
Richard looked toward Claire.
She answered.
"Elias Mercer."
Arthur released Richard.
Claire said, "Mercer was never just the doctor who helped fake Daniel's death. He was one of the principal researchers."
Emily asked, "And now?"
"He wants the protocol."
"He already has the research."
"No. He has pieces."
Claire looked at Arthur.
"Daniel divided the full archive among people who didn't know what they carried."
Arthur remembered the dog-tag code.
"Me."
"Yes."
"Who else?"
"Rebecca. Me. And one other person."
"Who?"
Claire hesitated.
"Daniel."
Arthur stared at her.
"You know where he is."
Claire's eyes filled.
"I knew."
"Knew?"
"The last time I saw Daniel was four years ago."
"Where?"
"Montana."
Arthur's throat tightened.
Alive four years ago.
Closer than seventeen years of death.
Claire continued.
"He had rebuilt part of his life. New name. Small house. He repaired boats."
"Why didn't he contact me?"
"He wanted to."
"Then why didn't he?"
"Because he believed anyone he contacted would become a target."
Arthur laughed once, without humor.
"That worked beautifully."
Claire lowered the pistol.
"Daniel spent years trying to dismantle the project quietly. Then Mercer found Anna."
Emily said, "Rebecca's daughter."
Claire nodded.
"Anna was twenty-four. She didn't know who she really was."
Arthur looked toward Richard.
"You erased her identity."
Richard whispered, "Rebecca asked me to."
Claire snapped, "Rebecca asked you to hide her from your father. Not to track her blood, education, relationships, and pregnancies."
Arthur's face hardened.
"Pregnancies?"
Claire looked toward Emily.
"The NICU baby wasn't the first."
Emily went pale.
"What happened to the others?"
Claire said nothing.
Arthur repeated, "What happened?"
Claire's eyes filled with anger.
"They died."
Arthur stared.
"How many?"
"Three."
Emily covered her mouth.
Claire continued.
"Premature births. Severe autonomic instability. The research team called them failed iterations."
Arthur looked sick.
"And the baby?"
"She is the first to survive past forty-eight hours."
Arthur immediately thought of the infant becoming calm in his arms.
"They need me to keep her alive."
Claire nodded.
"Possibly."
Arthur's voice broke.
"Where is Anna?"
Richard whispered, "Mercer has her."
Arthur turned.
"How do you know?"
"Because he called me."
"When?"
"This morning."
"What did he want?"
Richard looked toward the altar.
"The same thing he has wanted for years."
"What?"
Richard said, "Daniel."
A sound came from the rear pews.
Everyone turned.
A man stepped into the aisle.
Thin.
Limping.
The left side of his face covered in burn scars.
Arthur stopped breathing.
The man looked at him.
Seventeen years disappeared.
"Hey, Sergeant."
May you like
Arthur's knees almost gave way.
Daniel Sterling was alive.
