Chapter 4 - THE SHERIFF TRIED TO ERASE US
The first effect was dizziness.
Not immediate.
Subtle.
A pressure behind the eyes.
Elena ripped a strip from the bottom of her shirt.
Pressed it over Emily’s mouth.
“What is it?”
Emily coughed.
“I don’t know.”
“They used it before?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I woke up hours later.”
Sedative gas.
Maybe not meant to kill.
But dosage mattered.
Ventilation mattered.
Emily’s weakened condition mattered.
I looked at the ceiling.
Two vents.
No accessible screws.
“Elena.”
“Working.”
She examined the door.
Electronic lock.
No hinges on our side.
Steel frame anchored into concrete.
Designed by someone who expected people to try escaping.
I pulled off my jacket.
Covered Emily’s nose and mouth.
“Slow breaths.”
She nodded.
My head already felt heavy.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“If I pass out—”
“You won’t.”
“If I do, don’t carry me first.”
I stared at her.
“Thomas.”
“He’s upstairs.”
“Elena’s man has him.”
She looked at Elena.
“Who?”
“Marcus Reed.”
“Do you trust him?”
“Yes.”
“Then get yourself out.”
“We all get out.”
I slammed my fist against the door.
“CALEB!”
No answer.
Again.
“CALEB!”
The gas thickened.
My legs felt strange.
Elena pulled out her phone.
No signal.
“Concrete and shielding.”
Emily nodded weakly.
“They didn’t want calls.”
I searched the room.
Medical cart.
Metal tray.
IV pole.
Restraint chair.
Could we break the vent?
I grabbed the IV pole.
Hit the vent grille.
Once.
Twice.
It dented.
Again.
The grille tore loose.
Gas poured harder.
Bad idea.
I jammed fabric into the opening.
Not enough.
Emily slumped against the wall.
“Stay awake.”
“I’m trying.”
Her eyes closed.
I slapped her cheek lightly.
“Emily.”
She opened them.
“Tell me about Thomas.”
“What?”
“Tell me what he looked like.”
Her lips trembled.
“Red.”
I almost laughed.
“All babies are red.”
“He had…”
She took a breath.
“Dark hair.”
“What else?”
“Tiny nose.”
Her eyes closed again.
“Birthmark.”
My mind caught the word.
“What birthmark?”
“Shoulder.”
“Which shoulder?”
“Left.”
“What shape?”
Her mouth moved.
I couldn’t hear.
“What shape?”
“Star.”
I memorized it.
Red star.
Left shoulder.
“Elena.”
She looked at me.
“You hear that?”
“Yes.”
If we survived, that detail mattered.
I hit the door again.
“CALEB!”
Something thudded outside.
Then coughing.
Then his voice.
“Daniel?”
“Kill the ventilation!”
“I don’t know how!”
“Breaker panel!”
“Where?”
Emily lifted her head.
“Laundry room.”
I shouted.
“LAUNDRY ROOM!”
Footsteps ran.
I returned to Emily.
Her pulse felt slower.
Too slow.
“Elena.”
“I know.”
Her own movements were becoming sluggish.
Seconds crawled.
Then everything died.
Emergency lights.
Ventilation.
Keypad.
Total darkness.
A mechanical click sounded in the door.
Fail-safe unlocked.
I yanked it open.
Fresh air hit me.
Caleb stood outside holding a flashlight.
“What happened?”
“Move.”
We got Emily up.
She could barely walk.
Caleb took one side.
I took the other.
She flinched at his touch.
“I’m helping.”
“Don’t.”
“Emily.”
“Don’t touch me.”
Caleb released her.
That reaction bothered me.
There was history between them I still didn’t understand.
We reached the kitchen.
The front door was open.
Marcus lay near the entrance.
Blood at his temple.
Elena dropped beside him.
“Marcus.”
He groaned.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
My eyes went to the bassinet.
Empty.
Everything inside me stopped.
“Where’s Thomas?”
Caleb looked around.
“Elena had him.”
Elena looked at Marcus.
“Where’s the baby?”
His eyes opened.
“Woman.”
“What woman?”
“Older.”
My mother.
I ran outside.
Her car was gone.
Again.
Tire tracks cut across the driveway.
I pulled out my phone.
No signal for two seconds.
Then one bar.
I called.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Emily appeared in the doorway, barely standing.
“Daniel.”
“She took him.”
“I know.”
“I’m going after her.”
“No.”
I turned.
“No?”
“That’s what they expect.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“She has our son.”
Emily grabbed the doorframe.
“She wants you angry.”
“She got it.”
“She wants you moving without thinking.”
“I’m thinking very clearly.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
“You’re thinking like a father.”
“That’s exactly what I am.”
“And that’s exactly how they’ll control you.”
I stared at her.
She was right.
I hated it.
Elena stepped outside.
“Marcus saw Margaret take the baby.”
“Vehicle?”
“Sedan.”
“Direction?”
“North.”
Caleb’s face changed.
I saw it.
“What’s north?”
He said nothing.
“What?”
“Dad’s cabin.”
I stared.
“Hunting cabin?”
“Yes.”
“That place has been empty for years.”
“Not completely.”
“What does that mean?”
“Mom goes there.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you mention that?”
“Because until tonight I didn’t know it mattered.”
Emily leaned against the wall.
“There’s something else.”
I turned.
“What?”
“The adoption records.”
“Caleb told me.”
“He told you they were yours.”
“Yes.”
Emily shook her head.
“They weren’t.”
Caleb frowned.
“You told me they were.”
“I thought they were at first.”
“Then whose?”
Emily looked at him.
“Yours.”
Caleb stared.
“No.”
“I found the original file.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You were adopted.”
“No.”
“Caleb.”
“My birth certificate says—”
“It was altered.”
He laughed.
A broken sound.
“This is insane.”
Emily continued.
“Your mother’s name wasn’t Margaret Hale.”
“Stop.”
“Caleb.”
“STOP.”
His voice echoed through the yard.
Nobody spoke.
He looked toward the house.
Toward the coffin inside.
Then back to Emily.
“If Margaret isn’t my mother, who is?”
Emily’s expression changed.
Sadness.
Fear.
She looked toward the living room.
Toward the dead woman wearing her face.
“Rachel.”
Caleb went completely white.
“That woman?”
“Yes.”
“The woman in the coffin is my biological mother?”
Emily nodded.
Caleb stumbled backward.
“No.”
“She came back six months ago.”
“No.”
“She wanted to find you.”
“No.”
“She wanted to tell you the truth.”
“Stop saying that.”
“She was sixteen when you were born.”
His eyes filled.
“She couldn’t keep you.”
“Who was my father?”
Emily didn’t answer.
“WHO?”
Her eyes moved toward me.
My stomach tightened.
“Emily.”
She whispered.
“Your father.”
Caleb stared at me.
“My father?”
“No.”
Emily’s voice trembled.
“Daniel’s father.”
The man who raised us.
Richard Hale.
Caleb looked like someone had punched him.
“That would mean…”
I finished it.
“You were always my brother.”
Different mother.
Same father.
Caleb sat down hard on the porch steps.
He stared at nothing.
I wanted to process it.
I couldn’t.
Thomas was gone.
My son came first.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Photo.
Thomas.
Wrapped in blue.
Sleeping.
Then a message.
COME TO THE CABIN ALONE.
A second message arrived.
IF YOU BRING POLICE, YOU WILL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN.
Elena looked at the screen.
“Mercer.”
“How do you know?”
“Language.”
She took a breath.
“Control.”
Another message appeared.
BRING EMILY’S FILES.
I looked at Emily.
“What files?”
Her face changed.
“I hid them.”
“Where?”
May you like
She looked toward the house.
“Somewhere they already searched.”
