Chapter 9 - The coordinates led to an abandoned ski lodge near the Canadian border.The coordinates led to an abandoned ski lodge near the Canadian border.
Mercer refused Daniel’s demand for Maren to come alone.
Maren refused Mercer’s demand that she stay behind.
Rebecca said nothing.
They compromised.
Maren and Rebecca would enter.
Police would remain beyond visible range.
Maren wore a transmitter.
Rebecca wore handcuffs until they reached the door.
On the drive north, mother and daughter barely spoke.
Rain struck the windshield.
Finally Rebecca whispered,
“You used to sing when you were nervous.”
Maren stared ahead.
“Don’t.”
“You’d make up terrible songs.”
“I said don’t.”
Rebecca nodded.
Minutes passed.
Then Maren asked,
“Was any of my childhood real?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“All of it.”
“That’s not possible.”
“The reasons were hidden. The love wasn’t.”
Maren’s eyes burned.
“You lied every day.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were my biological mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mind had been altered.”
“Yes.”
“And you still never told me.”
Rebecca cried quietly.
“You were happy.”
Maren laughed bitterly.
“That excuse seems popular in this family.”
At 3:12 p.m. they reached the lodge.
Daniel opened the door.
Maren nearly stopped breathing.
Her father looked older.
Beard gray.
Shoulders bent.
But he was Daniel.
The man who taught her to drive.
The man who danced badly in the kitchen.
The man she cried for until her ribs hurt after the fire.
His eyes filled.
“Mare.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
Daniel accepted it.
She slapped him again.
Then started hitting his chest.
“You left me!”
“I know.”
“You left me alone!”
“I know.”
“You were alive!”
He caught her wrists gently.
“I know.”
Maren broke.
She hated herself for it, but she fell against him and sobbed.
Daniel held her.
For maybe ten seconds.
Then Maren shoved him away.
“Where are my daughters?”
He nodded toward the back room.
Iris sat at a table drawing.
Elodie slept on a couch beneath a blanket.
Adrian sat nearby.
His hands were tied.
Maren ran to Elodie first.
She checked her breathing.
No injuries.
Then she looked at Iris.
The eight-year-old had Maren’s eyes.
Gabriel’s dark hair.
A small scar near her eyebrow.
Iris watched her cautiously.
“You’re Maren?”
Maren’s throat closed.
“Yes.”
“Gabriel says you’re my mom.”
Maren knelt.
“I think I am.”
“You don’t know?”
The question hurt.
“I’m trying to know.”
Iris looked toward Daniel.
“He says you forgot me.”
“I didn’t choose to.”
“So you forgot me anyway.”
Maren had no answer good enough.
“Yes.”
Iris looked down at the drawing.
Maren didn’t touch her.
Not yet.
She walked to Adrian.
“Why is he tied?”
Daniel said,
“Because at 11:40 every Thursday he becomes someone else.”
“Not anymore. The implant was removed.”
“The implant wasn’t the whole mechanism.”
Adrian looked furious.
“He knocked me out.”
“You tried to take Elodie.”
“I’m her father.”
“Under an activated command.”
Maren turned to Daniel.
“Explain.”
Daniel unlocked Adrian’s restraints.
“His conditioning includes auditory triggers. The pump reinforced them chemically. Removing it reduced control, not programming.”
Adrian rubbed his wrists.
“You did this to me.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Yes.”
Adrian punched him.
Daniel hit the floor.
Maren didn’t stop him.
Adrian stood over Daniel.
“You put something in my body.”
“Yes.”
“You stole years of my life.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father had access to Maren.”
“Everett wasn’t my biological father.”
“He was still your father.”
Adrian raised his fist again.
Maren caught his arm.
“Enough.”
Adrian looked at her.
For a moment rage controlled him.
Then he stepped back.
Daniel wiped blood from his mouth.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserve prison,” Adrian said.
“Yes.”
Rebecca entered.
Daniel’s face changed.
“Becca.”
She stared.
“You moved Iris without telling me.”
“You brought her into Guardian contact.”
“To get her away from Kellan.”
“You compromised her.”
“You vanished for six months!”
Maren stepped between them.
“Stop.”
They both went silent.
“You do not get to turn my daughters into an argument about your marriage.”
Rebecca looked ashamed.
Daniel nodded.
Maren folded her arms.
“You said I remembered five years ago.”
Daniel went to a locked case.
He removed a tablet.
“This happened after you gave birth to Elodie.”
Maren frowned.
“Elodie is four.”
“Five years ago during pregnancy.”
He opened a video.
Maren sat in a motel room.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Daniel was filming.
Video-Maren looked directly at the camera.
“My name is Elena Rebecca Vale.”
Present Maren stopped breathing.
“I currently go by Maren Cole Vale.”
Video-Maren continued.
“My memories are returning in fragments. If I lose them again, this recording is for me.”
She looked exhausted.
“But if I am watching this, I need to believe myself.”
Maren’s eyes filled.
Video-Maren explained everything.
Gabriel.
Iris.
Everett.
Guardian.
She had recovered memories after a car accident during her pregnancy with Elodie.
She found Daniel through an old emergency contact.
For seventy-three minutes, she knew.
Then a seizure erased access again.
But before that happened, she made plans.
“If they use Elodie,” video-Maren said, “take her.”
Present Maren whispered,
“I said that.”
Daniel nodded.
Video-Maren continued.
“Do not trust Adrian blindly.”
Adrian flinched.
“Adrian is a good man, but Everett has access to him.”
Maren looked at Adrian.
Video-Maren said,
“Do not trust Gabriel blindly either.”
Maren turned back.
“Gabriel loves me. That makes him dangerous in a different way. He thinks restoring my memory will restore our marriage.”
Maren’s stomach tightened.
Then the video changed tone.
“And do not trust Rebecca.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Video-Maren leaned toward the camera.
“Rebecca believes the ends justify the means.”
Daniel looked down.
“But most importantly…”
Video-Maren swallowed.
“There is a third executor.”
Everyone became still.
“I know who it is.”
Maren leaned closer.
The screen suddenly distorted.
File corrupted.
“No.”
Daniel tried.
Same failure.
“You don’t have the rest?”
“I never did.”
Maren looked around.
“So I knew.”
“Yes.”
“I knew who Three was.”
“Yes.”
“And now I have to remember.”
Daniel nodded.
“There’s one clue.”
He opened another file.
A handwritten note from Maren.
THREE IS THE PERSON WHO BENEFITS IF ADRIAN, GABRIEL, LENORA, KELLAN AND I DESTROY EACH OTHER.
Maren read it twice.
Then Iris spoke from the table.
“Maybe it’s the doctor lady.”
Everyone turned.
Maren approached slowly.
“What doctor lady?”
Iris drew a face.
Long dark hair.
Glasses.
“She visits sometimes.”
Rebecca looked at the drawing.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Maren stared.
“Who is she?”
Rebecca whispered,
“Helena.”
Maren’s biological mother.
Dr. Helena Voss.
Supposedly dead in a plane crash.
Iris nodded.
“She says she’s my grandmother.”
Maren’s pulse thundered.
“Where did you see her?”
“At the foster house.”
“When?”
“Lots of times.”
Rebecca sank into a chair.
“That’s impossible.”
Maren almost laughed.
Again that word.
Iris continued.
“She told me you stole her life.”
Maren’s skin turned cold.
“What else?”
“She said one day you’d remember what you did.”
“What did I do?”
Iris looked frightened.
“She said you killed her daughter.”
Maren stared.
“I am her daughter.”
Iris shook her head.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Iris picked up her drawing.
“She said her daughter’s name was Elena.”
Maren felt dizzy.
May you like
Then Iris added,
“And she said you were the girl they replaced Elena with.”
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