I pressed the phone harder against my ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman repeated it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Margaret Ellis. Whoever you just met is not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the street, state troopers were still moving through Reed\u2019s surveillance house. Maya and Lily stood beside the police vehicle. Anna had gone completely still.<\/p>\n
I looked toward the road where the ambulance had disappeared.<\/p>\n
The wounded woman who had held Maya\u2019s hand, called her Emily, described the switched bracelets, and directed police to Sarah Bennett\u2019s buried evidence was being transported under the name Margaret Ellis.<\/p>\n
\u201cProve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The caller inhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a pediatric nurse at St. Matthew\u2019s thirteen years ago. Employee number 4417. I worked nights on the third floor. Clara Hart recorded Reed threatening me in the service corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris heard enough to approach.<\/p>\n
I put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n
The woman continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cJonathan Reed hit me beside the freight elevator because I tried to stop the transfer of a child listed as patient 3079.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was Clara wearing?\u201d<\/p>\n
The caller paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna Hart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then a broken whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnswer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA green scarf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother hated green.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. I gave it to her that night because she'd spilled coffee down the front of her blouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
The caller continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe complained it made her look seasick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cShe used to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Ellis, Lieutenant Harris, state police. Where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m safe for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't an address.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone is impersonating you and has been shot. We need to know whether you're in immediate danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in danger for thirteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked at me.<\/p>\n
I took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Clara said you would eventually be the one person who couldn't be frightened into protecting the wrong secret.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
Clara had spent ten years hiding my daughter from me. Her confidence in my judgment felt late.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is the woman pretending to be you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know her real name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe worked for Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCleaning up problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris asked, \u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords. Witnesses. People.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she kill Sarah and Thomas Bennett?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Reed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know that either.\u201d<\/p>\n
The caller's refusal to guess made me trust her slightly more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the woman you met has used my identity before. Reed kept several identities belonging to people who disappeared after the hospital investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would she lead us to Sarah\u2019s evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Reed doesn't control her anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who does?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one, as far as I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was worse.<\/p>\n
I looked at Maya.<\/p>\n
She had heard everything.<\/p>\n
Her face had gone pale.<\/p>\n
The false Margaret had held her hand.<\/p>\n
Touched her.<\/p>\n
Known intimate details about Sarah.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she want from us?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
The caller answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfer file.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes moved toward the evidence bags.<\/p>\n
Harris followed my gaze.<\/p>\n
The original transfer documents had been taken into police custody.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re secure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris turned toward an evidence officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck everything recovered from beneath the roses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer hurried toward a state vehicle.<\/p>\n
I asked the caller, \u201cWhy does she want the file?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause one page was missing from every copy Clara ever found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat page?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intake photograph for patient 3079.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the girl photographed under 3079 wasn't you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence settled around us.<\/p>\n
Anna stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number was reassigned before the night Emily disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Maya and Lily.<\/p>\n
The unknown eighteen-year-old photographed in Wilmington flashed through my mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was 3079 originally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike the Carter twins.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
Maya whispered, \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
The caller heard her.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya flinched at the name.<\/p>\n
\u201cCall me Maya.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I saw patient 3079 was two days before you came into the hospital. She was around five. Brown hair. Similar build. Similar face.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt Lily move beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she related to us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Reed have a child who looked like my daughters?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't think he chose her because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe arrived under another identity. The number 3079 was assigned after her paperwork was altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you said I was supposed to be transferred as 3079.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were. Later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The patient number had not belonged to one child.<\/p>\n
It was a reusable identity.<\/p>\n
A blank space into which different children could disappear.<\/p>\n
Harris understood.<\/p>\n
\u201c3079 was a ghost record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many children used it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least three.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya.<\/p>\n
Anna.<\/p>\n
And the unknown girl.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
The technician returned from the evidence vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cLieutenant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfer file is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief barely started before the technician continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the envelope recovered with it is empty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne labeled intake image.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris's face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it empty when recovered?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scene photograph shows something inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned toward the road.<\/p>\n
The false Margaret.<\/p>\n
She had been close to the evidence before paramedics removed her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe took it,\u201d Anna said.<\/p>\n
Harris was already on his radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop ambulance unit transporting female from Bennett residence. Do not approach casually. Suspect may be armed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Static answered.<\/p>\n
Then another voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLieutenant, ambulance never reached St. Anne\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood chilled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDispatch lost contact eight minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast ping near Route Nine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris issued orders.<\/p>\n
The real Margaret spoke through my phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe planned this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna leaned toward it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could she plan to get shot?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe walked into a house where Reed was armed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe expected police to arrive before he found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
That meant the false Margaret had deliberately led us to the evidence.<\/p>\n
She needed police to uncover it because she couldn't search the property safely herself.<\/p>\n
Then she stole the one item she wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy the intake photograph?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Reed has been searching for the girl in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eighteen-year-old in Wilmington?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've seen the recent photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I described her.<\/p>\n
Margaret went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was it taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWilmington.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shaky breath came through the speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Clara found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother knows who she is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know her current name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer original name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name meant nothing.<\/p>\n
Then Margaret said:<\/p>\n
\u201cGrace Ellis.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cEllis?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was your daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was my sister's.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya whispered, \u201cSo why does she look like us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer sounded truthful.<\/p>\n
Anna asked, \u201cWhere is Clara now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at the police station.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris turned sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe surrendered less than two hours ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe surrendered because she needed Reed to believe she was protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe used the station to send a message.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked furious.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're telling me my mother staged her death, hid for eleven years, reappeared at a police station, and disappeared again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she thinks Grace can prove something the ledger can't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the hospital operation started before Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Jonathan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho started it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn's face told me she had a suspicion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward Maya.<\/p>\n
\u201cJonathan Reed wasn't hospital counsel when the earliest irregular placements happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cArthur Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kessler, who had been listening quietly, nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur was hospital board chairman.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conspiracy suddenly stretched backward another generation.<\/p>\n
I was tired of discovering larger rooms behind every locked door.<\/p>\n
I asked Margaret, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll send you a location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Reed is in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the woman impersonating you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why you need to find me before she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
A map pin appeared.<\/p>\n
An old church thirty miles north.<\/p>\n
Harris saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go with state police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo uniforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I won't be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked irritated.<\/p>\n
I understood her fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we come with two unmarked vehicles?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca and Anna come inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris shook his head.<\/p>\n
I ignored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgreed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face hardened.<\/p>\n
I held her gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn't me deciding what truth you can handle. This is me refusing to bring you to meet a woman we haven't verified while someone is actively hunting people connected to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya considered that.<\/p>\n
Then nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n
It mattered that she had chosen to accept the reason rather than simply being ordered.<\/p>\n
Lily touched her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe'll stay together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris arranged protection for both girls.<\/p>\n
Dad remained with Carl.<\/p>\n
Evelyn stayed with them too.<\/p>\n
Anna and I left with Harris and two plainclothes state officers.<\/p>\n
Halfway to the church, Harris received an update.<\/p>\n
The ambulance had been found.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
The paramedic and driver were alive, handcuffed inside an abandoned maintenance shed.<\/p>\n
The false Margaret was gone.<\/p>\n
So was the intake photograph.<\/p>\n
We reached the church near dusk.<\/p>\n
It stood alone beside a field, white paint peeling from the clapboards.<\/p>\n
No cars.<\/p>\n
Harris remained outside with the officers.<\/p>\n
Anna and I entered.<\/p>\n
The sanctuary smelled of dust and old wood.<\/p>\n
A woman sat in the front pew.<\/p>\n
She rose.<\/p>\n
Sixties.<\/p>\n
Thin.<\/p>\n
Silver hair pulled back.<\/p>\n
A scar crossed the left side of her forehead.<\/p>\n
Anna stopped.<\/p>\n
The woman looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have Clara's eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna's voice shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret reached into her coat slowly.<\/p>\n
She removed an old photograph.<\/p>\n
Clara, Margaret, and Evelyn stood outside St. Matthew\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Much younger.<\/p>\n
Anna took it.<\/p>\n
On the back, Clara had written:<\/p>\n
Three women who should know better.<\/p>\n
Anna laughed despite herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom wrote that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wrote it after we drank an entire bottle of terrible wine following a compliance hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me about Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister Elaine gave birth to Grace eighteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timing struck immediately.<\/p>\n
Same age as Lily and Maya.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Matthew\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heartbeat changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat date?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarch fourteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same birthday.<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cElaine died during delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Grace?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cA newborn disappeared from the same hospital the day my twins were born?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wasn't there an investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was. Quietly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was blamed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister was listed as having delivered a stillborn child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Grace lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI held her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she look like my daughters?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a newborn? I couldn't tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why does she now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's eyes filled with uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what Clara has spent years trying to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna sat beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid my mother find Grace?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDelaware.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder what name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire Morgan.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Reed's surveillance photograph.<\/p>\n
The young woman outside the grocery store.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Claire know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes she know Clara?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows her as someone investigating her birth records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Reed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is Reed trying to identify her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Clara believes Claire has something he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDNA.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca, Clara ran a comparison.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLily.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did she get Lily's DNA?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscarded cup. Years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anger flared.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret did not defend her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did it show?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire and Lily are related.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cHow closely?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf-sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The church seemed to go silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughters don't have a half-sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen either the report is wrong\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr Carl isn't Lily's biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood so quickly the pew scraped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCarl is their father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m telling you what the test indicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Claire is related to Lily. What about Maya?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't have a direct comparison.\u201d<\/p>\n
My thoughts collided.<\/p>\n
Identical twins should share essentially the same biological parentage.<\/p>\n
If Lily and Maya were identical, a half-sister relationship to Claire should apply to both.<\/p>\n
Unless the conclusion was being misunderstood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Clara compare Claire to Carl?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo biological relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if Claire is Lily's half-sister, the shared parent would be me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I have never had another child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could she be my daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't say she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said half-sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what the software classified the relationship as.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould it be something else? Aunt? Cousin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that amount of shared DNA, several relationships can overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n
A possibility surfaced.<\/p>\n
One so old I had not thought of it in years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had a sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hadn't said the name in decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy aunt Caroline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret went very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her full name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret reached into her bag.<\/p>\n
She removed a photocopied hospital document.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was a signature.<\/p>\n
CAROLINE MERCER, RN.<\/p>\n
My aunt had worked at St. Matthew\u2019s.<\/p>\n
I had known she was a nurse.<\/p>\n
I had never known she worked there.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe died when I was sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word seemed to echo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline Mercer didn't die when you were sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family buried her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA body was buried.\u201d<\/p>\n
I suddenly understood why every revelation in this story seemed to repeat the same shape.<\/p>\n
A death certificate.<\/p>\n
A coffin.<\/p>\n
A family taught to stop asking.<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline was one of the first people who discovered children were being moved through falsified records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cBefore Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Claire?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cClara believes Claire is Caroline's granddaughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat slowly.<\/p>\n
That would make Claire my first cousin once removed, not a half-sister. Depending on the DNA amount and the database, a relationship prediction could be misleading.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she isn't another Carter daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo evidence says she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief mixed with another kind of dread.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why does she resemble Lily and Maya?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily resemblance. Perhaps stronger than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of my mother.<\/p>\n
Of Aunt Caroline in the few photographs I remembered.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Narrow chin.<\/p>\n
Maybe the resemblance had always been there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Caroline?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReed's father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost certainly knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Claire can connect him to the original operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sound came from outside.<\/p>\n
Car door.<\/p>\n
Harris had instructed us that nobody would approach without calling.<\/p>\n
Anna stood.<\/p>\n
Margaret's face drained.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell anyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The church door opened.<\/p>\n
Harris entered quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone found the location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret grabbed her bag.<\/p>\n
Then a gunshot shattered one of the stained-glass windows.<\/p>\n
We dropped.<\/p>\n
Harris drew his weapon.<\/p>\n
Another shot punched into the pew.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack exit!\u201d<\/p>\n
We ran.<\/p>\n
Anna pulled Margaret toward the vestry.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
Outside, state officers returned fire toward the tree line.<\/p>\n
We reached an unmarked SUV.<\/p>\n
Harris pushed us inside.<\/p>\n
The vehicle accelerated before the doors fully closed.<\/p>\n
I looked back.<\/p>\n
A figure moved between the trees.<\/p>\n
Too far to identify.<\/p>\n
Then Margaret grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one the false Margaret stole.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't only an intake photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was on it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meaning arrived slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy aunt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was holding the child assigned to 3079.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur Reed was standing beside her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the photograph proves he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would the false Margaret want it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked toward the disappearing church.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the woman pretending to be me isn't working for Jonathan Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Maya.<\/p>\n
I answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice was breathless.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time she had called me that.<\/p>\n
I almost missed everything after it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone came to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tried to get into Dad's room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCarl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's okay. Police stopped them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Lily's voice came through in the background.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya, show her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShow me what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya breathed hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman dropped an envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has Claire Morgan's name on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToo late.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Claire?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya's next words erased the relief I had felt minutes earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's a picture of you in the hospital on the day we were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed the phone harder against my ear. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d The woman repeated it. \u201cMy name is Margaret Ellis. Whoever you just met is not me.\u201d Across the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24577,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24531\/revisions\/24577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}