CHAPTER 10 — THE NIGHT ELENA DIED
CHAPTER 10 — THE NIGHT ELENA DIED
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The emergency lights painted the chamber in a dull red glow.
Claire stood frozen.
Blood covered her hands.
The baby was gone.
Anna was gone.
And Dominic was staring at her as though he had never seen her before.
"I didn't hurt anyone," Claire whispered.
Dominic didn't answer.
His eyes moved from the blood on her fingers to the empty doorway.
Then to the floor.
A single drop of blood.
Another.
Another.
But there were no footprints.
"Dominic..."
He finally looked at her.
"Don't move."
Claire's face collapsed.
"You think I did this?"
"I don't know what happened."
"I told you."
"I know."
"You don't believe me."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"I believe what I can prove."
Claire looked down at her hands.
"I was holding the baby."
"And then?"
"The lights went out."
"And?"
"I heard a gunshot."
"What happened after?"
"I felt someone grab me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Then why is there blood on your hands?"
Claire shook her head.
"I don't know."
A metallic sound came from the corridor.
Dominic immediately raised his weapon.
"Behind me."
Claire moved.
They waited.
Nothing.
Then Marcus's voice came through the radio.
"Boss?"
Dominic grabbed it.
"Marcus. Where are you?"
"Outside the cemetery."
Dominic froze.
"What?"
"I've been trying to reach you."
"How long?"
"About ten minutes."
Dominic looked at the dead radio on the wall.
The transmission had been blocked.
"Did you see anyone leave?"
"No."
"Find Anna."
"Who?"
"She has the baby."
Marcus went silent.
Then:
"Boss..."
"What?"
"I found her."
Dominic's heart stopped.
"Where?"
"She's dead."
They found Anna beneath an old stone archway.
She was lying on her back.
Her coat was torn.
Her eyes were open.
But the baby was nowhere near her.
Dominic knelt.
There was a bullet wound beneath her collarbone.
Claire stood several feet away.
She couldn't look.
Marcus searched the ground.
"There's no blood trail."
Dominic frowned.
"She was moved."
"Yes."
"After she was shot."
Marcus pointed toward the grass.
"Two sets of footprints."
Dominic studied them.
"One adult."
"And?"
"Someone carrying weight."
"The baby."
Dominic nodded.
Claire whispered:
"Then she's alive."
Dominic looked at her.
"Probably."
Claire closed her eyes.
"Thank God."
Marcus looked toward the cemetery.
"Who took her?"
Dominic stood.
"The person who killed Anna."
Claire looked at him.
"You don't think it was Nathan."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Nathan wanted us to find the baby."
Claire frowned.
"He wanted us to find Isabella."
"Exactly."
Dominic looked at the dark cemetery.
"But someone else wanted her hidden."
Back at the mansion, Dominic locked every door.
Mia was placed under guard.
Claire was taken to the library.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Dominic put the DNA report on the table.
"Tell me everything."
Claire stared at it.
"I don't know."
"You were pregnant."
"I don't remember."
"You gave birth."
"I don't remember."
"You were married to me."
"I remember that."
"Then why don't you remember your child?"
Claire pressed her hands against her temples.
"Because someone took those memories."
Dominic softened slightly.
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Mia entered the room.
Dominic turned.
"You said there was another secret."
Mia nodded.
"I've been afraid to tell you."
"You don't have that luxury anymore."
Mia looked at Claire.
"She was there the night Elena died."
Claire froze.
"Elena?"
Dominic stared at Mia.
"Your mother."
Claire's expression changed.
"I thought my mother died seventeen years ago."
"She did."
Mia swallowed.
"But Claire was there."
Dominic looked at Claire.
"What do you remember?"
Claire closed her eyes.
Nothing.
Then—
A scream.
Fire.
A woman holding her hand.
A silver necklace.
And someone saying:
"Run, Clara. Don't look back."
Claire opened her eyes.
"I remember the fire."
Mia nodded.
"You were there."
"With Elena?"
"Yes."
"How old was I?"
"Six."
Claire stared.
"But you said I wasn't Isabella."
"You weren't."
"Then who was the baby?"
Mia's face tightened.
"Isabella."
Dominic asked:
"Where was she?"
Mia looked toward the window.
"With Elena."
Silence.
Dominic understood.
"The night Elena died..."
Mia nodded.
"She was trying to save the baby."
Seventeen years earlier.
Rain hammered the windows of the Vale estate.
Elena stood in the nursery.
A six-year-old Clara clung to her dress.
"Mommy?"
Elena looked down.
"Not Mommy."
The little girl frowned.
"Then what?"
Elena knelt.
"Tonight, you call me Aunt Elena."
"Why?"
"Because someone is coming."
"Who?"
Elena looked toward the door.
"Bad people."
Clara's eyes widened.
"Are they going to hurt us?"
"Not if you listen."
Elena opened a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside was a baby wrapped in white cloth.
The infant was sleeping.
Clara stared.
"Who's that?"
"Your sister."
Clara smiled.
"She's pretty."
Elena touched the baby's cheek.
"Her name is Isabella."
"Can I hold her?"
"Not tonight."
Footsteps sounded upstairs.
Elena froze.
"They're here."
She grabbed Clara's hand.
"Listen carefully."
"What?"
"If anything happens to me, you run."
"Where?"
"Find Mia."
"Who is Mia?"
"Someone who will keep you safe."
Clara nodded.
Then the door burst open.
Nathan stood there.
But he wasn't alone.
Vincent Marlowe was behind him.
Elena stepped in front of the children.
"You lied."
Nathan smiled.
"You knew too much."
Vincent stared at the baby.
"Where is Adrian?"
Elena said nothing.
Nathan raised his gun.
"Tell me."
"No."
The gun fired.
Elena fell.
Clara screamed.
Nathan rushed toward the baby.
But Elena, bleeding heavily, grabbed his ankle.
"Run!"
Clara froze.
"Go!"
She picked up the baby.
Then ran.
Down the corridor.
Through the servant stairs.
Toward the kitchen.
Mia was waiting.
"Clara!"
The little girl thrust the baby toward her.
"Take her!"
Mia grabbed Isabella.
"What happened?"
"Elena said run."
Mia's face changed.
"Where is she?"
Clara pointed.
"She's hurt."
Mia started toward the hallway.
Clara grabbed her.
"No!"
"Why?"
"She said we can't go back."
Then the house erupted in flames.
Dominic stared at Mia.
"You were there."
"Yes."
"You saw Elena die."
Mia nodded.
"She was alive when we left."
Dominic froze.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Then how did she die?"
Mia looked down.
"We don't know."
Claire whispered:
"That's impossible."
Mia continued.
"Three hours later, the house burned."
"And Elena?"
"We found her body."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"You said she was alive."
"She was."
"Then the body wasn't hers."
Mia nodded.
"That's what I believe."
Claire stared.
"Then who died that night?"
Mia looked at her.
"A woman wearing Elena's necklace."
Dominic's face went cold.
"Someone switched the bodies."
"Yes."
"Who?"
Mia whispered:
"Your father."
The library door suddenly opened.
A man stood there.
Dominic raised his gun.
The man lifted his hands.
"Don't shoot."
Dominic recognized him.
One of his father's former lawyers.
"Samuel."
Samuel's face was pale.
"I know where Adrian is."
Dominic lowered the weapon slightly.
"Talk."
Samuel looked at Claire.
"She needs to hear this."
Claire stepped forward.
"What?"
Samuel swallowed.
"Elena didn't die."
Dominic's heart stopped.
"Then where is she?"
Samuel looked toward the door.
"She was taken."
"By whom?"
"Adrian."
Dominic stared.
"My father kidnapped my mother?"
"No."
Samuel shook his head.
"He saved her."
Claire whispered:
"From Nathan."
Samuel nodded.
"And from Vincent."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because Adrian believed you were being watched."
"By Nathan?"
"By everyone."
Samuel placed an old envelope on the table.
"This was left for you."
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Adrian.
Elena.
A baby.
And Clara.
But the date on the photograph was impossible.
It had been taken three years after Elena supposedly died.
Dominic's hands began to shake.
On the back were seven words.
THE NIGHT ELENA DIED WAS A LIE.
Claire stared at the photograph.
Then she noticed something.
The woman holding the baby wasn't Elena.
It was Anna.
Claire whispered:
"Then who is Elena?"
Nobody answered.
Samuel looked at her.
"The woman you've been calling your mother isn't the woman you think she is."
Claire's blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Your mother had a twin."
Dominic stared.
"Another twin?"
Samuel nodded.
"Elena was not the woman who died."
Claire's face went white.
"Then who died?"
Samuel looked toward the window.
"The woman who took her place."
A gunshot shattered the glass.
Samuel collapsed.
Dominic caught him.
"Samuel!"
Blood spread across his shirt.
He grabbed Dominic's sleeve.
"Find... the house..."
"What house?"
"The house where Adrian hid Elena."
"Where?"
Samuel's eyes began closing.
"Lisbon."
Then he died.
Silence.
Dominic looked at Claire.
"Lisbon."
Claire stared at the photograph.
The baby.
Anna.
Clara.
Elena.
Adrian.
Too many lies.
Too many identities.
And somewhere in Lisbon, the woman everyone believed had died seventeen years ago might still be alive.
Mia suddenly entered.
Her face was terrified.
"Dominic."
"What?"
"The hospital called."
"About what?"
"They found someone."
"Who?"
Mia looked at Claire.
"Anna."
Dominic froze.
"She's dead."
"No."
Mia shook her head.
"They found her alive."
Claire stared.
"Where?"
Mia whispered:
"At the airport."
Dominic's expression changed.
"With the baby?"
Mia nodded.
"No."
"Then where is Isabella?"
Mia swallowed.
"She was taken onto a private plane."
Dominic grabbed his coat.
"Destination?"
Mia looked at him.
"Lisbon."
Dominic stopped.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The cemetery.
The vault.
The fake identities.
The dead mother.
The hidden child.
Nathan had never been trying to finish the war in America.
He was moving the final piece overseas.
And if Isabella reached Lisbon, Dominic might never see his daughter again.
Claire stood beside him.
"Take me with you."
Dominic looked at her.
"You're not safe."
"Neither are you."
She held up the photograph.
"Whatever happened that night, my mother left a trail."
Dominic nodded.
"Then we'll follow it."
Outside, thunder rolled across the Hudson Valley.
Far away, a plane climbed into the darkness.
And somewhere inside it, Anna held the infant close.
But she wasn't alone.
A man sat across from her.
He removed his gloves.
Then slowly lifted his head.
It was Adrian Vale.
Alive.
He looked at the sleeping child.
Then at Anna.
"Did they believe the story?"
Anna nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian smiled.
"Good."
He looked through the window at the clouds below.
"Now we can finally bring my son home."
Anna hesitated.
"And Claire?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"She must never learn who she really is."
The plane disappeared into the night.
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And for the first time, Dominic was no longer hunting a dead man's secrets.
He was hunting a living father.
