Chapter 6 - THE SISTER WHO NEVER DIED
They followed the photograph to a small lakeside town.
Every mile felt unreal.
Hannah sat in the passenger seat.
Damen drove.
Neither spoke for almost an hour.
Finally Hannah whispered:
“What if Emma doesn't want me?”
Damen glanced at her.
“She'll want you.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know what it's like to lose someone.”
She looked at him.
He continued driving.
“My sister was the person I trusted most.”
“What happened?”
“I stopped listening.”
Hannah understood.
“You blamed yourself.”
“Yes.”
“So did I.”
“For Emma?”
“For everyone.”
Damen looked at her.
“You were six.”
“I still remember the feeling.”
“What feeling?”
“That I should have protected her.”
Damen's voice softened.
“You were a child.”
“So were you when Sophia needed you.”
He said nothing.
Hannah reached over and placed her hand on his.
He looked down.
Then back at the road.
He didn't move away.
When they reached the town, they found a small house near the lake.
A woman opened the door.
She was thirty years old.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A red ribbon around her wrist.
Hannah stopped breathing.
The woman looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Then the woman whispered:
“Hannah?”
Hannah's eyes filled with tears.
“Emma?”
The woman nodded.
Hannah covered her mouth.
Emma stepped forward.
For a second, both women simply stared.
Then they embraced.
Hannah cried.
Emma cried harder.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you forgot me.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“I was six.”
“I know.”
“I tried.”
“I know.”
They held each other for a long time.
Damen stood several feet away.
A man stepped out from the house.
Older.
Gray hair.
Weak.
Hannah stared.
“Dad?”
Daniel Brooks nodded.
“My little girl.”
She ran toward him.
He caught her.
She cried against his chest.
“You were dead.”
“I had to disappear.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Damen watched silently.
Then Daniel looked at him.
“Damen Moretti.”
Damen stiffened.
“You know me?”
“I knew your father.”
“And Sophia?”
Daniel nodded.
“She saved my life.”
Hannah pulled away.
“Tell us everything.”
Daniel looked toward the lake.
“Victor Kane was never working alone.”
“Who else?”
“Your mother's brother.”
Hannah frowned.
“My uncle?”
“Michael Brooks.”
She stared.
“My mother said he died before I was born.”
“He didn't.”
Daniel looked at Damen.
“Your family and mine were manipulated for years.”
Damen's eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
Daniel whispered:
“Senator Keating.”
Damen froze.
The same senator whose dinner he had canceled the night Hannah collapsed.
Daniel continued.
“Keating built the network. Kane managed it. Your father discovered it. Sophia discovered it. Emma witnessed part of it.”
Hannah asked:
“What about the ledger?”
Daniel looked at her.
“It's inside you.”
She stared.
“What?”
“The location was hidden in your childhood memory.”
Damen understood.
“The girl is the key.”
Daniel nodded.
“You saw something at six.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
The kitchen.
The table.
Her mother crying.
Emma hiding.
A wooden clock.
A red box.
Someone shouting.
Then—
a wall.
A loose brick.
She opened her eyes.
“The fireplace.”
Daniel nodded.
“What fireplace?”
“Our old house.”
Damen immediately took out his phone.
“Marco.”
He called.
“Find the Brooks family house.”
A pause.
“Burned down twelve years ago.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Damen looked at him.
“What?”
“The house wasn't burned.”
Daniel's voice trembled.
“It was demolished.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted to remove the wall.”
Hannah suddenly remembered.
The red box.
She had seen it.
Not inside the wall.
Inside the fireplace.
She looked at Emma.
“Do you remember the red box?”
Emma's face changed.
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
Emma whispered:
“The key.”
“What key?”
Emma looked at Damen.
“The key to Sophia's safe.”
Damen went still.
“Where is the safe?”
Emma pointed toward Hannah.
“She doesn't know.”
Hannah frowned.
“How would I know?”
Emma smiled through tears.
“Because Mom made you memorize the number.”
“What number?”
Emma whispered:
“Your birthday.”
Hannah stared.
August 15.
Damen immediately understood.
“Then we have the location.”
He turned toward the door.
But before they could leave, a gunshot cracked outside.
Everyone froze.
Daniel dropped to the floor.
Damen pushed Hannah behind him.
Emma screamed.
Another shot struck the window.
Damen looked outside.
A black SUV was speeding away.
Marco called.
“Boss, we've got a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone just accessed Senator Keating's private records.”
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
“Your father.”
Damen's face went cold.
“My father has been dead for fourteen years.”
May you like
Marco's voice lowered.
“Then someone wants us to believe he's alive.”