Chapter 9: Before Sunrise
The police moved me to a secured surgical ward.
Two officers stood outside.
Another guarded the elevator.
Harris stayed inside.
Daniel refused to leave my side.
My father sat near the window.
Emily was in another room under police supervision.
Dr. Patel monitored Lily continuously.
The clock on the wall read 3:17 a.m.
Less than five hours until sunrise.
I stared at the ceiling.
“What if Emily is lying?””
Daniel squeezed my hand.
“She has every reason to lie.””
“What if she's telling the truth?””
He didn't answer.
I looked at him.
“You heard what she said.””
“Yes.””
“Your father.””
“I know.””
“He's dead.””
“I know.””
“Then who did she see?””
Daniel rubbed his face.
“I don't know.””
Harris's phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes?””
He listened.
Then:
“Send me the photograph.””
A few seconds later, his phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
He handed the phone to Daniel.
It was a photograph from a security camera.
A man standing outside an old stone house.
His face was turned slightly away.
Daniel stared.
Then whispered:
“That's him.””
I looked at the screen.
“Your father?””
“Yes.””
Harris said, “The image was taken twenty minutes ago.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
I looked at my father.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Dad.””
Nothing.
“Look at me.””
He did.
“Is Daniel's father alive?””
“No.””
“Then who is in that photograph?””
Dad swallowed.
“I don't know.””
Harris stepped closer.
“You've lied enough.””
Dad stood.
“I'm not lying.””
“Then prove it.””
Dad pulled out his phone.
He opened an old photograph.
It showed Daniel's father at a funeral.
Five years ago.
Daniel stared.
“That was his funeral.””
“Yes.””
“So he died.””
“Yes.””
“Then what is happening?””
Dad looked at me.
“The Family Office has used doubles before.””
Daniel laughed.
“A double?””
“Yes.””
“For what?””
“To impersonate people.””
Harris frowned.
“That's absurd.””
Dad shook his head.
“You think billion-dollar networks don't use people who look like other people?””
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“Who would impersonate my father?””
Dad whispered:
“Someone who needs everyone to believe he's dead.””
A violent pounding came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
An officer shouted.
“Detective!””
Harris rushed outside.
I heard several voices.
Then a crash.
Daniel stood.
“Stay here.””
He moved toward the door.
“Daniel!””
He stopped.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Don't leave me.””
He came back immediately.
“I won't.””
The door burst open.
Harris stumbled inside.
Blood ran from his forehead.
“Lock the door!””
The officers pushed a metal cabinet against it.
“What happened?””
“Someone breached the floor.””
“How many?””
“Three.””
Dad looked toward the window.
“They're not here for the trust.””
I stared at him.
“What do you mean?””
“They're here for the baby.””
My heart tightened.
Lily kicked.
Hard.
For the first time all night.
Daniel felt it.
“She heard you.””
Then the hospital alarm sounded.
Not the emergency alarm.
The fire alarm.
Red lights flashed.
The sprinklers activated.
Water poured from the ceiling.
Dr. Patel shouted.
“Move her!””
Daniel helped push my bed toward the inner corridor.
Harris covered us.
My father followed.
We reached the stairwell.
Then a voice echoed from below.
“Sarah.””
I stopped.
Daniel froze.
It was my father's voice.
But my father was behind us.
Dad looked at me.
“Don't answer.””
The voice came again.
“Sarah, it's me.””
Daniel's face went white.
The voice sounded exactly like his father.
“Daniel.””
He looked toward the stairs.
“Dad?””
My father grabbed him.
“No.””
A man's footsteps climbed the stairs.
Slowly.
Then a figure appeared.
Daniel's father.
Same face.
Same gray eyes.
Same scar on his chin.
Daniel stopped breathing.
The man smiled.
“Hello, son.””
Daniel stared at him.
“You're dead.””
The man laughed.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“I've been waiting eleven years for your grandfather's trust to become mine.””
Dad stepped forward.
“You killed him.””
The man shrugged.
“He made the mistake of trusting family.””
Harris raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.””
The man smiled.
“You don't understand.””
He reached into his coat.
Harris shouted.
“Don't move!””
The man pulled out a folded document.
Not a weapon.
He held it up.
“The original trust.””
My heart stopped.
He looked directly at me.
“Your grandfather made one mistake.””
“What?””
“He trusted that the family would protect the child.””
I felt Lily move beneath my hand.
The man smiled.
“But family is exactly what destroys families.””
Dad stepped in front of me.
The man raised the document.
“Give me the baby before sunrise.””
Harris aimed at him.
“Drop the paper.””
The man laughed.
“You can't shoot me.””
“Try me.””
Then a voice came from behind him.
“Actually…”
Everyone turned.
Emily stood at the top of the stairs.
She held a phone.
And the man’s face changed.
Emily smiled through her tears.
“You should have checked whether I was recording.””
She held up the screen.
A red recording symbol blinked.
The man lunged toward her.
Harris tackled him.
The document flew into the air.
Daniel caught it.
He unfolded it.
His eyes widened.
“What?””
I stared at him.
“What does it say?””
Daniel looked at me.
Then he whispered:
“It's not the trust.””
May you like
He turned the page.
“It's a confession.””
