Chapter 6: The Room With No Windows
The first gunshot shattered the archive-room door.
Cole tackled me.
Mom screamed.
Ryan fired twice over our heads.
"DOWN!""
I hit the floor.
Glass exploded from a cabinet.
Papers flew everywhere.
Ethan's men rushed through the doorway.
Cole dragged me behind a steel shelf.
"Stay here!""
"Where's Mom?""
"She's with Ryan!""
I crawled toward them.
Mom was crouched behind a filing cabinet.
Ryan stood between her and the door, firing carefully.
"Ryan!""
He looked at me.
"Don't move!""
Ethan's voice came from the hallway.
"Emily, you don't have to be afraid.""
Mom shouted,
"Don't listen to him!""
Ethan laughed.
"Sarah, after all these years, you're still teaching her the wrong lessons.""
Another shot.
The lights flickered back on.
Then the gunfire stopped.
Silence.
Ryan lowered his weapon.
"He's gone.""
Cole looked through the doorway.
"No.""
He pointed.
A red digital timer had appeared on the floor.
00:59.
Ryan's face changed.
"Everyone move.""
"Move where?"" Cole asked.
"Anywhere but here.""
The timer reached 00:52.
I grabbed Mom.
"What is that?""
"An explosive.""
We ran.
The blast came at 00:41.
The floor shook.
A wall collapsed behind us.
Smoke filled the hallway.
I couldn't see Mom.
"Mom!""
"Emily!""
Her voice came from somewhere ahead.
I followed it.
Ryan appeared through the smoke and grabbed my arm.
"This way.""
We burst through a side door into a parking garage.
Rain poured through a broken section of roof.
Cars were abandoned everywhere.
Cole staggered behind us.
"Where's Sarah?""
I turned.
Mom wasn't there.
"No.""
I ran back.
Ryan caught me.
"Emily!""
"She's inside!""
"I'll get her.""
He disappeared into the smoke.
I stood in the rain, shaking.
Then a black van screeched around the corner.
The side door opened.
Ethan stepped out.
He was holding Mom.
His arm was around her neck.
"Emily.""
I froze.
"Let her go.""
Ethan smiled.
"Come with me.""
Ryan emerged behind him.
"Ethan.""
Ethan's smile disappeared.
"Stay back.""
Ryan raised his weapon.
Ethan pressed a gun against Mom's temple.
"One more step.""
Ryan stopped.
Mom looked at me.
"Don't!""
Ethan pulled her toward the van.
"Your mother made a lot of mistakes.""
I stared at him.
"You hurt her.""
"She lied to you.""
"You lied to me.""
"Yes.""
He opened the van door.
"But at least I can tell you why.""
I looked at Ryan.
He shook his head.
Don't go.
But Mom was crying.
"Emily, run.""
Ethan pushed her inside.
I ran toward the van.
Ryan grabbed me.
The van accelerated.
Mom disappeared behind the tinted glass.
I screamed.
"Mom!""
Ryan pulled me against him.
"We'll get her.""
"You let him take her!""
"I had no choice.""
"You always say that!""
He flinched.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
Ryan's expression changed.
"What?""
He listened.
Then looked at me.
"Emily...""
"What?""
"They took Cole.""
My stomach dropped.
"Who?""
Ryan ended the call.
"The people behind the Ledger.""
We returned to the hospital.
Police had arrived.
The basement was destroyed.
The birth records were gone.
So was the photograph.
But I still had one thing.
The old phone.
Ryan looked at it.
"Give it to me.""
I hesitated.
"No.""
"Emily, it's dangerous.""
"It's the only thing I have left.""
He nodded.
"Then we need to know what's inside it.""
We found a private room upstairs.
Ryan removed the phone's back cover.
Under the battery was a tiny metal chip.
He stared at it.
"Daniel.""
"What?""
"He hid the key inside the phone.""
"Can you open it?""
"Maybe.""
He connected the chip to a small device.
The screen lit up.
A folder appeared.
*DANIEL — PERSONAL.*
My heart pounded.
I opened it.
There was one video.
The timestamp was from the night I was born.
I pressed play.
Daniel appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
Blood stained his shirt.
Mom was beside him, crying.
A newborn baby was wrapped in a white blanket.
Me.
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then I'm dead.""
I covered my mouth.
His voice continued.
"Ethan will tell you he killed me.""
Ryan looked at me.
Daniel shook his head.
"He didn't.""
I stared.
Daniel continued.
"The man who ordered my death is someone Sarah trusts.""
Mom's face appeared in the background.
She was holding me.
Daniel leaned closer to the camera.
"Ryan will tell you the truth, but not all of it.""
The video paused.
A password prompt appeared.
*ENTER THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU TRUST MOST.*
I looked at Ryan.
He whispered,
"Don't.""
I typed:
*MOM.*
Incorrect.
I tried:
*DANIEL.*
Incorrect.
I tried:
*RYAN.*
Incorrect.
The screen flashed red.
Then a final option appeared.
*WHO DID YOUR MOTHER TRUST BEFORE SHE MET ETHAN?*
I stared at the question.
Ryan went completely still.
"I know that answer.""
"What is it?""
He didn't respond.
"Ryan.""
His voice was barely a whisper.
"Me.""
I entered his name.
The folder opened.
There was one final video.
Ryan appeared on the screen.
But this video was dated eleven years before I was born.
He was younger.
Standing beside Daniel.
And beside them was a woman I recognized.
Not Mom.
Someone else.
Ryan looked into the camera.
"Daniel, if Sarah ever sees this, tell her the truth.""
He swallowed.
"The child isn't yours.""
The video ended.
I looked at Ryan.
"What child?""
He couldn't speak.
Then the door opened.
Mom stood there.
Alive.
But Ethan was behind her.
And Mom wasn't looking at me.
She was looking at Ryan.
"Ethan isn't Emily's father," she whispered.
Ryan closed his eyes.
"I know.""
Mom's voice broke.
"Neither is Daniel.""
I stared at her.
"Then whose daughter am I?""
Mom looked directly at me.
And said,
"Yours.""
May you like
Then she lifted her trembling hand and pointed at Ryan.
"Ask him what he did the night you were born.""
