The lights came back on.
The man was gone.
I stood frozen.
Tyler grabbed my shoulders.
“What happened?”
“I heard your father.”
Everyone looked at me.
“He said, ‘Don't trust anyone.’”
Reyes stared at the empty space.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Michael shook his head.
“Daniel is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then someone is using his voice.”
“No.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
“That wasn't a recording.”
Tyler stared at me.
“What did he sound like?”
“Exactly as I remember.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Did he say anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Only that.”
Mercer checked the building.
“No one left through the exits.”
Grant looked at the stairs.
“Then he's still here.”
The thought made my skin crawl.
We moved toward the upper floor.
The old training room was at the end of the corridor.
The door was open.
Inside were rows of chairs.
A projector.
And an old television.
The television switched on.
Daniel appeared.
Not a recording from six years ago.
A newer video.
He looked older.
Tired.
Alive.
Tyler stopped breathing.
“Dad.”
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, then Amanda remembered.”
I stepped closer.
Daniel continued.
“I need you to understand why I chose her.”
Tyler looked at me.
“Because you were never supposed to be part of this.”
The video changed.
A document appeared.
It showed the original welfare report.
Then another.
The missing page.
Then a third.
A photograph.
Lily.
But this time, another child stood beside her.
A boy.
Maybe five years old.
Tyler frowned.
“Who is that?”
Daniel answered.
“Lily wasn't the only witness.”
The screen went dark.
Then the boy's face appeared.
Older.
About eleven now.
I stared.
I knew him.
Not personally.
From a photograph.
He was standing beside Tyler at a station picnic years ago.
I looked at Tyler.
“Who is that?”
Tyler's face changed.
“My cousin.”
“David's son.”
I felt cold.
Daniel's voice continued.
“David believed Lily's father had hidden evidence involving his own family.”
Tyler stared.
“His own son?”
“Yes.”
The video showed another document.
A birth certificate.
A child's name.
Evan Dalton.
Lily's father.
Then another.
The boy's name.
Michael Morgan.
Tyler's cousin.
I looked at Michael Voss.
He had been standing behind us.
He slowly shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“The child was taken into protective custody after the attack.”
The screen showed a case number.
Then a transfer order.
Signed by Captain Lewis.
Michael stepped forward.
“That isn't possible.”
Reyes looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Lewis was the person who brought the child back.”
“What child?”
Michael stared at the screen.
“My nephew.”
The room went silent.
The eleven-year-old boy in the photograph was not merely a witness.
He was the missing link between the Morgan family and the Dalton family.
Daniel's voice returned.
“Michael Voss was given a new identity.”
Michael's face went pale.
“I was told my family was dead.”
Claire stared at him.
“You were the child.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You survived.”
“I don't remember.”
Daniel continued.
“You don't remember because the person who rescued you made sure you wouldn't.”
Michael looked at Reyes.
“Who?”
Reyes stared at the screen.
The answer appeared.
CAPTAIN JAVIER REYES.
Michael stepped backward.
“No.”
Reyes closed his eyes.
“I didn't know.”
“You signed the transfer.”
“I signed dozens.”
“You signed mine.”
Reyes looked devastated.
“Daniel asked me to.”
Michael shook his head.
“You sent me away.”
“I thought I was saving you.”
“You erased me.”
“I didn't know what they were doing.”
Michael stared at him.
Then turned toward me.
“I spent twenty years believing everyone had abandoned me.”
Claire approached him.
“You were protected.”
“I was hidden.”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“From whom?”
Claire answered softly.
“From David.”
Michael froze.
“Your father knew?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Claire looked at me.
“The person who forged the records.”
I felt the room closing around us.
The same pattern.
Every answer created another question.
Then the television changed.
A final document appeared.
A photograph of the old blue house.
A red circle around the upstairs window.
And beneath it:
THE WITNESS LIVES THERE.
My name.
Amanda Morgan.
I stared.
“That's me.”
Daniel's voice returned.
“Yes.”
Tyler stepped closer.
“What did you know?”
I shook my head.
“Nothing.”
“You remembered Lily.”
“Not until tonight.”
“Then why did Daniel say you were the witness?”
I looked at the screen.
A final video began.
This one showed me six years ago.
Standing outside the blue room.
Lily was beside me.
Daniel was behind us.
But someone else was holding the camera.
I heard my younger voice.
“Who is that?”
The camera turned.
The person filming stepped into view.
My heart stopped.
It was me.
Older?
No.
The footage was from the same night.
But the woman holding the camera looked exactly like me.
Same face.
Same hair.
Same scar near my eyebrow.
I stared at the screen.
“That isn't possible.”
Claire whispered, “Amanda.”
Tyler looked at me.
“What?”
“I don't remember this.”
The video continued.
The other Amanda looked into the camera.
Then said:
“Tell Tyler nothing.”
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Mercer finally whispered, “That's not her.”
Tyler stared at the screen.
“I know my wife.”
Michael stepped closer.
“The face can be copied.”
“Copied?”
“Voice. Face. Documents. Everything.”
I looked at the dark screen.
“Then who was she?”
Claire answered.
“Someone who looked enough like you to fool the people who needed to believe you were involved.”
The countdown appeared again.
Three minutes.
Then two.
Then one.
The station doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the intercom.
“Transfer begins now.”
The lights went red.
Every screen in the building turned on.
On each one was the same image.
Me.
Standing beside Lily.
Six years earlier.
A message appeared beneath us.
AMANDA MORGAN WAS THERE.
Then another.
SHE KNOWS WHO DID IT.
Tyler grabbed my hand.
“You don't have to remember.”
I looked at him.
“But I think I do.”
I closed my eyes.
The blue room.
The child.
Daniel.
Frank.
Evan.
A red scarf.
Captain Lewis.
David.
And the woman who looked like me.
One final memory surfaced.
Not from the blue room.
From the kitchen.
Daniel had leaned close to me.
He had whispered something.
I had forgotten it for six years.
Now I heard it clearly.
“Your husband isn't the person they want.”
I opened my eyes.
Tyler was staring at me.
“What did he say?”
I whispered:
“They want the person Tyler's mother protected.”
Claire went pale.
“Who?”
I looked toward the television.
The boy in the photograph appeared again.
Michael Morgan.
But beneath his name was another identity.
One I had never seen.
And the date of birth was the same as Lily's.
Tyler stared.
“That's impossible.”
Michael stepped closer.
“No.”
He looked at Lily.
She was staring back at him.
Then Lily whispered the name.
“Evan.”
Michael turned.
Lily pointed toward the door.
A man stood there.
Evan Dalton.
Alive.
Holding a gun.
He looked at Michael.
Then at me.
And said:
“Now you finally know who the witness is.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 29: THE WITNESS IN THE ROOM
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 28 of 40
