Evan Dalton did not move when he said the words. The gun in his hand remained pointed toward the floor, but no one in the room mistook that for surrender. His eyes moved from Amanda to Lily, then to Tyler, as if he were checking each face against a memory he had carried for years. The station seemed unnaturally quiet around them. Even the old ventilation system had stopped humming.
Tyler stepped slightly in front of Amanda despite the pain still tightening his face. His injured shoulder was strapped against his chest, and every movement cost him something. “Evan,” he said carefully. “Put the gun down.”
Evan's expression changed when he heard Tyler's voice. Not fear. Not anger. Something closer to exhaustion. “I can't do that yet.”
Reyes lifted one hand, warning Tyler not to move farther. Claire stood beside him, pale and rigid, staring at the man she had believed dead. “You were supposed to be gone,” she whispered.
“I was supposed to stay gone.” Evan's gaze never left her. “That was the whole point.”
Amanda felt Lily's fingers close around hers. The little girl's stuffed rabbit was tucked beneath her arm, its worn ears pressed against her coat. Lily was watching Evan without blinking.
Then she said quietly, “You came to the blue house.”
Evan's face went still.
Amanda felt the room tilt beneath her. “You know him?”
Lily nodded. “He was there when the woman cried.”
Claire took a sharp breath. “Lily, don't.”
But Lily looked at her with the calm certainty of a child remembering something everyone else had tried to bury. “He told her to be quiet.”
Evan lowered his eyes.
Tyler's voice hardened. “What woman?”
“The woman who looked like Amanda,” Lily answered.
No one spoke.
The words seemed to unlock something inside Amanda's mind. The memory came in fragments: the blue room, a woman standing near the window, Daniel's hand gripping Amanda's wrist, the red scarf, the black stone ring, a child's frightened breathing behind the closet door. She had remembered the face before, but every time she reached for it, it dissolved.
Now she saw it again.
The woman had Amanda's face.
Amanda staggered backward. Tyler caught her with his good arm. “Amanda?”
“I remember her.”
Evan looked directly at her. “Then you remember more than Daniel ever wanted you to.”
Reyes stepped forward. “Who is the witness?”
Evan finally raised the gun. Not toward Amanda. Toward the ceiling.
A single shot cracked through the station.
Lily screamed. Claire pulled her close. Tyler flinched as the sound reverberated through the training room.
Evan lowered the weapon again. “If I wanted any of you dead, you wouldn't still be standing.”
“That isn't an answer,” Reyes said.
“No. It's a warning.”
A monitor behind them flickered to life. The countdown that had reached zero disappeared, replaced by a black screen. White letters appeared one at a time.
TRANSFER LOCATION: BLUE HOUSE.
Amanda stared at the words.
Then another line appeared.
TRANSFER SUBJECT: AMANDA MORGAN.
Tyler moved toward the screen. “What does that mean?”
Evan's voice was almost too quiet to hear. “It means the person running this operation never intended to kill Amanda.”
Amanda looked at him.
“They intended to bring her back.”
The station lights suddenly went out.
For three seconds there was complete darkness.
Then emergency lights flickered on, washing the room in dim red.
Evan was gone.
Tyler swore and started toward the door, but Reyes grabbed him. “Don't.”
“He took the gun.”
“He also left us alive,” Reyes said.
Amanda stared at the empty doorway. “He wanted us to follow him.”
Claire shook her head. “No. He wanted us to understand where the next move is.”
Lily tugged Amanda's sleeve.
Amanda looked down.
The girl pointed toward the floor beneath the old monitor.
A small white envelope lay there.
Amanda crouched and picked it up.
Her name was written across the front in handwriting she recognized immediately.
Daniel's.
She opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a single photograph.
The blue house.
The photograph had been taken at night.
A figure stood behind the upstairs window.
Amanda.
Or someone wearing Amanda's face.
On the back were six words.
YOU WERE NEVER THE FIRST WITNESS.
Amanda closed her eyes.
Behind her, Tyler whispered, “Then who was?”
Lily answered before anyone else could.
“My mother.”
PART 29 END
Click here to continue reading: PART 30: THE WOMAN BEFORE AMANDA
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 29 of 40
