Amanda could not hear anything after the words.
Twin sister.
The phrase repeated inside her head until it lost meaning.
She looked at Tyler.
He was staring at Evan with the same disbelief she felt.
“You're saying Amanda had a twin?”
Evan nodded.
“Identical.”
Claire stepped closer.
“She was born twelve minutes before Amanda.”
Amanda's mouth went dry.
“My mother never told me.”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
Claire looked toward the files.
“Because Anna was the first witness.”
Amanda's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“No.”
Evan spoke gently.
“She saw something when she was young.”
“What?”
“The wrong people.”
Amanda stared at him.
“What wrong people?”
Evan took a breath.
“People who were supposed to be dead.”
The room went silent.
He continued.
“Firefighters who had died in accidents appeared in records years later. Witnesses who supposedly moved away kept receiving payments. Families were told their relatives had been killed, while someone else used their identities.”
Amanda remembered the photographs.
The altered reports.
The duplicate faces.
The false voices.
The fake David.
The false Reyes.
The woman who looked like her.
It had never been about one person.
It had been an entire system.
Anna had discovered it first.
“What happened to her?”
Evan looked at Claire.
Claire closed her eyes.
“Your mother hid her.”
Amanda felt tears rise.
“My mother knew?”
“She knew everything.”
Tyler's voice was quiet.
“Then why did she never tell Amanda?”
“Because Anna disappeared.”
Amanda stared.
“Disappeared how?”
“She was taken from the old house.”
“By whom?”
Claire hesitated.
“Captain Lewis.”
Amanda's stomach twisted.
“But Lewis was supposed to be investigating.”
“He was,” Claire said. “Then he changed sides.”
Amanda remembered the black-stone ring.
The blue room.
The red scarf.
The voice saying someone was coming.
Everything was beginning to connect.
“Anna was the woman in the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“And the woman who looked like me.”
“Yes.”
Amanda shook her head.
“How did she become my double?”
Evan answered.
“Because she was forced to.”
Amanda looked at him.
“She was kept alive because they needed someone who could replace you.”
Tyler stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because Amanda was never supposed to be the witness.”
Evan's eyes met Amanda's.
“Anna was.”
Amanda looked toward Michael.
“And he?”
“He saw Anna escape.”
Michael nodded.
“She told me to hide.”
“Where?”
“Under the house.”
Amanda felt the hidden room around her.
“So Daniel built this place.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he leave us?”
Evan's expression tightened.
“He didn't.”
Amanda looked at him.
“What?”
“Daniel came back.”
Evan pointed toward the files.
“He tried to move both witnesses.”
“Lily and Michael.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Frank was killed.”
Claire whispered, “Daniel disappeared.”
“And Anna?”
Evan looked at Amanda.
“She was captured.”
Amanda closed her eyes.
A memory flashed.
Anna standing in the blue room.
Anna touching Amanda's cheek.
Anna whispering, “If they ever make you forget me, remember the ring.”
Amanda opened her eyes.
“I remember.”
Tyler touched her shoulder.
“What?”
“She told me.”
“What did she say?”
Amanda's voice trembled.
“She said, ‘If they ever make you forget me, remember the ring.’”
Evan looked at the black-stone ring in the photograph.
“Then we finally have the key.”
Reyes frowned.
“The ring isn't a key.”
“No,” Evan said.
“It identifies the person who ordered the transfers.”
Amanda looked at him.
“Who?”
Evan reached into his jacket.
He removed an old envelope.
The paper was yellowed.
On the front was a single word.
MORGAN.
Amanda opened it.
Inside was a list of payments.
The first name was Captain Lewis.
The second was Evelyn.
The third was Samuel Voss.
The fourth was someone else.
Amanda stared.
The name was Tyler's mother.
Except beside it was another name.
Anna Morgan.
Amanda looked up.
“Why are both names here?”
Evan's voice was barely audible.
“Because one of them was paying.”
“And the other?”
“Was being paid.”
Amanda's hands shook.
Tyler looked at the document.
“My mother was paying Anna?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evan didn't answer.
Claire did.
“Because your mother wasn't trying to hide Anna.”
Amanda looked at her.
“She was trying to protect her.”
Tyler stared at the page.
“Then who was pretending to be my mother?”
Evan looked toward the staircase.
A woman's voice drifted down from above.
“You finally asked the right question.”
Everyone froze.
Amanda knew the voice.
It was her own.
But beneath it was something else.
A laugh.
Soft.
Familiar.
The lights came on.
A woman stood at the top of the stairs.
She had Amanda's face.
But she was older.
Tired.
And the black-stone ring was on her finger.
She looked directly at Amanda.
“Hello, little sister.”
PART 35 END
Click here to continue reading: PART 36: THE SISTER IN THE MIRROR:
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 35 of 40
