Amanda stared at the woman above them.
The face was hers.
Every feature was familiar.
But there were differences too.
A faint scar crossed the woman's eyebrow.
Her eyes carried years Amanda had never lived.
And when she smiled, Amanda recognized the expression from childhood photographs.
Anna.
Tyler moved in front of Amanda.
The woman shook her head.
“Don't.”
Tyler stopped.
“I don't want to hurt you,” Anna said.
Amanda stepped around him.
“You know my name.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“I knew it before you did.”
Amanda's throat tightened.
“Why did they make me forget you?”
“Because forgetting was the only way to keep you alive.”
“Who made me forget?”
Anna's expression changed.
“Our mother.”
Amanda felt the floor disappear beneath her.
“No.”
“She loved you.”
“She lied to me.”
“She lied so you could have a life.”
Amanda looked at Tyler.
He seemed as shaken as she was.
Anna descended the stairs slowly.
“Six years ago, I came back to the blue house.”
Amanda watched her.
“I was trying to find Daniel.”
“You found him.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily?”
Anna nodded.
“Lily was already there.”
“Michael too?”
“Yes.”
Amanda's mind raced.
“You were the woman in the footage.”
“I was.”
“You pretended to be me.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because they were watching you.”
Anna touched the black ring.
“This belonged to the person who ordered the first transfer.”
Amanda looked at it.
“Who?”
Anna shook her head.
“I don't know his real name.”
“Then how do you know him?”
“Because I lived with him.”
Silence.
Tyler stepped forward.
“Who?”
Anna looked at him.
“Your father.”
Tyler's face went pale.
“My father?”
“He wasn't the man you thought he was.”
Amanda immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Anna looked at her.
“He wasn't evil.”
That stopped Amanda.
“He was trapped.”
Anna continued.
“Your father discovered the operation when he was still a young firefighter. He tried to expose it. They threatened your mother. Then they threatened you.”
Tyler's voice broke.
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he believed you were safer believing he was simply your father.”
Amanda thought of Daniel's note.
Protect Amanda.
Not Tyler.
She finally understood why.
Tyler had been protected by ignorance.
Amanda had been protected by memory loss.
Lily had been protected by hiding.
Michael had been protected by being declared dead.
And Anna had been protected by becoming Amanda.
Anna looked toward Michael.
“You were supposed to leave tonight.”
Michael nodded.
“I couldn't.”
“You were brave.”
Amanda stared at them.
“How long have you known each other?”
“Since the first night.”
“What first night?”
“The night Daniel brought him here.”
Anna's expression softened.
“He was terrified.”
Michael looked down.
“I remember.”
Amanda knelt beside him.
“Tell me what happened.”
Michael swallowed.
“Daniel said we were going somewhere safe. Frank was driving. Anna was with us.”
“What happened?”
“A car followed.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Michael continued.
“They hit us near the warehouse.”
Amanda remembered Frank's accident.
Four years ago.
But this had happened six years ago.
The timeline didn't fit.
Amanda looked at Evan.
“You said Frank died four years ago.”
“He did.”
“Then what happened six years ago?”
Evan hesitated.
“The first crash was staged.”
Amanda stared.
Frank survived.
The accident two years later was the real one.
“Why would they stage his death?”
“To make everyone believe he was gone.”
“Then who died?”
Evan's silence returned.
Anna answered.
“Someone they had already replaced.”
Amanda felt cold.
The entire history of the case had been constructed from false deaths.
False identities.
False dates.
False stories.
And she had been living inside one of them.
A noise came from upstairs.
Reyes immediately raised his weapon.
Anna looked toward the ceiling.
“They're here.”
“How many?” Tyler asked.
Anna shook her head.
“Too many.”
The station's alarm suddenly sounded through the old house.
Red lights flashed.
A voice came through the hidden room speakers.
“TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.”
Amanda looked at the document in her hand.
The signature.
Her mother's.
Anna's.
And another.
The black-stone ring on Anna's hand began to glow under the emergency lights.
Not literally.
It reflected a tiny red indicator embedded inside the stone.
Amanda stared.
“That's a transmitter.”
Anna nodded.
“They know where I am.”
Tyler looked toward the stairs.
“Then why did you come?”
Anna looked at Amanda.
“Because I needed you to remember me before they came.”
A heavy impact shook the house.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Lily cried out.
Claire pulled her close.
Reyes shouted, “Everyone stay together!”
Another impact.
The hidden door began to buckle.
Amanda looked at Anna.
“What happens if they get inside?”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“They take the witness.”
Amanda understood.
“They mean me.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Lily.
“They mean all of us.”
The door buckled again.
Michael stepped toward Amanda.
“I know another way out.”
Evan grabbed his shoulder.
“Where?”
Michael pointed toward the back wall.
“There.”
Amanda looked.
A narrow crack had appeared in the concrete.
Behind it was darkness.
A passage.
Anna took Amanda's hand.
For the first time, their fingers touched.
It felt strangely familiar.
Like holding her own hand in a dream.
Amanda looked into Anna's eyes.
“I thought I was alone.”
Anna smiled through tears.
“You never were.”
The door behind them splintered.
A man's voice shouted from the other side.
“Amanda Morgan!”
Tyler raised his weapon.
Reyes moved beside him.
Evan pulled Michael toward the passage.
Claire carried Lily.
Anna looked at Amanda one last time.
“Now you remember.”
Amanda nodded.
“Yes.”
Anna's expression became serious.
“Then remember the last thing.”
“What?”
Anna leaned close.
“The person behind all of this isn't Samuel.”
Amanda froze.
“Then who?”
Anna looked toward Tyler.
Her eyes filled with fear.
“It was the person who taught your husband to become a firefighter.”
The door exploded inward.
And in the chaos, Amanda heard Tyler whisper one name.
“Dad.”
PART 36 END
Click here to continue reading: PART 37: THE MAN WHO TAUGHT HIM:
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 36 of 40
