They reached an abandoned fire station before dawn.
The building had been closed for nearly a decade, its sign barely visible beneath vines and rust. Evan led them inside while Reyes secured the doors.
Tyler lowered himself onto an old bench.
His injuries were catching up with him.
Amanda knelt beside him.
“You need a doctor.”
“So do you.”
“I'll go after you.”
He smiled weakly.
“You always do that.”
“What?”
“Make sure everyone else is okay first.”
Amanda touched his face.
“Someone has to.”
Tyler looked at her.
“You're not alone anymore.”
Across the room, Anna watched them.
For the first time, Amanda understood how strange it must be for her to see the life she might have lived.
Evan placed a metal box on the table.
“This is what Samuel was looking for.”
Amanda stared.
“Where did you get it?”
“From Daniel.”
Tyler looked up.
“When?”
Evan hesitated.
“Three years ago.”
Tyler's expression darkened.
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“Daniel made me promise.”
Tyler stood despite the pain.
“You all keep saying that.”
Evan didn't move.
“Your father believed the less you knew, the safer you were.”
“My wife nearly died.”
“I know.”
“Lily nearly died.”
“I know.”
“My mother—”
Evan interrupted.
“Your mother is alive.”
The room went silent.
Tyler stared at him.
“What?”
Evan opened the metal box.
Inside were photographs.
Recent photographs.
Tyler's mother.
Alive.
Older.
Standing beside a hospital window.
Amanda covered her mouth.
“Where is she?”
Evan slid one photograph forward.
On the back was an address.
A private care facility.
Reyes read it.
“This place is real.”
Evan nodded.
“She has been there for years.”
Tyler looked at Amanda.
“My father told everyone she died.”
“No,” Anna said.
“Daniel didn't.”
She pointed to the photograph.
“Someone else did.”
Amanda looked closer.
A woman stood behind Tyler's mother in the picture.
Her face was turned away.
But Amanda recognized the black-stone ring.
“Anna?”
Anna shook her head.
“That isn't me.”
Amanda looked at the photograph again.
The woman beside Tyler's mother was wearing the original ring.
The stone was intact.
Not cracked.
Not artificial.
Real.
Amanda whispered, “Then who is she?”
Evan answered.
“Your mother.”
Amanda's heart stopped.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“But my mother died.”
Evan shook his head.
“The woman buried under her name wasn't your mother.”
Tyler looked at him.
“Then whose body was it?”
“Anna's.”
Amanda felt sick.
“No.”
Anna closed her eyes.
“That was the final lie.”
Amanda looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know whether you could survive the truth.”
Amanda turned away.
Everything she had believed about her childhood was collapsing.
Evan opened another file.
Inside were birth records.
Amanda Morgan.
Anna Morgan.
Same date.
Same parents.
Then a third document.
The name was different.
Amanda stared.
“What's this?”
Anna stepped closer.
“That's the original identity.”
Amanda read the name.
Her mother's maiden surname.
Then she noticed the notation beside it.
TRANSFERRED.
REASSIGNED.
WITNESS PROTECTION.
Amanda looked up.
“They changed our names.”
Evan nodded.
“Both of you.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was one of the first people to expose the network.”
Amanda looked toward Tyler.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“And Tyler's father?”
“Same man.”
Tyler frowned.
“Daniel was my father.”
Evan looked at him.
“I'm talking about your biological father.”
The room went silent.
Tyler stared.
“What?”
Evan took out another document.
A paternity report.
Amanda could barely breathe.
The name at the bottom was not Daniel Morgan.
It was Frank Dalton.
Tyler's face went completely still.
“No.”
Evan nodded.
“Daniel raised you.”
Amanda looked at Claire.
Claire was crying.
“Frank was your father,” she whispered.
Tyler backed away.
“But Frank was my father's partner.”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel knew?”
“He knew.”
Tyler sat down heavily.
Amanda reached for him.
He didn't pull away.
Instead, he held her hand.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Tyler looked at the documents.
“So all these years…”
Evan shook his head.
“Don't let them use the truth against you.”
Tyler looked up.
“Who is they?”
Before Evan could answer, the station phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Reyes slowly picked it up.
A woman's voice came through.
“Javier.”
Reyes closed his eyes.
“Who is this?”
“You know.”
He looked at Amanda.
Then at Tyler.
The voice continued.
“Bring them to the old fire academy.”
Reyes asked, “Why?”
“Because Daniel is waiting.”
Amanda's breath caught.
The call ended.
Tyler stood.
“We're going.”
Reyes shook his head.
“It could be a trap.”
Amanda looked at him.
“It probably is.”
“Then why?”
She picked up the photograph of her mother.
“Because if Daniel is alive, he's the only person who can tell us what really happened.”
Anna stepped forward.
“And if he isn't?”
Amanda looked at the dark window.
“Then someone wants us to believe he is.”
She turned toward the door.
“Either way, we need to see him.”
PART 39 END
Click here to continue reading: PART 40: WHAT THE FIRE COULD NOT BURN:
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 39 of 40
