Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Church
Dominic wanted to come with me.
I refused.
“No.”
He stared at me.
“You're not going anywhere alone.”
“They specifically asked for me.”
“That's exactly why you're not going.”
“They have Clara.”
His jaw clenched.
“They want you dead.”
“Maybe.”
He stepped closer.
“Don't say that so casually.”
I looked into his eyes.
“Your daughter is out there because someone thinks I'm important.”
“Which means you're a target.”
“So we use that.”
Dominic went silent.
I continued.
“If we send twenty armed men, they'll know. If I go alone, they may reveal themselves.”
“You're not trained.”
“I know.”
“You don't know what you're walking into.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“But I know what it feels like to have nobody come when you're scared.”
He said nothing.
I reached for his hand.
It surprised both of us.
“Bring the team. Hide them nearby. Let me walk inside.”
He stared at our hands.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
The old church had been abandoned for years.
Its windows were broken. Ivy crawled across the walls. The wooden doors groaned when I pushed them open.
“Hello?”
No answer.
I stepped inside.
“Clara?”
A voice spoke from the darkness.
“You came.”
A woman emerged.
She looked familiar.
I couldn't place her.
She was wearing a gray coat and holding a photograph.
“Where is Clara?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
The woman smiled sadly.
“You really are Eliana's daughter.”
I froze.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Ruth.”
“What do you know about my mother?”
“More than Dominic does.”
“Where is Clara?”
“You'll see her.”
Ruth placed the photograph on a wooden pew.
It showed Eliana.
And another woman beside her.
I recognized her immediately.
She was the woman who had delivered me at St. Mary's Hospital.
My childhood doctor.
Dr. Helen Mercer.
Ruth whispered,
“Your mother discovered that Dominic's enemies wanted her children dead.”
“Children?”
“You were one.”
I felt numb.
“What happened?”
“Eliana knew she was being watched. She arranged for you to disappear.”
“Why?”
“To save you.”
My voice broke.
“Then why did she tell Dominic I died?”
“Because she believed someone inside his organization was feeding information to the enemy.”
“Who?”
Ruth looked away.
“Your mother never knew for sure.”
A sound echoed from the basement.
I turned.
“Clara?”
Ruth nodded.
“She's there.”
I ran downstairs.
Clara was tied to a chair.
I rushed toward her.
“Clara!”
She looked up.
“Maya!”
I began untying the ropes.
Then the lights turned on.
Victor stood at the bottom of the stairs.
He held a gun.
I froze.
“You.”
Victor shook his head.
“It's not what you think.”
“You kidnapped her.”
“No.”
“You brought us here.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“By tying her to a chair?”
“She wasn't hurt.”
Clara cried.
“Uncle Victor saved me.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
Victor lowered his weapon.
“The real kidnappers came for her. I intercepted them.”
“Then why hide her?”
“Because if I took her back to Dominic, they'd attack the estate again.”
“That makes no sense.”
Victor looked exhausted.
“Your enemy is inside his house.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“His head of security.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Elias?”
Victor nodded.
“Elias arranged the camera blackout.”
Before I could respond, gunfire erupted above us.
Victor grabbed Clara.
“Down!”
Bullets shattered the staircase railing.
Ruth screamed.
Victor dragged us behind a stone wall.
“Dominic?” I shouted.
A voice echoed from the entrance.
“Maya!”
It was him.
Dominic and his men stormed the church.
The gunfire stopped.
Then Dominic saw Victor.
His gun immediately rose.
“Put her down.”
Victor shook his head.
“Listen to me.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I saved her.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You have five seconds.”
“Your security chief is the traitor.”
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“What did you say?”
“Elias.”
Dominic's face went blank.
Then one of his men shouted,
“Boss!”
He had found the security chief's phone.
Inside were encrypted messages.
Several transfers.
Coordinates.
And one photograph.
Me.
Dominic looked at me.
The photo had been taken before we'd met.
Someone had written beneath it:
TARGET ONE.
Clara was TARGET TWO.
I felt dizzy.
Ruth came forward.
“There's more.”
She handed Dominic a file.
Inside were hospital records.
A birth certificate.
A photograph of Eliana holding twins.
Twins.
Dominic's hands began to shake.
“There were two?”
Ruth nodded.
“You and Maya.”
Clara looked up at me.
“So Maya is my aunt?”
Ruth smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
Dominic stared at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then a single gunshot exploded from the church entrance.
One of Dominic's men fell.
Elias stood in the doorway.
He was holding a weapon.
“You should have left the past buried, Dominic.”
Dominic stepped toward him.
“You killed my wife.”
Elias laughed.
“Eliana died because she refused to cooperate.”
I felt rage rise.
“You knew she was alive?”
Elias looked directly at me.
“She knew too much.”
Dominic fired.
Elias disappeared through a side door.
Dominic's men chased him.
But he escaped.
We returned to the mansion before dawn.
The truth was finally beginning to surface.
I was Eliana's daughter.
Clara was my half-sister.
Victor had not betrayed Dominic.
Elias had.
But there was one question nobody could answer.
Why had Elias waited twenty-six years to bring me back?
The answer arrived the next morning.
A package was left outside Dominic's bedroom.
Inside was an old cassette tape.
The label read:
FOR MY DAUGHTER, WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH.
It was written in Eliana's handwriting.
Dominic found an old player.
He pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice.
“If you are hearing this, then they found you.”
I covered my mouth.
It was my mother's voice.
“Your father believes you died.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I lied to him to save you.”
A pause.
“I'm sorry.”
Then she said something that changed everything.
“The man who ordered the attack wasn't Elias.”
Dominic opened his eyes.
May you like
The recording continued.
“It was someone closer.”
