Chapter 7: The Woman I Married
For a few seconds, I couldn’t hear anything except my own breathing.
Michael Voss’s daughter.
The words made no sense.
Then they made too much sense.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked like someone had punched him in the chest.
“That’s impossible,” he said.
Dr. Hale stood slowly.
“What happened?””
I lowered the phone.
“Sarah says Claire isn’t Claire.””
Daniel turned toward her.
“She says the real Claire Mercer died fifteen years ago.””
Dr. Hale’s face changed.
Not shock.
Recognition.
I saw it.
“You knew.””
“No.””
“You knew something.””
She looked away.
“Rebecca.””
Daniel’s voice was low now.
Dangerously calm.
“What do you know?””
Dr. Hale pressed her hands against the desk.
“I knew Thomas had a daughter named Claire.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
“She disappeared after Evelyn left.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Claire is my sister.””
Dr. Hale looked at him.
“Was.””
He froze.
“Was?””
I grabbed my keys.
“We can argue in the car.””
Daniel didn’t move.
I caught his shoulder.
“Your niece is in that house.””
That did it.
We drove faster than I had ever driven in my life.
Every red light felt like an insult.
Every slow car became an enemy.
I called home six times.
No answer.
Sarah’s phone went directly to voicemail.
Claire’s too.
On the seventh call, Lily answered.
“Daddy?””
Relief hit so hard my hands almost slipped from the wheel.
“Lily. Baby, where are you?””
“In my room.””
“Are you alone?””
A pause.
“No.””
My heart slammed.
“Who’s with you?””
“Mommy.””
I glanced at Daniel.
“Put Mommy on.””
Lily whispered, “She’s crying.””
“Please, sweetheart.””
Muffled movement.
Then Claire’s voice.
“Ryan.””
I almost shouted.
Instead I forced myself to speak slowly.
“Where is Sarah?””
“She took Emma.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
“She went through the tunnel.””
“Why did you let her?””
“I didn’t.””
“Then how?””
“She had a gun.””
Daniel leaned toward the phone.
“Was anyone hurt?””
Claire heard him.
“Daniel?””
“Answer me.””
“No. Nobody’s hurt.””
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Why didn’t you call the police?””
Claire went silent.
Of course.
“Claire.””
“Because if Sarah goes where I think she’s going, police won’t get there in time.””
“Where?””
“The house Emma called the dark house.””
Daniel stared at me.
“Do you know where it is?””
“I think so.””
“Then tell me.””
“No.””
I nearly drove off the road.
“What?””
“You can’t go there.””
“Sarah has Emma.””
“And the people at that house want you.””
“So?””
“So maybe this was always the plan.””
I felt cold.
“To use Emma to get me there?””
“Yes.””
“Then it worked.””
“Ryan, no.””
“Tell me where.””
“I can’t.””
I hung up.
Daniel stared at me.
“That was helpful.””
“She’ll tell us when we get home.””
“What if she doesn’t?””
“She will.””
“You sound confident.””
“I’m not.””
We reached the house twenty minutes later.
The front door stood open.
I ran inside.
“Lily!””
“Daddy!””
She rushed down the stairs in pajamas and crashed into my legs.
I lifted her.
For one second, I forgot everything else.
Then I saw Claire.
She stood at the top of the stairs.
Blood stained one sleeve.
I set Lily down.
“You said nobody was hurt.””
“It’s Sarah’s blood.””
Daniel stepped inside behind me.
“What happened?””
Claire came downstairs.
“She cut her hand breaking the kitchen window.””
“Why break a window when there’s a tunnel?””
“She didn’t know I had locked the hidden room.””
I laughed bitterly.
“You locked Emma in there again?””
“No!””
Lily flinched.
I lowered my voice.
“Then explain.””
“After you left, I moved Emma into Lily’s room. Sarah came through the tunnel. She was already inside before I knew.””
“And she took Emma.””
Claire nodded.
“Emma went willingly.””
That stopped me.
“What?””
“She ran to Sarah.””
“Because Sarah is her mother.””
“I know.””
The way she said it bothered me.
Too flat.
Too controlled.
Sarah’s words returned.
The woman in your house is not Claire.
I studied the woman I had slept beside for eleven years.
“What’s your real name?””
Her face emptied.
Daniel stared at her.
“Ryan…”
“No.””
I stepped closer.
“What is your real name?””
Lily looked between us.
Claire whispered, “Not in front of her.””
“Daniel, take Lily upstairs.””
Lily grabbed my shirt.
“No.””
I crouched.
“It’s okay.””
“Are you mad at Mommy?””
I looked at Claire.
“Yes.
But not at you.””
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Is Mommy bad?””
Claire covered her mouth.
I kissed Lily’s forehead.
“No one is asking you to decide that.””
Daniel carried her upstairs.
I waited until her door closed.
Then I turned.
“Name.””
Claire sat down on the bottom stair.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then:
“Anna Voss.””
The foyer went silent.
I had imagined hearing the truth would feel like clarity.
It didn’t.
It felt like losing balance.
“Anna.””
She nodded.
“Michael Voss was your father?””
“Yes.””
I stared at her.
“And you knew.””
“Yes.””
“From the beginning?””
“No.””
“When?””
“After we were already married.””
I laughed once.
“Convenient.””
“It’s true.””
“Who was Claire Mercer?””
Her eyes closed.
“My best friend.””
I froze.
“Your best friend.””
“Yes.””
“Thomas’s daughter.””
“Yes.””
“Daniel’s sister.””
“Yes.””
“What happened to her?””
Anna—Claire—whatever her name was—looked toward the floor.
“She died because of me.””
Daniel returned at that exact moment.
He stopped.
“What?””
Anna stood.
“Daniel.””
“What did you say?””
“I’m sorry.””
He crossed the room in two strides.
“Where is my sister?””
“Dead.””
He grabbed her shoulders.
“Where?””
I pulled him back.
“Daniel!””
He fought me for half a second.
Then stopped.
His eyes stayed on her.
“Tell me.””
Anna was shaking now.
“Claire found out what Michael was doing.””
“Michael Voss?””
“My father.””
“What was he doing?””
“Using Thomas.””
Daniel stared.
“Dad wasn’t working for Voss?””
“No.””
“He was.””
“At first.””
She wiped her face.
“Then Thomas tried to leave.””
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
“That doesn’t sound like him.””
“You didn’t know him then.””
“I knew enough.””
Anna looked at him.
“Claire wanted out too.””
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“She never told me.””
“She was afraid you’d choose Thomas.””
His expression said she had been right to wonder.
“What happened?””
Anna took a breath.
“Fifteen years ago, Claire met me at a train station in Providence.””
“Why?””
“She had documents. Names. Accounts. Proof Michael was controlling Thomas’s operation.””
“The archive?””
“Part of it.””
My pulse jumped.
“So Margaret’s archive came through Claire.””
“Yes.””
“Then what?””
“We were supposed to disappear together.””
Daniel whispered, “But she died.””
Anna nodded.
“We were followed.””
“By who?””
“Michael’s men.””
Her voice became quieter.
“Claire pushed me into a service corridor at the station. She gave me her bag. Her passport. Everything.””
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“She sacrificed herself.””
Anna started crying.
“She told me to keep running.””
“How did she die?””
Anna looked at him.
“They took her.””
Daniel went still.
“That isn’t death.””
“I know.””
“Did you see a body?””
“No.””
“Then why did you say she died?””
“Because three days later, Michael showed me a photograph.””
Daniel’s hands curled.
“What photograph?””
“Claire lying on concrete. Blood everywhere.””
“Face visible?””
“Yes.””
“Could she have been alive?””
Anna hesitated.
“I don’t know.””
Daniel turned away.
I understood his anger.
He had spent fifteen years believing a sister was alive.
Now he had learned she might have been dead.
Or might have been alive.
Somehow both possibilities were torture.
I looked at Anna.
“You took her identity.””
“She told me to.””
“Did she tell you to marry me too?””
“No.””
“Did Michael?””
Anna swallowed.
“Yes.””
The answer sliced through me.
“Why?””
“He wanted access to Evelyn.””
“My adoptive mother.””
“Yes.””
“Because of the archive.””
“Yes.””
“And you obeyed.””
“At first.””
I looked away.
The room blurred.
How many times could someone say at first before the rest stopped mattering?
Anna stepped closer.
“Ryan, I was supposed to meet you, get close, find out whether Evelyn told you anything, then disappear.””
“But you stayed.””
“I fell in love with you.””
I laughed without humor.
“You people really need a new line.””
She flinched.
“I know you don’t believe me.””
“I don’t know what to believe.””
“Believe Lily.””
That stopped me.
“She is yours. She is mine. Whatever else I did, she is real.””
I looked toward the stairs.
At least one thing still felt solid.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He pulled it out.
A text.
SARAH.
He opened it.
One photograph.
Emma sat in the back seat of a car.
She was alive.
Beside her was Sarah.
Blood wrapped around one hand.
Beneath the photo:
DON’T FOLLOW US.
Then another message.
BRING RYAN ALONE.
Daniel looked up.
“Location?””
I asked.
He showed me.
An address outside New Haven.
Anna went white.
“That’s it.””
“What?””
“The dark house.””
I grabbed my coat.
She blocked the door.
“Ryan, you cannot go.””
“Move.””
“Michael used that place.””
“Michael is dead.””
“No.””
The word was immediate.
I stared at her.
“What?””
She shook her head.
“I never said he was dead.””
“Dr. Hale said he officially died in 1999.””
“Officially.””
I felt sick.
“You’ve known he was alive?””
“Until five years ago.””
“Five years.””
Emma’s birth again.
“What happened five years ago?””
Anna looked at Daniel.
Then me.
“Michael disappeared the night Emma was born.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Then maybe Sarah does.””
I opened the door.
Anna grabbed my hand.
“Ryan.””
I turned.
Her face was terrified.
Not for herself.
For me.
“If you see Michael, do not trust anything he says.””
I pulled free.
“At this point, that advice applies to everyone.””
Daniel followed me outside.
But before we reached the car, Anna called after us.
“There’s something else.””
I turned.
She stood in the doorway.
“Sarah didn’t take Emma because she’s her mother.””
I frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
Anna’s voice trembled.
“Sarah was never pregnant.””
Everything in me stopped.
Daniel whispered, “What?””
Anna looked directly at me.
“The woman who gave birth to Emma…”
May you like
She swallowed.
“…was Claire Mercer.””
