Chapter 7: The Message That Changed Everything
Emma read the message three times.
Your sister is alive. But if you want to see her again, you must stop trusting Damien Carter.
The attic suddenly felt too small. Rain tapped against the roof, and the smell of damp wood mixed with the sharp scent of police disinfectant. Emma could hear Lily speaking quietly to an officer downstairs, but the words seemed to come from another room, another life.
Damien stood beside her, watching her face.
“What does it say?””
Emma locked her phone.
“Nothing.””
He looked at her for a long moment.
“Emma, we've been through too much tonight for you to pretend nothing is wrong.””
She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that the man who had stood between her and an armed doctor was not hiding another terrible secret.
But the photograph of her entering Carter House remained in her mind.
Someone had been watching her for weeks.
Someone knew about Charlotte.
And someone had specifically warned her against Damien.
“Why did you never tell me Charlotte was missing?”” she asked.
Damien's expression tightened.
“I told you what I knew.””
“You said she disappeared when she was nineteen. You didn't tell me your family stopped looking for her.””
“We didn't stop looking.””
“Then why is there no missing-person report in the files you showed me?””
“Because my father had the report sealed.””
Emma stared at him.
“Why?””
“I don't know.””
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it's the truth!””
His raised voice startled both of them.
Damien immediately lowered it.
“I'm sorry. I'm not angry with you.””
“Then tell me what happened after Charlotte disappeared.””
He rubbed a hand over his face.
“My father hired investigators. They searched for months. My mother said Charlotte had run away because she wanted to escape the family. Eventually, the investigators reported that she might have left the country.””
“And everyone accepted that?””
“I was six, Emma. I accepted what the adults told me.””
She looked down at the message on her phone.
“What if Charlotte didn't run away? What if she discovered what happened to the twins and someone made her disappear?””
Damien said nothing.
That silence frightened her more than an argument would have.
Detective Morgan approached them.
“We've secured the house and taken statements from everyone. I need both of you to come to the station tomorrow morning.””
Emma nodded.
The detective glanced at Damien.
“Mr. Carter, I also need to ask you some questions about the private security company that has been monitoring Ms. Ellis.””
“Monitoring her?””
“The man who broke into this house had photographs of Emma dating back three weeks. We found additional images of you, your mother, and Sophie.””
Damien's expression darkened.
“Someone has been watching my daughter?””
“Apparently.””
“Who?””
“That's what we're trying to establish.””
Emma studied Damien's face.
His anger seemed genuine. But she had learned that genuine anger and guilt could exist in the same person.
She slipped her phone into her pocket.
“I need to go home,” she said.
Damien looked at her.
“I'll take you.””
“No.””
The word came out harder than she intended.
He went still.
Emma swallowed.
“I need some time to think.””
“I understand.””
“Do you?””
He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but finally stepped aside.
“All right.””
Emma left the attic with Lily, who had insisted on accompanying her to her apartment. Before leaving, Emma glanced back at Damien.
He stood beneath the attic light, holding Margaret's damaged cassette.
For the first time since meeting him, she couldn't tell whether he was trying to protect her or keep her close enough to control what she discovered.
That uncertainty followed her home.
At two in the morning, Emma sat at her kitchen table with the photographs spread in front of her.
The first showed Isabelle holding the twins.
The second showed Charlotte as a teenager.
The third showed Margaret outside St. Catherine's Hospital.
Emma arranged them chronologically, searching for details she might have missed.
Then she noticed something.
In the photograph of Isabelle and the newborn twins, a small clock hung on the hospital wall.
Its hands pointed to 11:47.
The date printed on the photograph was October 14.
Emma searched the documents again.
Her official birth certificate recorded her birth at 11:47 p.m.
Charlotte's hospital wristband showed the same date, but the time had been scratched out.
Why would anyone erase the time of birth?
Emma picked up the photograph of Charlotte.
On the back, the message For my little sisters, wherever you are had been written in the same blue ink as the date.
But beneath the handwriting, barely visible under the light, was another inscription.
A series of numbers.
*11:52 — WARD C — ROOM 12.*
Emma took a picture and sent it to Detective Morgan.
Then she opened her laptop and searched for historical records of St. Catherine's Hospital.
Most of the hospital had been demolished years earlier. The maternity wing, however, had been converted into a private rehabilitation center.
Emma found an old newspaper article about a fire that had damaged Ward C the night Isabelle gave birth.
The article stated that the fire had been contained within minutes, but several medical records had been destroyed.
Emma leaned back.
A fire.
Missing records.
A doctor who falsified documents.
A woman who disappeared.
Her phone rang.
The number was hidden.
Emma answered cautiously.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, she heard only breathing.
Then a woman's voice whispered, “Emma?””
Emma sat upright.
“Who is this?””
“Don't say my name. Don't ask questions. Just listen.””
The voice sounded strained, as if the woman were speaking through tears.
Emma's heart began to pound.
“Are you Charlotte?””
A sharp intake of breath came through the phone.
“I don't have much time.””
Emma gripped the edge of the table.
“Where are you? Are you safe?””
“No. And neither are you.””
“Please. I need to see you.””
“You can't. Not yet.””
“Why?””
“Because Damien has been looking for me for years.””
Emma froze.
“He told me he didn't know where you were.””
“He's telling you what he needs you to believe.””
“Charlotte, please—”
“Listen carefully. Go to St. Catherine's tomorrow.
Find the room where our mother gave birth. There's something hidden there that will explain everything.””
Emma looked at the photograph.
“Ward C, Room 12?””
Silence.
Then the woman whispered, “You found the message.””
“Tell me one thing. Why should I distrust Damien?””
The answer came so quietly that Emma almost missed it.
“Because he knows which one of us was supposed to die.””
The line went dead.
Emma remained frozen at the table.
Outside, a car engine started.
She hurried to the window and pulled back the curtain.
A black SUV sat across the street beneath a dead streetlight.
Its headlights switched on.
For several seconds, the vehicle remained motionless.
Then it drove away.
Emma's phone vibrated again.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Sophie sleeping in her bedroom at Damien's house.
Beneath it were six words.
Ask Damien what happened at midnight.
Emma stared at the image until her eyes burned.
Someone had access to the house.
Someone knew Sophie was there.
And whoever had sent the message was no longer content to threaten Emma.
They were threatening the little girl who had brought her family back to life.
Emma grabbed her coat and keys.
This time, she wasn't going to wait for anyone to tell her what to do.
May you like
Because before sunrise, she intended to discover why one of the twins had been marked for death.
And why Damien Carter had never told her.
