Chapter 26 - Robert's Last Lie
Robert looked into the camera.
Dad stood behind him with his hands tied.
“Robert.”
My voice came out colder than I expected.
He smiled.
“I knew you'd come.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“That's what every liar says.”
He laughed.
“I deserved that.”
Dad stepped forward.
“Camila, don't listen to him.”
Robert shoved him back.
I felt rage surge through me.
“Touch him again and I swear—”
“You'll what?”
Robert's eyes hardened.
“You'll kill me?”
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
Ethan's voice came through another channel.
“Camila, listen.”
I turned toward the speaker.
Robert looked toward another camera.
“He isn't supposed to be talking.”
Ethan laughed.
“I've never been very good at following orders.”
Richard looked at me.
“There's a second system.”
“What?”
“Carter had redundant communications.”
Leah nodded.
“Robert hacked the external network.”
Robert's face changed.
“You weren't supposed to know that.”
“I built part of it.”
I stared at Leah.
“You built Carter Ridge?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I learned how it worked.”
Robert looked annoyed.
“Enough.”
He turned toward Dad.
“Tell her.”
Dad lifted his head.
“Tell her what?”
“That I saved you.”
Dad looked at him.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I kept you alive.”
“Why?”
Robert's face softened.
“Because I couldn't keep lying.”
I looked at him.
“You already did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He swallowed.
“Because Diane had my daughter.”
I froze.
“Your daughter?”
He nodded.
“Diane took her years ago.”
Richard asked, “Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Leah stepped forward.
“What was her name?”
Robert stared at her.
“You know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She erased her.”
Leah's face changed.
“Who?”
Robert whispered:
“Anna.”
My breath caught.
A name.
The third child.
I stared at my mother.
“Anna?”
Elena began crying.
“Yes.”
“Who was she?”
“My youngest.”
I looked at Dad.
He stared at the floor.
“You had a son and a daughter?”
“We had three children.”
My mind struggled to understand.
“You had another daughter?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“Anna was not ours by blood.”
“Then who was she?”
Leah answered.
“Mine.”
I stared at her.
“My name is Leah,” she said.
“But my birth name was Anna.”
The room went silent.
Diane had given her to another family.
Leah wasn't Diane's biological daughter after all?
I looked at her.
“You said Diane gave you away.”
“She raised me for a time.”
“So your name was Anna.”
“Yes.”
“And then she changed it.”
“Yes.”
“To Leah.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To erase C-14.”
Richard stared.
“C-14 wasn't you.”
Leah shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It was her.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
Robert suddenly shouted.
“Stop!”
Everyone turned.
He looked terrified.
“Don't tell her that.”
“Why?”
“Because that's what he wants.”
“Who?”
Robert stared at the screen.
“Daniel.”
I looked at the floor.
Daniel was gone.
Only blood remained.
Richard swore.
“He escaped.”
Leah's face went pale.
“What did he activate?”
Robert looked at her.
“The beacon.”
Richard frowned.
“Which beacon?”
“The one inside Camila.”
My hand went instinctively to my scar.
The scar burned.
I gasped.
The facility lights began pulsing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A monitor displayed:
C-14 ACTIVE.
I cried out.
Noah started screaming.
Dad shouted something in the background.
Robert moved toward the camera.
“Camila, listen to me.”
“Why is this happening?”
“Because Daniel wasn't trying to control you.”
“Then what is he doing?”
“He's locating everyone connected to you.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your father. Your son. Ethan. Elena. Leah.”
“And you?”
Robert smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
Robert looked toward the door behind him.
“Us in one place.”
The lights went dark.
A gunshot sounded.
The screen went black.
I screamed.
“Robert!”
No answer.
Leah grabbed my arm.
“We have to move.”
“Where?”
“Up.”
“What's upstairs?”
She looked at Noah.
“The original house.”
My blood ran cold.
“That house was abandoned.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“It was never abandoned.”
The facility began shaking.
Water reached our ankles.
Dad's voice came through the wall speaker.
“Camila!”
I ran toward it.
“Dad!”
“I found the exit.”
“Where?”
“In the old nursery.”
I stopped.
The nursery.
The room from the photographs.
The room where Leah had stood beside Noah.
The room that had existed before I knew any of this.
I looked at my mother.
“You knew about the nursery.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Because that's where it started.”
