CHAPTER 7 — The Woman in White
The forest fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Emily stared at the elegant silver-haired woman standing beside the limousine.
The woman's eyes shimmered with emotion.
"My name is Isabella Moretti."
"I'm your mother."
Vincent slowly stepped in front of Emily.
"Stay behind me."
The woman smiled sadly.
"You've protected her well."
"But you've also been lying to her."
Vincent tightened his grip on his pistol.
"So have you."
Emily's heart pounded.
"You expect me to believe that after twenty-one years?"
Isabella nodded.
"I don't expect your trust."
"I came to give you the truth."
She reached into her coat very slowly.
Every sniper in the trees instantly lowered their rifles.
Vincent's men prepared to fire.
Instead of a weapon...
She pulled out a tiny silver locket.
Inside were two photographs.
One showed a smiling young couple holding a newborn baby.
The second showed the exact same baby wearing the same silver bracelet Emily had seen in the Project Phoenix file.
Tears filled Isabella's eyes.
"They stole you from us three days after you were born."
Emily opened the locket.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence.
For our little Phoenix...
She froze.
No one else should have known that name.
Vincent whispered,
"Lower your weapons."
His instincts told him something strange.
Isabella hadn't come with an army to attack.
She had come protected by an army.
There was a difference.
Emily asked quietly,
"If you're my mother..."
"Why didn't you find me?"
Isabella looked away.
"I did."
"I found you six different times."
"Every time I got close..."
"Someone murdered everyone helping me."
Emily's knees weakened.
"Who?"
Isabella answered with one name.
"Marco."
Vincent's blood turned cold.
His own cousin.
The man he had trusted since childhood.
The man who cried beside him at his father's funeral.
The man who had orchestrated every betrayal.
Suddenly...
One of Isabella's bodyguards rushed toward her.
"Ma'am!"
"We intercepted encrypted transmissions."
"They've located the cabin."
Vincent looked toward the forest.
Dozens of red laser sights suddenly appeared across the walls.
Not aimed at him.
Not aimed at Isabella.
Every single laser...
Was fixed on Emily.
Then loudspeakers echoed through the trees.
"Attention."
"Deliver Subject Phoenix."
"Or everyone dies."
Emily whispered,
"They're willing to kill all of you..."
"Just to take me."
Isabella slowly shook her head.
"No."
"They're willing to kill the world..."
May you like
"...to keep your secret buried."
END OF CHAPTER 7
