CHAPTER 8 — The Girl Who Remembered Everything
The helicopter engine suddenly died.
Smoke drifted into the night sky.
One by one, the armed men backed away from the aircraft.
The rear door slowly opened.
A tiny figure climbed down.
The little girl.
The same little girl who had been standing beside Mason only seconds earlier.
Mason stared in disbelief.
He looked down.
His arms were empty.
The child he had been holding...
...was gone.
Rose's breathing stopped.
"No..."
Two little girls now stood only a few feet apart.
Both wore oversized yellow shirts.
Both had tangled brown hair.
Both looked exactly alike.
One reached for Mason.
The other reached for Rose.
The Chairman smiled.
"Now you understand."
"There was never one child."
"There were always two."
Mason could barely breathe.
"Twins?"
Rose slowly nodded.
"I gave birth to twin daughters."
Her voice broke.
"They took one before I even held her."
Lily looked down at the second little girl.
"I raised her."
Rose's knees buckled.
"You..."
Lily nodded.
"I couldn't save you."
"But I could save one child."
The little girl beside Lily stepped forward.
Unlike her sister, she wasn't frightened.
Her eyes were calm.
Far too calm for a seven-year-old.
She looked directly at the Chairman.
Then she smiled.
"You forgot something."
The Chairman frowned.
"What?"
The little girl reached into the pocket of her shirt.
She pulled out a tiny silver recorder.
"I remember everything."
She pressed PLAY.
The clearing filled with the Chairman's own voice.
"If Rose refuses... remove the child."
"If Mason survives... eliminate him too."
"Children are replaceable."
Every armed man froze.
Several slowly lowered their rifles.
The recording continued.
Each sentence was worse than the last.
Executions.
Kidnappings.
Bribes.
Judges being purchased.
Children being auctioned.
No one could pretend anymore.
The Chairman slowly looked around.
His own soldiers were staring at him with horror.
He whispered only one word.
"Traitor."
But he wasn't looking at Ethan.
He was looking at Lily.
Tears streamed down Lily's face.
"I served you my entire life."
"I watched innocent people die because I believed you."
She looked toward the two little girls.
"Never again."
The Chairman's face hardened.
"If I lose Wolf..."
"...none of you leave this mountain alive."
He pressed a hidden button inside his cane.
A deep mechanical rumble echoed beneath the ground.
The earth began to shake violently.
Massive steel doors slowly rose from beneath the forest floor.
Floodlights illuminated an underground fortress no one knew existed.
Helicopters.
Armored vehicles.
Hundreds of armed operatives.
This had never been a hideout.
It was Wolf Headquarters.
And an electronic voice echoed across the mountain.
"LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED."
"ALL EXITS SEALED."
The Chairman smiled once more.
"You wanted the truth."
"Now..."
May you like
"...none of you are leaving alive."
END OF CHAPTER 8
