Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED COAT
Edward pushed Mabel toward the back hallway.
“Go.”
“Who is it?”
“Flynn’s security team.”
Mabel froze.
“How?”
“They tracked your phone.”
She immediately understood.
The airplane.
The unknown messages.
The house.
Someone had known where she was going before she arrived.
Edward grabbed an old coat.
“There's a tunnel beneath the garage.”
“You built a tunnel?”
“Your mother did.”
Mabel stared at him.
“My mother?”
“She expected this day.”
They hurried through the kitchen.
Before Edward could open the basement door, headlights swept across the windows.
Then came three knocks.
Calm.
Polite.
Mabel knew that rhythm.
Flynn.
Her husband always knocked three times.
Edward whispered, “Don't speak.”
The front door opened.
A familiar voice filled the house.
“Mabel?”
Flynn.
He sounded worried.
Almost loving.
“I know you're frightened.”
Mabel's hands curled into fists.
“I only want to talk.”
Edward moved closer to her.
“You must not answer.”
Footsteps entered the hallway.
Flynn called again.
“Mabel, please.”
Then another voice answered.
A woman's voice.
Selina.
“She isn't here.”
Mabel looked at Edward.
Selina was protecting her?
That made no sense.
Footsteps moved toward the library.
A drawer opened.
Documents shuffled.
Then Flynn said something that made Mabel’s heart stop.
“Where is Edward?”
Selina replied quietly.
“He isn't coming back.”
Flynn laughed.
“He always comes back.”
A gunshot exploded somewhere upstairs.
Mabel flinched.
Edward pushed her through the basement doorway.
They descended into darkness.
The tunnel smelled like earth and old wood.
“Where does it lead?” Mabel whispered.
“The ocean.”
Behind them, footsteps entered the basement.
Edward moved faster.
They reached a steel door.
Edward entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Mabel heard someone approaching.
Then a woman's hand appeared around the corner.
Mabel almost screamed.
Selina stepped into view.
She was wearing a red coat.
She held no weapon.
Instead, she held a small black box.
“Don't shoot,” she whispered.
Edward stared at her.
“You.”
Selina looked at Mabel.
“I need five minutes.”
“You're Flynn's sister.”
Selina nodded.
Mabel’s voice shook.
“Are you here to kill us?”
“No.”
“Then why did you help him?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Flynn?”
“Of Richard.”
Edward’s face hardened.
“Richard is dead.”
Selina looked at him.
“No.”
Mabel felt her stomach twist.
“Richard Vance is alive?”
Selina nodded.
“He never died.”
Edward closed his eyes.
“Then we have very little time.”
Selina opened the black box.
Inside was a flash drive and a photograph.
The photograph showed Mabel’s mother.
Alive.
Standing outside a hospital.
Holding a newborn baby.
Beside her stood Richard Vance.
And between them was a little boy.
Flynn.
But there was something written on the back.
The boy was not Richard’s son.
Mabel stared.
“Then whose son is he?”
Selina looked at her.
“Your mother’s.”
Mabel shook her head.
“You already said that.”
“No.”
Selina’s eyes filled with tears.
“I mean your mother had another child.”
Mabel stared.
“Another child?”
Selina nodded.
“A daughter.”
Mabel’s breath caught.
“Who?”
Selina slowly raised the photograph.
“You.”
Mabel stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
Selina whispered:
“Flynn isn't your half brother.”
“Then who is he?”
Selina looked toward the tunnel entrance.
“The man you married was never Flynn Vance.”
Mabel felt the world go silent.
“What?”
“He stole Flynn’s identity when the real Flynn disappeared.”
Mabel’s heart hammered.
“Then who have I been married to?”
Selina answered with one name.
“Elias Mercer.”
Behind them, the steel door finally unlocked.
May you like
And someone outside whispered:
“Mabel?”
