CHAPTER 27 : The Man Who Carried His Face
Sophie was in the center’s library when the false Ethan entered.
Rachel received Daniel’s warning and activated the silent alarm.
The man moved through the building without hesitation.
He knew every hallway.
Every camera angle.
Every security checkpoint.
Two guards approached him.
He used Ethan’s voice to dismiss them.
When they noticed the alarm on their radios, he was already behind them.
He did not seriously injure them.
He simply took their access cards and continued toward the residential wing.
Sophie locked the library door.
Addison hid beneath a table.
The handle moved.
“Sophie,” the man called.
She stared at the frosted glass.
He sounded exactly like her father.
“It’s me.”
“No, it isn’t.”
A pause followed.
Then the man laughed softly.
“Laura said you were observant.”
Sophie held her mother’s letter against her chest.
“Did you hurt Noah?”
“Noah is safe.”
“Where?”
“Ask your father what happened to his brother.”
“He didn’t know he had one.”
“That is what Blackwoods do. They build fortunes from secrets, then pretend surprise when the secrets begin screaming.”
He inserted a key into the lock.
Sophie pushed a heavy chair beneath the handle.
“You can’t stay outside forever,” he said.
“That’s what Cassandra thought.”
The man stopped turning the key.
For the first time, anger entered his voice.
“I am not Cassandra.”
“No. You hide behind doors instead of locking children outside them.”
The chair shifted as he pushed.
Rachel moved Addison through a side exit.
Sophie remained behind.
“Come with us,” Rachel whispered.
“He’ll follow.”
“You are not bait.”
“I know.”
Sophie removed the fire extinguisher from the wall.
The door opened several inches.
She sprayed through the gap.
The man stumbled backward.
Security alarms sounded across the center.
Sophie ran through the opposite exit and reached the ballroom.
The false Ethan followed her.
He wiped foam from his face.
He looked so much like her father that Sophie’s body reacted before her mind did.
For half a second, she wanted to run toward him.
Then she noticed his eyes.
Ethan’s eyes became soft when he looked at her.
This man’s eyes were measuring distance.
“You don’t love me,” Sophie said.
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“But Laura did.”
“Then why did you hurt her?”
His expression changed.
“I tried to save her.”
“Cassandra hit her car.”
“Cassandra struck the vehicle.”
He moved closer.
“But Laura survived the crash.”
Sophie stopped breathing.
“No.”
“The police found her blood. Her personal belongings. Dental evidence that had already been placed inside the vehicle.”
“She died.”
“That is what they needed Ethan to believe.”
The ballroom doors opened.
Daniel entered with armed security officers.
The man grabbed Sophie and held a blade near her shoulder.
“Lower your weapons.”
Daniel obeyed.
Ethan appeared behind him.
The twin brothers saw each other for the first time.
Neither spoke.
They had the same face.
But the other man’s hair was longer, and a scar crossed his right temple.
Ethan stepped forward.
“What is your name?”
The man smiled.
“Elias.”
“Judge Wren?”
“Wren raised me.”
“Where is Noah?”
“Waiting for Sophie.”
Sophie looked at him.
“Why me?”
“Because Laura left the final key with you.”
“I already found the key.”
“That opened the bank vault.”
Elias leaned close to her ear.
“The real key is something she taught you.”
“What?”
“How to leave a door open.”
Smoke exploded across the ballroom.
When it cleared, Elias was gone.
Sophie stood unharmed near the terrace.
On the floor lay a small audio recorder.
Laura’s voice played through it.
“Ethan, if Elias has found Sophie, Northstar is no longer the greatest danger.”
The recording crackled.
“Do not let him open the chamber beneath the ballroom.”
A mechanical sound came from under the floor.
The bronze plaque bearing Laura’s name began moving away from the wall.
May you like
Behind it was another door.
And it was slowly opening.
