Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Photograph
Hannah ripped the photograph from the seat pocket.
“Who is she?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Evelyn.”
“No. Her full name.”
“Evelyn Cole Vale.”
Hannah shook her head.
“I’ve never heard that name.”
“Then explain her face.”
“I can’t.”
“Neither can I.”
Rain ran down Hannah’s cheeks.
She barely noticed.
She stared at the picture again.
Same nose.
Same chin.
Same slight curve in the left eyebrow.
Even the tiny dimple near the mouth was there.
It was impossible.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“Get in the car.”
This time Hannah did.
Not because Dominic ordered her.
Because she needed answers.
The SUV moved north through Manhattan.
Dominic sat across from her with Grace sleeping against his chest.
Lily and Emma were strapped into car seats beside him.
Every few seconds Emma looked at Hannah.
“Mama.”
Hannah flinched each time.
“Can you ask her to stop?”
Dominic looked down at his daughter.
“She has been silent her entire life.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“I’m not going to tell her to stop speaking.”
Hannah looked away.
That answer hurt more than she expected.
Thirty minutes later, the SUV entered an underground garage beneath a limestone townhouse.
Hannah counted cameras.
Eight.
Maybe more.
Two armed men stood near the elevator.
“You live like this?” she asked.
Dominic glanced at her.
“I stay alive like this.”
Upstairs, the home surprised her.
No gold statues.
No ridiculous gangster paintings.
Just warm wood, books, children’s toys, soft lights.
And photographs.
Evelyn was everywhere.
Holding the triplets.
Laughing on a balcony.
Sleeping on a couch with all three babies piled around her.
Hannah walked toward one framed photograph.
Evelyn was pregnant.
Dominic stood behind her with both hands over her stomach.
They looked happy.
Really happy.
Hannah touched the glass.
“She looks exactly like me.”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever mention me?”
“No.”
“Never?”
“Not once.”
Hannah turned.
“Then I’m leaving.”
Dominic blocked her path.
“No.”
Her temper snapped.
“You cannot keep me here because I look like your missing wife.”
“My daughters recognized you.”
“They are two.”
“All three.”
“I’m not arguing about how creepy this is.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“A DNA technician is coming.”
Hannah laughed in disbelief.
“You already called someone?”
“The moment we left the restaurant.”
“I’m not giving you my DNA.”
“You will.”
“No.”
“Hannah—”
She shoved his chest.
Three bodyguards moved.
Dominic raised one hand.
They stopped.
Hannah glared at him.
“You’re used to people doing whatever you say.”
“Yes.”
“Well, today sucks for you.”
For the first time, something almost like amusement flickered in his eyes.
Then vanished.
“Fine.”
He stepped away.
“No test.”
Hannah blinked.
“That easy?”
“No.”
He nodded toward the hallway.
“But I’ll show you something first.”
He led her upstairs.
At the end of the hall was a locked bedroom.
Dominic entered a code.
The door opened.
The room had not been touched.
A dress lay across a chair.
Perfume bottles sat on a vanity.
Books were stacked beside the bed.
Hannah felt like she had walked into someone else’s unfinished life.
Dominic opened a drawer.
Inside was a silver necklace.
He placed it in Hannah’s palm.
A small oval locket hung from the chain.
Hannah opened it.
Inside were two tiny girls.
Twins.
Maybe six months old.
On the back of the picture, faded handwriting read:
H & E.
Together, always.
Hannah’s hands started shaking.
“What is this?”
“I found it after Evelyn disappeared.”
“Who wrote that?”
“I don’t know.”
Hannah stared at the initials.
H.
E.
Hannah.
Evelyn.
Her chest tightened.
“No.”
Dominic watched her.
“My father would have told me.”
“Would he?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Hannah turned on him.
“My father raised me alone. My mother died when I was little. He would never hide something like this.”
Dominic said nothing.
Hannah pulled out her phone.
She opened her photo gallery.
Scrolled.
Found an old photograph of herself at eight years old.
Daniel Mercer stood behind her, smiling.
Dominic took the phone.
His face changed.
“What?”
He enlarged the image.
“What?” Hannah repeated.
Dominic pointed to Daniel’s wrist.
A faded tattoo was visible beneath his watch.
Hannah had seen it a thousand times.
A small blue bird.
Dominic walked to Evelyn’s bookshelf and pulled out a worn children’s book.
On the inside cover, someone had drawn the same blue bird.
Beneath it were six words.
For Evelyn, until I can explain.
Hannah grabbed the book.
“That’s my father’s handwriting.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Then footsteps hurried down the hall.
A gray-haired man entered carrying a medical case.
“The lab technician,” Dominic said.
Hannah stared at the locket.
Then at the book.
Then at the photograph of the twins.
Finally, she held out her arm.
“Take the sample.”
Three hours later, Dominic’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His eyes locked on Hannah.
“What?” she demanded.
Dominic lowered the phone.
“The probability that you are biologically related to my daughters is above ninety-nine percent.”
Hannah’s knees nearly gave out.
“How related?”
Dominic stared at her.
“The lab says you are either their biological mother…”
May you like
He paused.
“…or her identical twin.”
