Old pipes hung from the ceiling.
Broken machines lay under collapsed beams.
However, recent tire tracks were piercing the dusty ground.
Someone had been here recently.
Julian led them up a flight of stairs.
Downstairs was a heavy steel door.
An electronic lock glowed with a green light.
Vincent stared at her.
“There is still electricity.”
Julian examined the mechanism.
“Someone is maintaining these facilities.”
Emma felt a shiver.
After several attempts, Julian managed to open the lock.
Behind the door was an intensely lit corridor.
The walls were white.
The floor was spotless.
The air smelled of disinfectant.
Emma looked around in horror.
“This place is still working.”
Vincent’s face hardens.
They passed several empty patient rooms.
A nurses’ position.
An examination room.
Then they came to a closed door.
A woman appeared in the hallway.
She had dark hair, tired eyes, and wore a black coat.
Vincent froze.
“Catherine.”
The woman looked at him for a long time.
For a moment, nineteen years of separation seemed to stand between them.
Then she whispered,
“Hello, Vincent.”
Emma stepped forward.
“Where is my family?”
Catherine turned to her.
“You must be Emma.”
“Please… His
voice broke.
“Tell me they’re alive.”
Catherine’s expression softened.
“They are safe.”
Emma began to cry.
“Where?”
“Your father is receiving care in the medical wing.”
“And Lily?”
“She’s with him.”
Emma looked at Vincent.
He nodded.
Catherine led them through the corridor.
They entered a small medical room.
Daniel Carter was lying in a hospital bed.
Lily was sitting next to him.
Emma stopped short.
For a moment she was unable to move.
Then Lily looked up.
“Emma?”
Emma rushed to her.
The two sisters threw themselves into each other’s arms.
Emma held Lily so tightly that neither of them could speak.
Then she approached her father.
“Dad… Daniel
smiled faintly.
“Hello, my little blue bird.”
Emma burst into tears again.
She took his hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me anything?”
His smile disappeared.
He knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Emma…
She shook her head.
“Mom survived.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And Lily had a twin sister.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma’s voice broke.
“You let us believe she was dead.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“I thought she was.”
Emma stared at him.
“What?”
He looked at Catherine.
“After Lily was born, I was told that Grace had been murdered.
”
Emma felt her heart sink.
“Who told you?”
“Jonathan Sterling.”
Daniel tried to breathe normally.
“He said that if I tried to find her, my two daughters would die.”
Emma looked down.
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
He swallowed.
“The agent I spoke to worked for Sterling.”
Emma felt nauseous.
“He knew where we lived.”
Daniel nodded.
“He knew which school you were going to.”
Emma put a hand to her mouth.
“He knew everything.”
Catherine approached.
“Daniel finally came to me.”
Emma looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I was already investigating Bluebird.”
Emma watched him.
Catherine continued.
“I helped him change some files and escape Jonathan’s surveillance.”
“So why did you take him out of the hospital?”
“Because Leonard Price had ordered another transfer.
”
Emma’s face hardened.
“Price?”
Catherine nodded.
“My team arrived first.”
Emma thought back to the photograph she received on her phone.
Two unknown men next to Daniel’s bed.
She had thought they were kidnappers.
In reality, they were in the process of saving him.
“Who sent the threat?”
Catherine looked at Vincent.
“Someone wanted Emma to think we were her enemies.”
Vincent’s jaw contracted.
Emma turned again to Daniel.
“Where’s Mom?”
His expression changed.
For several seconds, he did not answer.
Then Catherine approached a door at the end of the corridor.
“Emma…
She took a deep breath.
“Someone is waiting for you.”
The door opened.
A woman was inside.
Her dark hair was crossed by silver locks.
A small scar marked his eyebrow.
She was wearing a pale blue sweater.
In her hands, she held a faded photograph.
Emma recognized her immediately.
The woman looked up.
His face decomposed.
“Emma?”
Emma felt her knees give way.
“Mom?”
Grace Carter dropped the photograph.
She took a hesitant step forward.
“My little girl…
Emma rushed into his arms.
For eighteen years she had imagined what it would be like to hold her mother close to her again.
Now she knew.
Pain and happiness collided with such intensity that neither seemed to exist without the other.
Grace held her close.
“I never stopped looking for you.”
Emma sobbed against his shoulder.
“I thought you had abandoned us.”
“Never.”
Grace kissed her hair.
“Not a single day.”
Behind them, Daniel began to cry.
Lily remained motionless.
She had never seen her biological mother.
