Chapter 12 - THE OTHER SARAH
The woman on the screen turned toward the camera.
Her resemblance to Sarah was precise enough to fool anyone seeing her from a distance. The same dark hair. The same uniform. The same gold-and-black cuff insignia.
But Sarah saw the errors.
The left eyebrow arched too high.
The shoulders were narrower.
The woman favored her right leg.
A reconstruction, not a twin.
“Who is she?” Mercer asked.
Hale lowered the remote slightly.
“An intelligence operative.”
Rebecca’s expression showed genuine surprise.
“You made another one.”
Sarah looked at her sister.
“Another?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Project Anchor built identities. Not masks like the man who replaced Ethan. Entire lives. Medical records, education, service history.”
Sarah kept her attention on Hale.
“You copied me.”
“You were selected as a continuity identity.”
“For what purpose?”
“To preserve command access if key officers were compromised or killed.”
“You gave another person my biometric profile.”
“A limited version.”
The encrypted drive in Sarah’s hand suddenly felt heavier.
The first folder had opened using her voice and identity.
Perhaps it had not been designed solely for her.
Perhaps the other Sarah could open it too.
On the screen, the impersonator removed a small case from beneath Teresa’s chair.
She held it toward the camera.
Inside was a second storage drive.
Hale spoke quietly.
“The physical dossier Adrian hid was found this morning.”
Rebecca’s face drained.
“No.”
“The woman you see recovered it.”
“Where?”
“Your father’s house.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
Their father, Thomas Mitchell, had died eleven months after Monterey. His heart failed while Sarah was overseas. She had accepted the medical report because grief had already consumed the family.
Rebecca stared at Hale.
“You killed him.”
“I never met your father.”
“The file was in his house.”
“Adrian used civilians as shields.”
“Our father wasn’t a civilian shield.”
Sarah turned toward Rebecca.
“You knew Adrian contacted him?”
Rebecca’s silence answered.
Anger moved through Sarah with surprising clarity.
“You let me believe Dad died never knowing you were alive.”
“I was protecting him.”
“From whom?”
Rebecca looked at Hale.
Hale shook his head.
“She is rewriting history.”
Sarah stepped toward her sister.
“Did Dad know?”
Rebecca’s eyes shone.
“Yes.”
The answer struck harder than Jake’s water, harder than the revelation of Rebecca’s survival.
Their father had known.
He had looked Sarah in the eyes, held her while she cried at Rebecca’s memorial, and carried the secret until his death.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because Adrian believed your communications were monitored.”
“By Hale?”
“By someone inside our unit.”
Hale spoke.
“Rebecca, enough.”
She ignored him.
“Dad hid the dossier inside a wall behind Mom’s old piano. He was supposed to give it to you if I disappeared.”
“He never did.”
“Because someone reached him first.”
Sarah stared at the second drive on the screen.
Hale pressed a button on the remote.
The chamber around Teresa began closing.
Jake shouted.
“Stop!”
“Drive,” Hale said.
Sarah looked at Mercer.
His security team remained outnumbered.
Rebecca still had her weapon trained on Hale.
Vale lay wounded behind the cabinet.
Noah and Marcus restrained Jake, whose desperation was becoming dangerous.
Sarah needed time.
She held the encrypted drive toward Hale.
“Release Teresa first.”
“The door opens when I verify the device.”
“You said the chamber seals if I refuse. That means you control it from here.”
“Correct.”
“Then open it.”
Hale’s eyes narrowed.
Sarah continued.
“If the file proves Rebecca committed murder, I will give you the drive and testify against her.”
Rebecca stared at Sarah.
“If it proves Hale ordered the operation,” Sarah said, “he stands down and submits to investigation.”
Hale smiled almost sadly.
“You still believe institutions function when powerful people agree to rules.”
“No. I believe everyone here needs witnesses.”
She looked toward the recruits.
“You cannot kill all of us and still call this a lawful operation.”
Hale considered her.
Then the remote chimed.
The other Sarah on-screen looked sharply to her left.
Someone had entered Teresa’s chamber.
A hand seized the impersonator from behind and pulled her out of frame.
The video shook.
Teresa screamed.
Gunfire flashed without visible injury.
Then the image cut to static.
Hale stared at the remote.
“That was not authorized.”
Rebecca lowered her weapon slightly.
“Adrian.”
Hale’s controlled expression cracked.
“No. Adrian is dead.”
The hidden speakers activated once more.
Adrian’s voice filled the corridor.
“Conrad, you always needed the dead to stay obedient.”
A concealed wall panel opened behind Hale’s tactical team.
A man stepped through wearing a dark naval coat.
His face bore burn scars along the left side.
Sarah recognized him immediately.
May you like
Adrian Vale raised both empty hands.
“I suggest everyone stop pointing weapons before the wrong traitor gets shot.”
