Chapter 5 - Mara's Real NameMara was gone.
By the time police returned to the hospital, she had disappeared.
Her room was empty.
Her bed was untouched.
Her clothes were gone.
So was the small bag she had been carrying.
Detective Alvarez stood beside the bed, staring at the empty pillow.
"She knew this was coming."
I sat against the headboard.
"She helped me."
"I know."
"Then why would she run?"
Alvarez didn't answer.
Daniel Hart stood near the window.
He looked furious.
Not at Mara.
At himself.
"She's my sister."
I looked at him.
"She saved me."
"I know."
"Then find her."
He turned.
"We will."
"No."
My voice was stronger than I expected.
"You will find her because she's your sister."
He stared at me.
"Find her because she saved a stranger when she could have stayed silent."
He lowered his eyes.
I continued.
"She risked everything."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"We'll find her."
The detective's phone rang.
She answered.
"Alvarez."
She listened.
Then looked at me.
"We found the vehicle."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
"Three miles from here."
She grabbed her coat.
Daniel followed.
I started to get out of bed.
Alvarez stopped me.
"No."
"I'm coming."
"You are not."
"I know where she might go."
That made her pause.
"Where?"
I thought about Mara.
The door.
The phone.
Her fear.
The photograph.
The six years.
"There was something she said."
"When?"
"Before she gave me the phone."
"What?"
"She said, 'If they get it back, we're both finished.'"
Alvarez nodded.
"Yes."
"But she didn't say 'if they catch me.'"
The detective's eyes narrowed.
"You're saying she wasn't afraid of being caught."
"She was afraid of something being recovered."
"The evidence."
I nodded.
"Exactly."
Daniel looked at me.
"Where would she hide evidence?"
I remembered the photograph.
The hidden room.
The boxes.
Then I remembered something else.
Mara had once whispered to herself while she thought I was sleeping.
"Not the river."
At the time, I hadn't understood.
Now I did.
"There was a river."
Alvarez looked at me.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"The old rail bridge."
I turned.
He looked at the detective.
"Elena used to go there."
Alvarez was already moving.
The bridge was less than fifteen minutes away.
When we arrived, police found Mara's vehicle abandoned near the river.
But Mara was gone.
They searched the bank.
Nothing.
Then one officer noticed footprints leading toward the water.
Alvarez followed them.
The footprints stopped beside an old concrete pillar.
There was a small metal box wedged behind it.
Inside were documents.
Birth certificates.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And a handwritten journal.
Daniel opened it.
He recognized the handwriting immediately.
"Elena."
The journal wasn't Mara's.
It belonged to his sister.
The first pages described normal things.
Work.
Family.
Plans.
Then the entries changed.
Names appeared.
Locations.
Dates.
People she feared.
People she trusted.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
Dean.
Daniel's hands shook.
"My sister knew him."
Alvarez nodded.
"Apparently."
Then I saw another name.
Mara's.
Except it wasn't written as Mara.
It was written as Rachel.
Beside it were three words:
She survived too.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
The detective continued reading.
Then she found the final entry.
It was dated six years earlier.
Only one sentence.
If something happens to me, Rachel knows where they keep the originals.
Alvarez looked toward the river.
"Where is she?"
A voice answered from behind us.
"You're looking in the wrong place."
We turned.
Mara stood on the bridge.
Her hands were empty.
Her eyes were exhausted.
Daniel stared at her.
"Rachel."
She closed her eyes.
Hearing her real name seemed to hurt.
"Don't call me that."
"You're my sister."
"I know."
"Why didn't you come home?"
Her eyes filled.
"Because I didn't have a home to return to."
Daniel took a step.
She stepped backward.
"Stay there."
He stopped.
"I thought you were dead."
"I wanted you to think that."
"Why?"
"Because everyone who searched for me disappeared."
Alvarez stepped forward.
"Rachel, we can protect you."
She laughed bitterly.
"That's what they told Elena."
The detective froze.
Rachel looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For involving you."
"You didn't."
She looked at the hospital bracelet still around my wrist.
"They did."
Then she reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small memory card.
"This is what they were really protecting."
Alvarez held out her hand.
Rachel didn't give it to her.
"First, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Dean isn't the person in charge."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Who is?"
Rachel looked directly at him.
"Someone you've known for years."
Daniel went still.
"Who?"
She looked at him.
May you like
Then said a name.
And Daniel's entire face changed.
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