Chapter 9: The Last Trap
The private lounge was empty when Nathan arrived.
A chair lay overturned.
A glass of water had shattered across the floor.
Jada's white server gloves were near the doorway.
Nathan's heart slammed against his ribs.
"Lily!""
No answer.
"Jada!""
Marcus rushed toward the adjoining room.
"Clear the hallway!""
Nathan spotted something beneath the chair.
A tiny silver hair clip.
Lily's.
He picked it up.
His hands began shaking.
Amara appeared behind him.
"Where is my daughter?""
Nathan couldn't answer.
Then a faint sound came from the service corridor.
"Daddy?""
Nathan turned.
Lily was standing behind a partially open storage door.
Her face was wet with tears.
He rushed toward her.
She ran into his arms.
"Princess!""
Nathan held her tightly.
"Are you hurt?""
Lily shook her head.
"Jada told me to hide.""
Nathan looked over her shoulder.
"Where is Jada?""
Lily pointed toward the corridor.
"She went with the bad man.""
Nathan's stomach dropped.
"What?""
"He said he wanted the necklace. Jada told him to take her instead.""
Nathan closed his eyes.
He had never met anyone like Jada.
She had already risked her life once.
Now she had put herself in danger again for a child who wasn't hers.
Marcus approached.
"We found a service exit open.""
Nathan looked at him.
"Get everyone searching.""
Marcus nodded.
Amara knelt and embraced Lily.
"My baby.""
Lily began crying.
"Mommy!""
They held each other.
Nathan watched them for one brief moment.
Then he turned toward Marcus.
"Find Jada.""
Marcus received a call.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression changed.
"Nathan, we have a location.""
"Where?""
"An abandoned Carter Holdings warehouse near the river.""
Nathan recognized the address.
It was one of the properties Daniel had controlled before his supposed death.
"Let's go.""
Marcus hesitated.
"We should wait for the officers.""
Nathan looked at Lily.
Then at Amara.
"Daniel has Jada. I'm not waiting.""
Amara caught his hand.
"Take the officers. Don't let him turn this into another trap.""
Nathan nodded.
He kissed Lily's forehead.
"I'll be back.""
Lily held his jacket.
"Bring Jada home.""
Nathan looked into her eyes.
"I will.""
The warehouse stood beneath a gray evening sky.
Its metal doors were rusted.
Broken windows lined the upper walls.
Nathan entered with Marcus and two officers.
The air smelled of dust and old machinery.
A single light illuminated the center of the building.
Jada was tied to a metal chair.
Her curls were disheveled.
Her white collar was torn.
But she was conscious.
Across from her stood Daniel Carter.
He looked older than Nathan remembered.
His hair was streaked with gray, and a scar ran along his jaw.
But his eyes were unchanged.
Cold.
Calculating.
Amused.
"Little brother.""
Nathan stopped.
"Let her go.""
Daniel smiled.
"Where's my necklace?""
Nathan held up the silver pendant.
"First, release Jada.""
Daniel looked at her.
"She's surprisingly stubborn.""
Jada lifted her head.
"You're the one who's going to be surprised.""
Daniel laughed.
"Still brave. I can see why my brother likes you.""
Nathan's expression hardened.
"Leave her out of this.""
Daniel held out his hand.
"The card.""
Nathan showed him the memory card.
Daniel's eyes brightened.
"Finally.""
"Let her go.""
Daniel shook his head.
"You're still trying to negotiate.""
Nathan took one step forward.
Daniel immediately raised his hand.
A security light above them switched on.
A second man emerged from behind a support column.
He held a phone.
On the screen was a live video of Amara and Lily sitting in the car outside the warehouse.
Nathan froze.
Daniel smiled.
"Now we're talking.""
Nathan looked at the phone.
"How did you get that?""
"Did you really think I didn't have people watching the rehabilitation center?""
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"You said you wanted the card.""
"I do.""
"Then take it.""
Daniel laughed.
"You're going to hand over the only evidence that can put me in prison?""
Nathan held the card between two fingers.
"Yes.""
Jada shook her head.
"Nathan, don't!""
Daniel turned toward her.
"Quiet.""
Jada stared at him.
"You're afraid of what's on that card.""
Daniel's smile faded.
She continued.
"That's why you kidnapped a little girl. That's why you spent years hiding. You're not powerful. You're terrified.""
Daniel walked toward her.
"Do you want to keep talking?""
Jada lifted her chin.
"Someone has to tell the truth.""
Daniel slapped the metal table beside her.
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
Nathan stepped forward.
"Touch her again and—"
"And what?"" Daniel interrupted.
"You'll hit another innocent person? You already did that to her once.""
Nathan stopped.
He looked at Jada.
"I'm sorry.""
Jada's eyes filled.
"Save your apologies. Get the card.""
Daniel extended his hand.
Nathan placed the memory card on the table.
Daniel picked it up.
He examined it carefully.
Then he laughed.
"After all these years.""
Nathan stared.
"Now release her.""
Daniel looked at him.
"Before I do, there's something you should know.""
Nathan's expression tightened.
"What?""
Daniel walked toward the center of the warehouse.
"You've always thought Father left you the company because he loved you more.""
Nathan said nothing.
"He didn't. He left it to you because he knew I would destroy it.""
Daniel smiled.
"And he was right.""
Nathan's hands clenched.
"You killed him.""
Daniel shrugged.
"Father was going to destroy everything I had built.""
"So you killed him?""
"He made his choice.""
Nathan stared.
Daniel continued.
"Then Amara found the financial records. She was clever. Too clever. She thought she could take everything to you.""
Nathan's voice dropped.
"And Victoria helped you silence her.""
Daniel laughed.
"Victoria wanted a wedding. I wanted control. We made a useful arrangement.""
Jada looked toward Nathan.
"He's admitting everything.""
Daniel smiled.
"Not everything.""
He reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a folded document.
Then he placed it on the table.
"Here's the part you never knew.""
Nathan looked at the paper.
It was a birth certificate.
Lily's name appeared at the top.
But beneath the section for the biological father, a name had been entered.
*DANIEL CARTER.*
Nathan stared.
"No.""
Daniel nodded.
"Yes.""
Jada's eyes widened.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Amara and I were together before you met her.""
Nathan shook his head.
"You're lying.""
"She never told you?""
"You're lying!""
Daniel smiled.
"Ask her.""
Nathan looked toward the exit.
Amara wasn't there.
But Daniel continued.
"She knew the truth. She knew Lily might be mine. That's why she kept the original DNA report hidden.""
Nathan stared at him.
"Why would she let me raise a child that wasn't mine?""
Daniel laughed.
"Because she loved you.""
Nathan's breathing became uneven.
Daniel picked up the document.
"And because she knew I would never let her raise my daughter.""
Nathan looked at the memory card.
Then at the birth certificate.
Something didn't add up.
He remembered Amara's words.
He remembered her insistence that Daniel had lied about everything.
He remembered Lily's necklace.
Then he noticed a small detail.
The birth certificate Daniel was holding had been issued six years earlier.
But the hospital's official seal was missing.
Nathan looked closer.
"This isn't an original.""
Daniel's smile faltered.
"What?""
"Where is the original?""
Daniel said nothing.
Nathan took one step forward.
"You forged it.""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Give me the card.""
Nathan shook his head.
"Not until you answer.""
Daniel suddenly reached for Nathan.
Marcus moved.
One of the officers shouted.
The second man near the support column tried to escape.
A struggle erupted.
Jada twisted her chair sideways, knocking it against the table.
Daniel grabbed Nathan's jacket.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME!""
Nathan shoved him away.
The memory card slipped from Daniel's hand.
It landed on the concrete floor.
Jada kicked the card toward Nathan.
Nathan caught it.
Daniel lunged again.
Marcus intercepted him.
The two men crashed into a metal shelving unit.
The officers restrained Daniel's associate.
Daniel struggled as Marcus forced his hands behind his back.
"Get off me!""
Nathan picked up the card.
He hurried toward Jada and untied her.
She rubbed her wrists.
"Are you okay?"" he asked.
Jada nodded.
"Get me out of here.""
As they moved toward the exit, Nathan's phone rang.
Amara.
He answered.
"Amara?""
Her voice was shaking.
"Nathan, don't trust the birth certificate.""
He stopped.
"Why?""
"Because I just remembered something.""
"What?""
Amara began crying.
"Daniel wasn't Lily's father.""
Nathan closed his eyes.
"I knew it.""
But Amara's next words made him freeze.
"Neither were you.""
Nathan stared at the phone.
"What?""
Amara took a trembling breath.
"Your father knew the truth before he died.""
Nathan looked at Marcus.
Then at Jada.
And suddenly, every assumption he had made about the last six years collapsed.
Amara continued.
"There's something I never told you about the night Lily was born.""
Nathan's voice became barely audible.
"What is it?""
Amara whispered:
"Lily was switched with another baby.""
Nathan couldn't move.
"Switched?""
"Yes. And the real record is hidden in the one place Daniel never thought to search.""
"Where?""
Amara began to answer.
Then a crash sounded through the phone.
She screamed.
"AMARA!""
The call went dead.
Nathan ran toward the warehouse exit.
Jada followed.
Marcus shouted for the officers.
But before Nathan reached the car, his phone received one final message.
It contained a photograph of Amara.
She was standing beside an open hospital bassinet.
And behind her, written on a white medical card, was a name Nathan recognized.
His own mother's.
*EVELYN CARTER.*
Beneath the photograph was a message:
The woman who raised you knew everything.
Nathan stared at the screen.
The truth wasn't buried with his father.
It had been sitting inside his own family all along.
May you like
And the person who might finally explain it was the one person he had never suspected.
His mother.
