He understood why Evelyn had kept Lily away from the truth.
But the documents raised another question.
Why would Sarah list two men as the child's father?
And what did Victoria Hale have to gain from changing the records?
At Westbridge Police Station, Daniel Cross entered Victoria's office.
She was standing beside the window, holding a cup of coffee.
"Where is the girl?" she asked.
"She escaped."
Victoria slowly turned.
"What?"
"Rachel helped her."
Victoria placed the cup down.
"Then where is Rachel?"
"Under arrest."
"That's not good enough."
Daniel stepped forward.
"We need to stop this."
Victoria looked at him.
"Stop what?"
"All of it."
She laughed.
"You're having a conscience now?"
"I'm serious."
"Then you should have thought about that before signing the reports."
Daniel looked away.
Victoria opened a drawer and removed a thick folder.
She placed it on the desk.
"Do you remember this?"
Daniel looked at the label.
SARAH CARTER β CONFIDENTIAL.
Victoria opened it.
Inside were photographs of Sarah, hospital records, and a statement signed by Daniel.
He stared at his own signature.
"You told me those records were destroyed."
"They were."
"Then why do you still have them?"
Victoria smiled.
"Because I never destroy anything that might become useful."
Daniel picked up one photograph.
It showed him standing outside a hospital room in 2004.
He remembered that night.
He remembered Sarah asking him to protect her baby.
And he remembered walking away.
Victoria stepped closer.
"There's something you should know."
"What?"
"Thomas has found the girl."
Daniel's expression changed.
"Where?"
"Michael Bennett's office."
Daniel immediately reached for his phone.
Victoria stopped him.
"Don't."
"She's a child."
"She's evidence."
Daniel stared at her.
"She's a person."
Victoria's voice became ice cold.
"Not anymore. Not in this investigation."
Across town, Lily was sitting in Michael's office when she noticed a photograph on his desk.
It showed her mother standing beside a young man.
The man was wearing a police uniform.
Lily recognized his face.
It was Daniel Cross.
She picked up the photograph.
"Mr. Michael?"
He turned.
"Yes?"
"Why is that man with my mother?"
Michael looked at the photograph.
He hadn't noticed it before.
Then he examined the back.
There was a handwritten message from Sarah.
To the man who promised to protect us. I hope one day you find the courage to tell Lily the truth.
Michael felt his stomach tighten.
Daniel Cross had known Sarah.
He had known Lily.
And he had known exactly what happened twenty-two years ago.
Suddenly, Michael's office phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke calmly.
"Good morning, Michael."
Michael recognized it immediately.
Thomas Reed.
"Where are you?" Michael demanded.
Thomas laughed.
"You're asking the wrong question."
"What do you want?"
"I want my daughter."
Michael looked toward Lily.
"She isn't yours to take."
Thomas's voice became colder.
"You have no idea what that girl is."
Michael tightened his grip on the phone.
"She's a child."
"She's the last piece of evidence."
Then Thomas said something that made Michael's blood run cold.
"And if you want to know why Daniel Cross arrested Evelyn, ask him what happened in the hospital the night Lily was born."
The call ended.
Michael slowly lowered the phone.
Lily was watching him.
"What's wrong?"
He looked at her.
For a moment, he couldn't find the words.
Then he knelt beside her.
"There's something about your birth that nobody has ever told you."
Before he could continue, the office lights went out.
A loud crash came from the reception area.
Someone had broken through the front door.
Michael grabbed Lily's hand.
"Get behind me."
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Heavy.
Then a familiar voice spoke from the darkness.
"Michael, step away from the girl."
It was Daniel Cross.
But he wasn't alone.
And behind him stood a woman Lily had never seen before.
An older woman with silver hair.
A woman who looked exactly like the person in her grandmother's old photograph.
Lily whispered:
"Grandma?"
The woman stepped into the light.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Michael stared at her in disbelief.
It was impossible.
Evelyn Carter was supposed to be locked inside the police station.
But the woman standing in front of them was unmistakably Evelyn.
And she had just revealed the biggest secret of all.
The woman who had been arrested the night before was not Evelyn Carter.
It was someone wearing her face.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Lily stood beside Michael, staring at the elderly woman who had just entered the office.
"Grandma?"
The woman opened her arms.
Lily ran toward her.
Evelyn caught the little girl and held her tightly, pressing her face against Lily's hair.
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry."
Lily began crying.
"They took you away. I thought I would never see you again."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"I know. But I'm here now."
Michael watched them, still struggling to understand what had happened.
Daniel Cross stood near the doorway, his gun lowered but his expression tense.