She answered immediately.
"Morgan."
A man's voice spoke.
"Agent Morgan, we have a problem."
"What happened?"
"We found something at the old house."
"What?"
"The security cameras recorded someone entering the property tonight."
Rebecca stood up.
"Who?"
The officer hesitated.
"Robert Collins."
Rebecca went silent.
"Are you certain?"
"We have clear footage."
"Send it to me immediately."
A few seconds later, her phone vibrated.
She opened the video.
A man walked slowly through the front garden.
His hair was gray.
His face was older.
But there was no doubt.
It was Robert Collins.
Walter watched the recording from his hospital bed.
His hands began trembling.
"That's him."
Michael moved closer.
"Who is he?"
Walter looked at his son.
"The man who taught me everything I knew about police work."
Rebecca paused the video.
Then she noticed something unusual.
Robert was carrying a small envelope.
He stopped near the front door and looked directly into the security camera.
Then he smiled.
He raised the envelope.
And held it up for several seconds.
There was a message written across the front.
WALTER HAYES β ONE LAST CHANCE.
Rebecca immediately contacted her team.
"Lock down the property. Nobody enters or leaves."
But before she could finish the sentence, another call came through.
This time, it was from Emily.
"Rebecca?"
"Emily? What's wrong?"
Emily's voice was shaking.
"Someone is outside the hospital."
"Where are you?"
"In the parking garage."
"Don't move. Stay where you are."
Rebecca turned toward Walter.
"Emily's in danger."
Michael grabbed his jacket.
"I'm going."
Walter tried to sit up.
"Michael, wait!"
But his son was already running toward the door.
Rebecca followed him.
And as the hospital room fell silent, Walter noticed something on the television.
The news was reporting a breaking story.
A former senior police investigator had been found alive after being officially declared dead twelve years earlier.
His name appeared beneath the headline.
DETECTIVE ROBERT COLLINS.
Then the news presenter said something that made Walter's blood run cold.
"Authorities have confirmed that Collins is now a suspect in the disappearance of several protected witnesses, including the family of former investigator Walter Hayes."
Walter stared at the screen.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice whispered:
"Hello, Walter."
It was Robert Collins.
"There's something you should know about your daughter."
Walter gripped the phone.
"What have you done?"
Collins laughed softly.
"Nothing yet."
A pause.
Then he delivered the words that would change everything.
"Because Emily isn't the person we've been looking for."
The call ended.
Walter slowly lowered the phone.
On the television, Robert Collins' photograph remained on the screen.
And for the first time in fifteen years, Walter understood that the disappearance of his wife, the supposed death of Michael, and the conspiracy surrounding Emily were all connected to one secret.
A secret that Margaret had taken to her grave.
Or so he had believed.
Walter stared at the telephone in his hand.
"Emily isn't the person we've been looking for."
Robert Collins' words kept repeating in his mind.
What did he mean?
Walter immediately called Rebecca.
She answered after the second ring.
"Walter?"
"Where's Emily?"
"Michael is with her. They're in the hospital's underground parking garage."
"Get them out of there immediately!"
"What's happened?"
"Collins called me. He said Emily isn't the person they've been looking for."
There was a moment of silence.
Then Rebecca spoke.
"Walter, I need you to listen carefully. We found something in Margaret's documents."
"What?"
"Emily's birth certificate."
Walter frowned.
"What about it?"
"It was altered."
Walter felt his stomach tighten.
"Altered how?"
"The original hospital registration lists a different date of birth. And there's another name written beside it."
"Whose name?"
Rebecca lowered her voice.
"Laura Mitchell."
Walter stopped breathing.
"That's impossible. Laura was Michael's friend."
"That's what we believed. But according to these records, Laura Mitchell was born on the same day as Emily."
Walter gripped the phone.
"Are you telling me Emily and Laura are connected?"
"I'm telling you that we need to find out why Margaret changed the documents."
Suddenly, Walter heard a loud crash outside his hospital room.
He turned.
The door was slowly opening.
A nurse entered carrying a small envelope.
"Mr. Hayes?"
Walter nodded cautiously.
"This was delivered for you."
"Who brought it?"
The nurse looked confused.
"I don't know. It was left at reception."
Walter opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Margaret holding a newborn baby.
On the back, someone had written:
You raised the wrong daughter.
Walter's hands began shaking.
Meanwhile, Michael and Emily were making their way toward the parking garage exit.
"Stay close to me," Michael said.
Emily looked at him.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know yet."
"You've been saying that for fifteen years."
Michael stopped walking.
"Emily, I know you're angry."
"Angry? You disappeared. Dad nearly died. Mom vanished. And now everyone seems to know something about my life except me."
Michael looked at her sadly.
"I promise I'll explain everything."
A voice came from behind them.
"Michael?"
They turned.
A woman stood beside a parked black vehicle.
She wore a gray coat and had her hair tied back.
Emily stared at her.
For a moment, she thought she was looking into a mirror.
The woman had the same eyes.
The same facial features.
Even the same small scar above her left eyebrow.
Michael slowly stepped backward.
"Laura?"
The woman smiled.
"Hello, brother."
Emily looked between them.
"What?"
Laura approached.
"Hello, Emily."
Emily shook her head.
"No. Who are you?"
Laura took a photograph from her handbag.
It showed two newborn babies lying beside each other in a hospital nursery.
"Your mother gave birth to twins."
Emily stared at the photograph.
"That's not possible."
Laura nodded.
"Your parents were told that one of us had died during childbirth. But that was a lie."
Michael looked horrified.
"You're saying Emily has a twin sister?"
Laura smiled sadly.
"Not exactly."
She turned toward Michael.
"Because I'm not Emily's sister."
She pointed at herself.
"I'm Emily."
The parking garage became silent.
Michael slowly raised his phone.