The House That Remembered

The List II

---

At 8:41 a.m., they left the motel.

Daniel drove.

Elena sat beside him.

Neither spoke for several miles.

Finally, Elena said:

"Tell me about the night Sarah disappeared."

Daniel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"Which version?"

"The real one."

He exhaled.

"Sarah contacted you."

"Why?"

"She wanted to expose Bell Medical."

"And I helped her."

"Yes."

"How?"

"You had access to police databases."

Elena frowned.

"I gave her information."

"What information?"

"Names of officers connected to Bell."

She looked at him.

"Then what happened?"

"You and Sarah planned to steal the master list."

"The list?"

"The names of everyone involved."

"Did we get it?"

Daniel looked at her.

"You did."

"Where is it?"

"I don't know."

"Then why did they erase my memory?"

"Because you hid it."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

Elena stared out the window.

"Why don't you know?"

"Because you didn't tell anyone."

"Not even you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You didn't trust me."

Elena turned.

"Why wouldn't I trust you?"

Daniel didn't answer.

"Daniel."

He continued driving.

"Because three years ago, I was working for them."

Elena's stomach tightened.

"You were."

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Two years."

"You were working for Bell Medical?"

"Not directly."

"Then who?"

"The people behind it."

"Who are they?"

Daniel's face hardened.

"I don't know."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I never met the people at the top."

"Who did you work for?"

"A man named Victor Kane."

Elena searched her memory.

Nothing.

"Who is Victor Kane?"

"The man who recruited me."

"Where is he?"

"Dead."

"How?"

"Arthur Bell killed him."

Elena looked at him.

"And Arthur Bell?"

Daniel's eyes met hers in the rearview mirror.

"Was killed by Marcus Vale."

Elena frowned.

"Then why is Marcus helping me?"

"He isn't."

"He's been giving me information."

"Because he wants something."

"What?"

Daniel's expression was grim.

"The same thing everyone wants."

"The list."

---

They arrived at an old storage facility near the coast.

The building was abandoned.

Rust covered the doors.

Daniel unlocked a unit.

Inside were boxes.

Dozens of them.

Elena looked around.

"What's this?"

"Evidence."

"From where?"

"Bell Medical."

"When did you take it?"

"Three years ago."

"Why?"

"I knew something was wrong."

He opened a box.

Inside were medical files.

Photographs.

Hard drives.

Cassette tapes.

Bank statements.

And a large black ledger.

Elena picked it up.

The cover had no writing.

She opened it.

Every page contained names.

Some were handwritten.

Some typed.

Some crossed out.

She turned the pages.

Then stopped.

Her own name.

**ELENA CROSS.**

Beneath it:

**Original identity: Unknown.**

**Assigned identity: Elena Cross.**

**Status: Active.**

She turned the page.

Another name.

**RACHEL MORGAN.**

Beneath it:

**Original identity: Unknown.**

**Assigned identity: Rachel Cross.**

Elena's hands went numb.

Rachel's surname was originally Morgan.

She looked at Daniel.

"You said she was Ava's sister."

"She is."

"Then how did she become Rachel Cross?"

Daniel didn't answer.

Elena turned another page.

There were instructions.

**SUBJECT 14**

**Memory integration successful.**

**Family bond established.**

**Subject believes relationship is biological.**

Elena stared.

"Subject 14."

Daniel nodded.

"That's you."

She flipped forward.

There were photographs.

Elena at sixteen.

Elena at seventeen.

Elena at eighteen.

Elena entering police academy.

Elena graduating.

All catalogued.

All monitored.

All controlled.

Then she saw something that made her drop the ledger.

A photograph of herself standing beside Arthur Bell.

Behind them was a sign:

**BELL MEDICAL — MEMORY RESEARCH UNIT.**

The date:

**2004.**

Elena stared at it.

"I was sixteen."

"Yes."

"What did they do to me?"

Daniel crouched beside her.

"They needed to know if memories could be implanted."

"And I was the experiment."

"Yes."

"Rachel?"

"Another."

"Ava?"

"She escaped."

Elena's eyes filled with anger.

"And my parents?"

Daniel went silent.

"Daniel."

"They weren't your biological parents."

"I know that now."

"No."

He looked at her.

"They were employees."

Elena froze.

"What?"

"Richard and Margaret Cross worked for Bell."

She stared.

"They adopted you."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To test the family-bonding procedure."

Elena felt sick.

"They made me believe they were my parents."

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Eleven years."

"And Rachel?"

"Five."

Elena closed her eyes.

Her entire childhood had been manufactured.

Every birthday.

Every Christmas.

Every family photograph.

Every memory.

A carefully constructed lie.

Then she remembered something.

A small kitchen.

Her mother singing.

Her father fixing a broken chair.

Rachel laughing.

Were those memories fake?

Or had some of them been real?

She opened her eyes.

"What happened to my parents?"

Daniel looked away.

"They died."

"How?"

"A house fire."

Elena stared at him.

"What year?"

"2008."

She suddenly remembered the smell of smoke.

The screaming.

The flames.

And someone carrying her outside.

A man with a scar beneath his eye.

Thomas Reed.

---

The storage facility lights flickered.

Daniel immediately stood.

"Someone's here."

Elena reached for her gun.

"What?"

"Stay behind me."

A sound came from the corridor.

Metal scraping.

Daniel moved toward the door.

Elena followed.

They heard footsteps.

Then silence.

Daniel opened the door.

Nobody.

A piece of paper lay on the floor.

Elena picked it up.

It was a list.

Not the one from the ledger.

A new list.

Names.

**ELENA CROSS**

**DANIEL REED**

**AVA MORGAN**

**SARAH WHITMORE**

**RACHEL CROSS**

And beneath them:

**STATUS: TERMINATE.**

Elena looked at Daniel.

"They know we're here."

He nodded.

"We have to go."

A gunshot shattered the storage unit.

Daniel pulled Elena to the ground.

Another bullet tore through a metal shelf.

"Move!"

They ran between the boxes.

More shots.

Daniel returned fire.

Elena saw a shadow move beyond the doorway.

She fired.

The figure disappeared.

They reached the rear exit.

Daniel kicked it open.

They ran into the alley.

A black SUV accelerated toward them.

Daniel grabbed Elena.

They jumped aside.

The SUV sped away.

Elena stared after it.

"Who was driving?"

Daniel shook his head.

"I don't know."

Then Elena saw something on the ground.

A silver pendant.

She picked it up.

It was identical to hers.

But engraved on the back were two words:

**SUBJECT 01.**

Elena stared.

Her pendant read:

**SUBJECT 14.**

She looked at Daniel.

"What does Subject One mean?"

Daniel's face changed.

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

"I've never seen that before."

Elena turned the pendant over again.

A tiny number was engraved beneath the words.

**2004-01.**

She remembered the message.

*I was the first girl.*

Rachel's voice.

But Rachel was not Subject One.

She was Subject?

Elena suddenly understood.

"Rachel isn't the first."

Daniel looked at her.

"Then who is?"

Elena stared at the pendant.

"Someone else."

Her phone rang.

Unknown number.

She answered.

A man's voice spoke.

"Detective Cross."

"Who is this?"

"You've been asking the wrong questions."

"Where is my sister?"

"Which one?"

Elena froze.

The man continued.

"You have two."

"Who are you?"

"You've already met me."

"Thomas?"

The man laughed.

"No."

"Then who?"

"Look behind you."

Elena slowly turned.

Daniel stood several feet away.

He was holding a gun.

Pointed at her.

Elena's heart dropped.

"Daniel?"

His face was unreadable.

The voice on the phone whispered:

"Now ask him why he killed Subject One."

Elena looked at Daniel.

He said nothing.

Then the gun lowered.

Daniel whispered:

"Because she was my daughter."

The line went dead.

Elena stared at him.

"Your daughter?"

Daniel's eyes filled with tears.

"Her name was Emily."

"Who is Emily?"

Daniel looked away.

"Subject One."

Elena's blood ran cold.

"Where is she?"

Daniel closed his eyes.

"She's dead."

"Who killed her?"

He looked at Elena.

"You did."

---