Chapter 13
1491 Words
BROKEN CHROME
Chapter Thirteen
The Woman in the Photograph
Emma stared at Marcus.
“She’s alive?”
Marcus slowly descended the staircase.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you’re finally ready to hear the truth.”
Ghost stepped between them.
“Start talking.”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Still giving orders, Ryder?”
“Where is Emma’s mother?”
Marcus looked at Emma.
“She’s closer than you think.”
Emma’s heart pounded.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus reached into his jacket and pulled out an old photograph.
He held it toward her.
Emma took it.
Her fingers began trembling.
The photograph showed her father standing beside a woman.
A beautiful woman with long dark hair.
Emma stared at the woman’s face.
She looked familiar.
Too familiar.
“Who is she?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Emma looked closer.
Then she noticed the small scar above the woman’s eyebrow.
She had the same scar.
A tiny mark she’d had since childhood.
Her breath caught.
“No.”
Ghost looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
“That’s…”
Marcus nodded.
“Her.”
Emma’s voice shook.
“My mother.”
Marcus smiled.
“Yes.”
⸻
“Where is she?” Emma demanded.
Marcus walked toward the living room.
“Before I tell you, you need to understand why she disappeared.”
“My father said she died.”
“Your father lied.”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted you safe.”
She shook her head.
“Everyone keeps using that excuse.”
Marcus stopped.
“Because it was true.”
Ghost stepped forward.
“Why did Thomas tell Emma her mother was dead?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Because her mother was being hunted.”
“By Silas?”
“By the Black Rose.”
Emma looked between them.
“Why?”
Marcus’s expression became serious.
“Because your mother was the one person who could expose them.”
Emma stared at the photograph.
“What did she know?”
“Everything.”
Ghost’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why didn’t she expose them?”
“She tried.”
Marcus sighed.
“That’s why she had to disappear.”
Emma’s voice cracked.
“Did my father know she was alive?”
“Yes.”
“Did my grandmother know?”
“Yes.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Another lie.
Another secret.
Another piece of her life that had been hidden.
“Where is she now?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not for long.”
Emma stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
Marcus studied her.
“She’s been watching you.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“She knows about Ryder.”
She looked at Ghost.
“She knows about us?”
“She knows everything.”
“Then why hasn’t she contacted me?”
Marcus’s expression softened.
“Because she was afraid she’d bring danger to you.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“So everyone stayed away from me to protect me.”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Her eyes filled.
“I’ve spent my entire life thinking my mother abandoned me.”
Marcus looked at her.
“She didn’t.”
“Then why?”
“Because sometimes loving someone means disappearing.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
She wiped away a tear.
“Sometimes disappearing just hurts the person you’re trying to protect.”
Ghost reached for her hand.
She took it.
Marcus watched them.
“Your mother would want you to know one thing.”
“What?”
“She never stopped loving you.”
Emma looked at the photograph.
“What is her name?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Elizabeth.”
Emma whispered it.
“Elizabeth Brooks.”
The name felt strangely familiar.
Like a memory she couldn’t quite reach.
⸻
A loud crash came from outside.
Ghost immediately turned.
“Everyone down.”
Gunfire erupted through the windows.
Glass shattered.
Emma ducked.
Marcus pulled a weapon.
“They found us.”
Ghost shouted toward the hallway.
“Bishop!”
“Already moving!”
The Iron Saints rushed into the house.
Cole entered through the back door.
“How many?”
“At least six.”
Marcus looked at Ghost.
“This is your fault.”
Ghost glared.
“My fault?”
“You brought her back into Blackwater.”
“I didn’t bring her back.”
Marcus looked at Emma.
“She came looking for you.”
Emma stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“I came back because I thought I had nothing left.”
She looked at Ghost.
“Now I know I have something worth fighting for.”
Ghost smiled.
“That’s my girl.”
Cole looked toward the windows.
“Save the romance for later.”
Another shot cracked through the room.
“Move!”
They ran toward the basement.
Marcus led them down the stairs.
At the bottom was a hidden tunnel.
Emma stared.
“What is this?”
“Escape route,” Marcus said.
“Where does it go?”
“Your father’s workshop.”
Ghost frowned.
“I didn’t know Thomas had a workshop.”
“He did.”
They moved quickly through the narrow tunnel.
Emma stayed beside Ghost.
“Ryder.”
“Yeah?”
“If we get out of here…”
“We will.”
“No.”
She stopped.
He turned.
“If we get out, I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“No more secrets.”
Ghost looked at her.
“Never again.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
They continued.
⸻
The tunnel opened beneath an old barn.
Emma stepped outside.
The night was quiet.
Too quiet.
Marcus walked toward an old truck.
“Get in.”
Ghost stopped him.
“Where are we going?”
“To your mother.”
Emma froze.
“You know where she is?”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
⸻
The drive lasted nearly an hour.
Nobody spoke.
Emma sat between Ghost and Cole in the back seat.
She stared out the window.
She had imagined meeting her mother thousands of times.
But never like this.
Never after discovering that half her life had been built on lies.
Eventually, Marcus turned onto a narrow road.
At the end stood a small farmhouse.
Lights glowed through the windows.
Emma’s heart pounded.
Marcus stopped.
“She’s inside.”
Emma couldn’t move.
Ghost looked at her.
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
They walked toward the house.
Emma reached the front porch.
Her hand shook as she raised it.
Before she could knock…
The door opened.
A woman stood there.
Long dark hair.
Soft brown eyes.
The same scar above her eyebrow.
Emma’s breath caught.
The woman covered her mouth.
“Oh, God.”
Emma couldn’t speak.
The woman took one step forward.
“Emma?”
Tears filled her eyes.
Emma nodded.
“Mom?”
The woman broke.
She rushed forward.
Emma stood frozen for half a second.
Then she fell into her mother’s arms.
For the first time in her life, Emma felt the ache of a missing piece finally begin to close.
Her mother held her tightly.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma cried against her shoulder.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why did you leave me?”
Her mother pulled back.
“I didn’t leave you.”
She touched Emma’s face.
“I was taken away from you.”
Emma stared at her.
“By who?”
Her mother’s eyes moved toward Marcus.
Then Ghost.
Then Cole.
Finally, back to Emma.
“By your father.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
Her mother whispered,
“Your father didn’t send me away to protect you.”
She swallowed.
“He sent me away because he was afraid of what I would tell you.”
Emma’s heart stopped.
“What did you know?”
Her mother’s eyes filled with tears.
“The truth about your birth.”
Emma went still.
“What truth?”
Her mother looked at Ghost.
Then at Cole.
Then back at her daughter.
“Emma…”
She took a trembling breath.
“Your father isn’t your biological father.”
Silence.
Emma couldn’t breathe.
Ghost stepped closer.
“Then who is?”
Her mother looked toward the darkness behind them.
“That’s the question I’ve spent twenty-eight years trying to keep them from asking.”
A motorcycle engine suddenly roared outside.
Cole turned toward the road.
“Someone followed us.”
Marcus grabbed his weapon.
Ghost pulled Emma behind him.
Her mother whispered one final sentence.
“Your real father is a Callahan.”
Emma stared at Ghost.
Then Cole.
Neither man moved.
And outside…
the sound of approaching motorcycles grew louder.
- Writer
