PART 4: THE SECRET INSIDE THE BLUE RABBIT
\nMercer held up the photograph of the woman tied to a chair inside my house.
\n\u201cShe is the real Emily Carter,\u201d he said. \u201cBring me the blue rabbit before sunrise, or your mother dies.\u201d
\nI stared at the photograph.
\nThe woman\u2019s face was bruised, and silver duct tape covered her mouth, but I could see the same eyes I had seen in the old missing-person picture.
\nMy eyes.
\nI turned toward the woman from Room 17.
\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d
\nPain crossed her face.
\n\u201cMy name is Claire Carter.\u201d
\n\u201cCarter?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m Emily\u2019s older sister.\u201d
\nMercer laughed.
\n\u201cShe has been pretending to be Emily for years.\u201d
\n\u201cI never pretended to be anyone,\u201d Claire snapped. \u201cYour men erased my name from every record.\u201d
\nMercer aimed his gun at her.
\n\u201cYou should have stayed in your room.\u201d
\nClaire stepped in front of me.
\n\u201cWhen Emily discovered what Daniel was doing, she came to me for help. We planned to take you and disappear. But he found out.\u201d
\nI looked at Mercer.
\n\u201cYou were selling babies?\u201d
\n\u201cI was arranging private adoptions.\u201d
\n\u201cYou stole children.\u201d
\n\u201cI gave unwanted children better lives.\u201d
\n\u201cYou murdered people who tried to expose you.\u201d
\nHis eyes hardened.
\n\u201cBe careful, son.\u201d
\n\u201cDon\u2019t call me that.\u201d
\nMargaret moved closer to him.
\n\u201cEnough talking. Take the tape.\u201d
\nRebecca tightened her grip on her gun.
\n\u201cIf you shoot Nathan, you\u2019ll never find the rabbit.\u201d
\nMargaret smiled.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t need Nathan alive. We need his house.\u201d
\nI remembered the state trooper\u2019s warning.
\nWhatever you do, do not go home tonight.
\nHe had known they were waiting there.
\nHe had known the rabbit was inside.
\nThe security guard beside us whispered, \u201cThere\u2019s another exit through the medical wing.\u201d
\nMercer heard him.
\nHis gun shifted.
\nThe guard fired first.
\nThe corridor erupted.
\nRebecca shoved me into Room 17 as bullets struck the wall.
\nClaire followed and slammed the door.
\nThe guard cried out and collapsed in the hallway.
\nRebecca fired through the observation window, forcing Mercer and Margaret behind a corner.
\n\u201cIs there another way out?\u201d she asked.
\nClaire pointed toward an air vent near the floor.
\n\u201cIt connects to the old laundry tunnel.\u201d
\nRebecca dragged the bed away from the wall.
\nI tore the metal cover loose with my bare hands.
\nBehind it was a narrow concrete passage.
\n\u201cYou first,\u201d Rebecca told Claire.
\nClaire crawled inside.
\nI followed.
\nRebecca entered last and pulled the vent back into place.
\nA bullet punched through the door just as we disappeared.
\nWe crawled through darkness while alarms screamed behind us.
\nThe tunnel smelled of dust, rust, and standing water.
\nMy hands scraped against broken concrete.
\nClaire moved quickly despite her weakened condition.
\n\u201cHow long were you locked in there?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cEleven years.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd Emily?\u201d
\n\u201cMercer moved her constantly. Hospitals, safe houses, private facilities. Every time Margaret got close to finding her, he moved her again.\u201d
\nI stopped crawling.
\n\u201cI thought Margaret and Mercer were working together.\u201d
\n\u201cThey are now. But they have betrayed each other more times than I can count.\u201d
\nRebecca\u2019s voice came from behind me.
\n\u201cWhat does each one want?\u201d
\n\u201cMercer wants the tape because it proves he created the network. Margaret wants it because it proves she helped him.\u201d
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d I said. \u201cWhy would they both want evidence of their own crimes?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause the tape doesn\u2019t contain only evidence.\u201d
\nClaire looked back at me.
\n\u201cIt contains the account numbers.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat account numbers?\u201d
\n\u201cThe families paid millions for those children. Mercer hid the money in overseas accounts. The tape identifies every account and the key needed to access them.\u201d
\n\u201cSo this is about money?\u201d
\n\u201cIt was always about money.\u201d
\nWe reached a metal grate.
\nClaire pushed it open, and freezing night air filled the tunnel.
\nWe climbed into the woods behind Briarwood.
\nRebecca checked her phone.
\n\u201cNo signal.\u201d
\nClaire pointed toward a distant road.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a farmhouse about a mile east.\u201d
\nWe ran through the trees.
\nBehind us, flashlights moved around the hospital grounds.
\nMercer\u2019s people were already searching.
\nBranches tore at my jacket.
\nClaire stumbled twice, but each time she refused my help.
\nWhen we reached the farmhouse, it appeared abandoned.
\nRebecca forced open the kitchen door.
\nInside, dust covered everything.
\nAn old landline hung on the wall.
\nI lifted the receiver.
\nThere was a dial tone.
\nI called the state trooper whose card had started all of this.
\nHe answered on the second ring.
\n\u201cTrooper Hale.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is Nathan Brooks.\u201d
\nHe inhaled sharply.
\n\u201cWhere are you?\u201d
\n\u201cNear Briarwood Hospital.\u201d
\n\u201cYou went to Ohio?\u201d
\n\u201cYou told me to call Mercer.\u201d
\n\u201cI told you to call the number on the card. I did not know Mercer would answer.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d
\n\u201cThe number belonged to Detective Laura Hayes. She was leading a federal investigation into Mercer.\u201d
\n\u201cMercer answered using her phone.\u201d
\nSilence.
\nThen Hale asked, \u201cHave you seen Hayes?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cShe disappeared yesterday morning.\u201d
\nMy stomach dropped.
\n\u201cMercer has my mother inside my house.\u201d
\n\u201cNathan, listen carefully. Police entered your home an hour ago. It was empty.\u201d
\n\u201cHe sent me a photograph.\u201d
\n\u201cThe photograph may not be recent.\u201d
\nI looked at Claire.
\n\u201cCan you trace a picture?\u201d
\n\u201cSend it to me.\u201d
\nI forwarded the image.
\nHale stayed on the phone while someone analyzed it.
\nRebecca searched the farmhouse for supplies.
\nClaire stood at the window, watching the woods.
\nFinally, Hale returned.
\n\u201cThe photograph was taken three years ago.\u201d
\nMy knees weakened.
\n\u201cThree years?\u201d
\n\u201cThere\u2019s more. The room in the picture isn\u2019t inside your house. The background was digitally replaced.\u201d
\n\u201cThen where is Emily now?\u201d
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nClaire turned from the window.
\n\u201cYes, we do.\u201d
\nShe reached beneath her shirt and removed a small silver pendant.
\nInside was a folded strip of paper.
\n\u201cEmily gave me this before Mercer separated us.\u201d
\nOn it was an address.
\nRebecca read it and went pale.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s Margaret\u2019s house.\u201d
\nThe house where we had eaten dinner the previous night.
\nThe house where Rebecca claimed she would stay to organize family photographs.
\n\u201cEmily was there?\u201d I asked.
\nRebecca shook her head.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d
\nClaire stared at her.
\n\u201cDid Margaret keep you out of the basement?\u201d
\nRebecca\u2019s eyes widened.
\n\u201cShe always kept it locked.\u201d
\nHale spoke through the phone.
\n\u201cDo not go there. Federal agents are on their way.\u201d
\nA vehicle engine growled outside.
\nHeadlights swept across the farmhouse windows.
\nRebecca killed the lights.
\nWe dropped below the windows.
\nTwo black SUVs stopped in the yard.
\n\u201cMercer found us,\u201d Claire whispered.
\nMen surrounded the house.
\nA voice boomed from outside.
\n\u201cNathan, come out with the tape.\u201d
\nMercer.
\nRebecca looked around desperately.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no back exit.\u201d
\nI handed the cassette to Claire.
\n\u201cHide this.\u201d
\nShe slipped it beneath a loose floorboard.
\nMercer called again.
\n\u201cIf you make me come inside, people will die.\u201d
\nI moved toward the front door.
\nRebecca grabbed me.
\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d
\n\u201cBuying time.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get yourself killed.\u201d
\n\u201cHe needs the rabbit. He won\u2019t kill me until he finds it.\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t know that.\u201d
\n\u201cNo, but I know he has spent fifteen years looking for it.\u201d
\nI stepped onto the porch with my hands raised.
\nMercer stood in the yard.
\nMargaret was beside him.
\nSix armed men surrounded the house.
\n\u201cWhere is the tape?\u201d Mercer asked.
\n\u201cSomewhere you\u2019ll never find it.\u201d
\nHe smiled.
\n\u201cI can always make Rebecca tell me.\u201d
\n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know.\u201d
\nMargaret looked toward the farmhouse.
\n\u201cYou were always a terrible liar, Nathan.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere is my mother?\u201d
\n\u201cSafe,\u201d Mercer answered.
\n\u201cProve it.\u201d
\nHe removed his phone and started a video call.
\nA woman appeared on the screen.
\nHer hair was gray, and her face looked older than in the photograph, but I recognized her immediately.
\nEmily Carter.
\nThis time the image was live.
\nShe looked into the camera.
\n\u201cNathan?\u201d
\nMy heart slammed against my ribs.
\n\u201cMom?\u201d
\nThe word escaped before I could stop it.
\nEmily began crying.
\nMercer ended the call.
\n\u201cBring me the rabbit, and I will release her.\u201d
\n\u201cHow do I know you\u2019ll keep your word?\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t.\u201d
\nPolice sirens sounded far away.
\nMercer glanced toward the road.
\nHis smile disappeared.
\n\u201cGet him into the car.\u201d
\nTwo men grabbed me.
\nRebecca fired from the farmhouse window.
\nOne man fell.
\nClaire fired from another window using the guard\u2019s weapon.
\nThe yard exploded into chaos.
\nI drove my elbow into the second man\u2019s throat and ran toward the trees.
\nMargaret fired at me.
\nThe bullet struck the porch railing.
\nMercer shouted for his men to retreat.
\nThe sirens grew louder.
\nRebecca rushed from the house and pulled me behind a tractor.
\nClaire followed with the cassette.
\nMercer\u2019s SUVs tore across the field seconds before police vehicles arrived.
\nTrooper Hale was in the first cruiser.
\nHe ran toward us with his weapon drawn.
\n\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere are Mercer and Margaret going?\u201d
\n\u201cMy house,\u201d I said.
\nHale looked confused.
\n\u201cThey know the rabbit is there.\u201d
\n\u201cNo, Nathan. They know you\u2019ll go there.\u201d
\nHe ordered officers to search the farmhouse and protect Claire.
\nThen he drove Rebecca and me back toward Indiana.
\nFederal agents were already moving toward Margaret\u2019s property to find Emily.
\nDuring the three-hour drive, I held the cassette in my lap.
\nRebecca sat beside me but did not touch me.
\nI wanted to trust her.
\nI also wanted to ask whether our entire marriage had been nothing more than a mission.
\nBut there was no time for either.
\nWhen we reached my neighborhood, dawn was beginning to brighten the sky.
\nPolice vehicles surrounded our street.
\nOur front door stood open.
\nInside, furniture had been overturned.
\nDrawers were scattered across the floor.
\nThey had searched everything.
\nBut they had not found the rabbit.
\nI went to the attic.
\nThe old box was exactly where I had left it.
\nInside, beneath my childhood photographs, lay the faded blue rabbit.
\nOne of its glass eyes was missing.
\nIts fur was thin and stained.
\nI had slept with it every night as a child.
\nRebecca closed the attic door behind us.
\n\u201cHow do we find the key?\u201d
\nI remembered Emily\u2019s melody.
\nThe tune I had hummed my entire life.
\nI pressed the rabbit\u2019s left paw in time with the first note.
\nSomething clicked.
\nI pressed its right ear with the second note.
\nThen its stomach.
\nThen its left foot.
\nWith each note of the melody, another hidden mechanism released.
\nA seam opened along the rabbit\u2019s back.
\nInside was a tiny brass key and a small audio device.
\nThe cassette did not require a player.
\nIt fit directly into the device.
\nI inserted it and turned the brass key.
\nStatic filled the attic.
\nThen a man\u2019s voice began speaking.
\nIt was Mercer.
\n\u201cMy name is Daniel Price. If you are hearing this, then Emily has taken our son.\u201d
\nRebecca and I looked at each other.
\nThe recording continued.
\n\u201cProject Willow began with twelve children. Margaret believes it was created to make money, but she does not know its true purpose.\u201d
\nI turned up the volume.
\n\u201cThe children were selected because their biological parents carried a rare genetic marker. Nathan is the only child who inherited it from both parents.\u201d
\nRebecca whispered, \u201cWhat genetic marker?\u201d
\nMercer answered from fifteen years in the past.
\n\u201cThe marker creates resistance to a neurological drug developed by Blackwood Medical. Everyone exposed to the drug loses specific memories.\u201d
\nMy skin went cold.
\nMemories.
\nThe missing years.
\nThe forgotten melody.
\nThe people in Briarwood who no longer knew their own names.
\n\u201cThe eleven other children died during testing,\u201d Mercer continued. \u201cNathan survived.\u201d
\nRebecca covered her mouth.
\nI stared at the blue rabbit.
\nI had never been hidden because of money.
\nI had been hidden because I was evidence.
\nThe recording changed.
\nA woman\u2019s voice replaced Mercer\u2019s.
\nEmily.
\n\u201cNathan, if you are listening, please understand that Rebecca is not your enemy. I placed her near you.\u201d
\nRebecca stumbled backward.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nI looked at her.
\n\u201cYou said Margaret sent you.\u201d
\n\u201cShe did.\u201d
\nBut Emily\u2019s recording continued.
\n\u201cMargaret believes she chose Rebecca from foster care because of her resemblance to me. She did not. I arranged everything. Rebecca was meant to protect you when the truth returned.\u201d
\nRebecca shook her head.
\n\u201cI never knew.\u201d
\n\u201cThen who is she?\u201d I whispered.
\nEmily answered.
\n\u201cRebecca is the thirteenth child.\u201d
\nThe attic went silent except for the device.
\n\u201cShe survived the first stage of Project Willow. But unlike you, she did not inherit resistance. Her memories can be removed and rewritten.\u201d
\nRebecca\u2019s face drained of color.
\n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t remember who she was,\u201d Emily said. \u201cAnd if Mercer finds her, he can activate the conditioning again using a spoken phrase.\u201d
\nA floorboard creaked behind us.
\nWe turned.
\nMercer stood at the top of the attic stairs.
\nHis wounded arm hung at his side.
\nIn his other hand was a gun.
\nMargaret stood behind him.
\nMercer looked at Rebecca and smiled.
\nThen he spoke five quiet words.
\n\u201cThe willow bends at midnight.\u201d
\nRebecca\u2019s body became completely still.
\nHer expression emptied.
\nHer gun slowly turned toward me.
\n\u201cRebecca?\u201d I whispered.
\nShe aimed directly at my heart.
\nMercer\u2019s smile widened.
\n\u201cKill Nathan,\u201d he ordered.
\nRebecca placed her finger on the trigger.
\nThen, without emotion, my wife said, \u201cGoodbye.\u201d….<\/p>\n
PART 4: THE SECRET INSIDE THE BLUE RABBIT Mercer held up the photograph of the woman tied to a chair inside my house. \u201cShe is the real Emily Carter,\u201d he … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7494,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487\/revisions\/7494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}