Chapter 2 - THE MAN WITH MY FACE
Ryan spun toward Caroline.
"Who is in there?"
She didn't answer.
The steel door rattled once. "Ryan. Listen to me. She has the key."
Caroline backed toward Lily's bedroom. Ryan caught her wrist.
"Don't move."
"You're making this worse."
"Worse than a child living inside my wall?"
The hidden girl began crying. Lily wrapped both arms around her.
Caroline closed her eyes. "His name is Owen."
Ryan's grip loosened.
That name belonged to a grave with no body.
His twin brother had vanished in a river twenty-two years earlier. Ryan had watched rescue crews search for three days. His mother had never recovered. His father had forbidden anyone from saying Owen's name after the funeral.
From behind the door came a tired laugh.
"She told you I was dead, didn't she?"
Ryan's knees nearly gave out.
"Open it."
"Ryan—"
"Open the damn door."
Caroline pulled a brass key from a chain beneath her blouse.
The lock clicked.
A man stumbled into the passage.
Ryan saw his own gray-green eyes. His own crooked nose. His own jaw.
The stranger was thinner, bruised, and ten years older around the eyes, but there was no mistaking him.
Owen Mercer leaned against the wall and stared at Ryan like he was looking at a ghost.
"Hey, little brother."
Ryan punched him.
Owen hit the floor.
Caroline screamed. The hidden girl rushed forward.
"Daddy!"
She dropped beside Owen.
Ryan stared at the child, then at the man wearing his face.
Owen wiped blood from his mouth. "Her name is Emma. She's mine."
"You have thirty seconds," Ryan said. "Why are you in my wall?"
May you like
Owen looked at Caroline.
"Because your wife paid me to become you."
