Chapter 54
The Day Before Claire Dies
Claire's death certificate remained on the screen.
Tomorrow's date. Accidental drowning. Bellwether Lake.
Mara led them through the courthouse archive toward the old lake tunnel. Daniel carried the patient packets. Lucy and Noah stayed together. Tess held the children's files. Ada walked beside Claire, one hand pressed to her ribs.
“Are you hurt?” Claire asked.
“I am losing a version.”
“Which one?”
“The version that believed I had to obey.”
“That sounds like healing.”
“It feels like dying.”
The tunnel opened beneath Cabin 12.
The artificial lake was gone. In its place stood a concrete platform surrounded by dry pipes. At the center was a metal chair with a restraint across the arms.
Mara placed the death certificate on the chair.
“This is where I signed.”
Claire looked at the chair. “You were here the night of the accident.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened on the road?”
“A staged exit.”
“You crashed the car.”
“I needed Bell to believe I was dead.”
“You left me beside the wreck.”
Mara's eyes lowered. “I left you with the only person who could bring you back.”
“Rowan.”
“Rowan and Ada.”
The names sounded connected, but not identical.
“They are both witnesses?” Claire asked.
“They are the same witness at different ages.”
Ada went still.
“No,” she said.
Mara turned toward her. “The program separated Rowan's memory from her body. Ada carried the memory. Rowan carried the body.”
Daniel stared at Ada.
“You are Rowan.”
Ada nodded once.
“And the child in Cabin 12?”
“The body they kept.”
Claire understood why Ada looked like her. The system had built the witness from Claire's records, but the memory inside it belonged to Rowan.
On the platform, the death certificate began to burn without flame.
The printed date changed.
Tomorrow became today.
Mara looked at Claire.
“The record has started.”
Behind them, the lake rushed back into the tunnel.
The chair locked itself.
Claire sat before anyone could reach her.