Chapter 9 - THE MOTHER'S WRITING
Before Jack could press further, the rear door of a black SUV parked two spaces away swung open.
A woman stepped out onto the asphalt, her movements slow and unsteady. She wore a dark blue jacket over a hospital gown, her brown hair messy, her face pale and bruised, but her eyes burning with an undeniable, fierce maternal instinct.
Jack turned his head, his grip on the Stranger's throat holding firm.
"Jack..." the woman breathed, her voice raspy and weak.
Jack’s jaw dropped. The face was older, weathered by time and hardship, but he recognized her immediately.
"Sarah...?" Jack whispered, his chest heaving. "Sarah Miller? You... you were Daniel’s girlfriend..."
Fifteen years ago, on the night Daniel Mercer died in a tragic highway accident, his young girlfriend Sarah had vanished from the hospital without leaving a trace. The Mercer family had searched for her for months, assuming she had fled out of grief.
"He didn't die in an accident, Jack," Sarah wept softly, holding her side as she took two painful steps toward him. "The syndicate... the people Daniel was investigating before he died... they chased us off the road. I was pregnant with Emma when it happened."
Jack’s breath caught in his throat. He looked from Sarah’s bruised face, down to the purple backpack lying on the asphalt, and then back toward the Walmart entrance where the little girl was waiting.
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"Emma..." Jack breathed, his voice trembling with an overwhelming realization. "Emma is... Daniel’s daughter?"
Sarah nodded, fresh tears streaming down her face. "She's your niece, Jack. I've been hiding her from them for six years... but they found us yesterday. I told her... if anything happened to me... if she ever got away... to find a man wearing the Iron Raven."
