Chapter 50: 99.9 Percent

I stared at the screen, the name glowing white against the blue background. *Lucia Rodriguez.*

Lucia. The twin. The sister who was supposed to be dead, buried in a pauper's grave in Canada under the name *Jane Doe*.

But she wasn't dead.

I looked at the date on the profile. *Last Active: 2 days ago.*

"Sarah?" Mark wheezed from the floor. "What is it?"

"My sister," I whispered. "She's alive. And she's on 23andMe."

I showed him the phone. Mark squinted at the screen, then at Elaine, who was watching us with tired, sad eyes.

"Elaine," I said. "You said Thorne sent the other baby to Canada. To The Sanctuary."

"He did," Elaine said. "He took her himself. He said it was for the best. That she was... damaged."

"Damaged how?"

"Her heart," Elaine said. "She had a murmur. He said she wouldn't last a week."

"But she did," I said. "She lasted thirty years."

I clicked on Lucia's profile. There was no photo, just a generic avatar. But there was a bio.

*Adoptee. Looking for biological family. Born June 15, 1988. St. Jude's Hospital.*

June 15th. My birthday.

I hit the "Message" button. My fingers flew across the keyboard.

*Lucia. My name is Sarah. I think I'm your sister. Please call me.*

I hit send.

Then I looked at the location again. *Montreal.*

"That's where the plane was going," I said. "The decoy plane. The one Edith chartered."

"Edith knew," Mark said. "She knew Lucia was alive. That's why she sent the plane there. To pick her up."

"Why?" Ben asked. "Why now? After thirty years?"

"Because Leo is dying," I said. "Or at least, that's the cover story. But if Leo dies... if Edith kills him..."

"She needs a replacement," Mark said. "Another heir with the blood."

"But Lucia isn't a Sterling," I said. "She's Thorne's daughter. Like me."

"It doesn't matter," Mark said. "Edith doesn't need a real Sterling. She just needs someone she can control. Someone she can mold."

I looked at Mark. He was holding his side, his face gray with pain. He was right. Edith didn't care about bloodlines. She cared about power. And if she couldn't use Leo, she would use Lucia.

"We have to find her first," I said. "Before Edith gets to her."

"We can't go to Canada," Ben said. "We're wanted for kidnapping and arson. We won't make it across the border."

"We don't have to," I said. "Lucia is looking for us. If I can get her to come here..."

My phone buzzed. A reply.

*Sarah? Oh my god. I've been waiting for this message my whole life. I'm in town. I came to find the hospital.*

I stared at the message. *I'm in town.*

"She's here," I said. "She's in the city."

I typed back. *Where are you?*

The reply came instantly.

*The Sterling Hotel. Room 412.*

The same number. Always the same number.

"It's a trap," Ben said. "Edith owns that hotel. She put her there."

"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe Lucia just booked the only hotel with the family name. Maybe she doesn't know who Edith is."

"We have to go," Mark said, trying to stand. He groaned and slid back down.

"You can't go anywhere," I said. "You need a hospital."

"I'll take him," Ben said. "There's a vet clinic near the docks. The guy owes me a favor. He can patch him up."

"And you?" Ben asked me.

"I'm going to the hotel," I said. "I'm going to meet my sister."

"Alone?"

"It's better that way," I said. "If it is a trap, I don't want you caught in it. And if it's not... I need to talk to her. Sister to sister."

Ben hesitated, then nodded. He helped Mark up.

"Be careful," he said. "Edith is still out there. And she's desperate."

I drove the battered Ford to the Sterling Hotel. It was a monolith of glass and steel in the center of downtown, a monument to Archibald's ego. I parked a block away and walked to the entrance.

The lobby was opulent, smelling of expensive lilies and old money. I walked to the elevators, keeping my head down. I didn't need a key card for the guest floors.

I hit the button for the 4th floor.

The elevator dinged. I stepped out into the hallway. It was quiet.

Room 412 was at the end of the hall.

I knocked.

"Lucia?" I whispered.

No answer.

I knocked again, harder.

"It's Sarah."

The door opened a crack. A chain was still engaged.

A single blue eye stared out at me. My eye.

"Sarah?" a voice asked. It sounded like mine, but softer. More hesitant.

"Yes," I said. "It's me."

The door closed, the chain rattled, and then it opened wide.

A woman stood there. She was my height. She had my hair. My nose. My chin.

It was like looking in a mirror. A mirror that showed a version of me that hadn't been raised by a monster.

"Oh my god," Lucia whispered.

She pulled me into a hug. I stiffened, then melted. She smelled like rain and maple syrup. She felt real.

"I can't believe it," she said, pulling back to look at me. "I thought I was alone."

"You're not," I said. "You have a family. A big, messy, dangerous family."

"Come in," she said. "We have so much to talk about."

I stepped into the room. It was a suite, luxurious and impersonal.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"The test," she said. "I took it a month ago. When I saw the match... I just got on a plane. I had to know."

She walked to the minibar and poured two waters.

"I was adopted," she said. "By a family in Montreal. They were good to me. But I always felt... out of place."

"I know the feeling," I said.

She handed me a water. I took it, my throat dry.

"So," she said, sitting on the bed. "Tell me about our mother. Was she... did she look like us?"

"She looked exactly like us," I said. "Her name was Maria Elena. She was a housekeeper."

Lucia's face fell. "A housekeeper?"

"She was brave," I said. "She fought for us. She died for us."

"And our father?"

I hesitated. "He was a doctor. A complicated man."

Lucia nodded, absorbing the information.

"And Edith?" she asked. "The woman who owns this hotel? Is she our aunt?"

"She's... something," I said. "Lucia, you need to know. Edith is dangerous. She's the reason we were separated. She's the reason our mother is dead."

Lucia's eyes widened. "What?"

"We have to leave," I said. "It's not safe here. Edith might know you're here."

Lucia stood up. "Okay. Let me just get my bag."

She walked into the bedroom. I waited in the living area, scanning the room.

My eyes landed on the desk.

There was a laptop open. And next to it, a stack of papers.

I walked over.

The papers were legal documents.

*Petition for Conservatorship.*

*Subject: Sarah Sterling.*

*Petitioner: Lucia Thorne.*

I froze.

*Lucia Thorne.*

Not Rodriguez. Thorne.

She knew. She knew who her father was.

I looked at the laptop screen. It was an email chain.

*To: Edith Sterling.*
*From: Lucia Thorne.*

*Subject: Phase 2.*

*I have her. She's coming to the hotel. Have the team ready.*

My blood turned to ice.

It wasn't a reunion. It was a setup.

"Lucia?" I called out, backing toward the door.

"Yes, sister?"

She appeared in the bedroom doorway.

But she wasn't holding a bag.

She was holding a taser.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," she said, her voice devoid of the warmth it had held a moment ago. "But Edith made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

She fired.

The prongs hit my chest.

The world went white.