Chapter 4 - Daniel’s Mother
Nicole opened the door only because Officer Ruiz stood beside her.
Judith entered without greeting anyone.
Her attention went immediately to the empty rectangle on the wall where the mirror had hung.
“You removed it.”
Nicole folded her arms.
“You knew about last night.”
Judith did not answer.
“How?”
“Daniel called me.”
“Which Daniel?”
That made her hesitate.
Monica noticed.
“So there really is an answer.”
Judith looked at her with irritation. “Stay out of this.”
“She’s my sister.”
“And this is my family.”
Nicole stepped closer.
“I am your family.”
Judith’s expression softened artificially.
“You are Daniel’s wife.”
The distinction was deliberate.
Nicole felt it.
Officer Ruiz said, “Mrs. Anderson, did you know your son had pledged this residence as collateral using what appears to be his wife’s forged authorization?”
Judith sighed.
“My son was trying to save hundreds of jobs.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“And I am not answering financial questions without counsel.”
Nicole laughed bitterly.
“So now you need a lawyer.”
“Nicole, stop being dramatic.”
Monica muttered, “Bad choice of words.”
Nicole opened the loan folder.
“Did you arrange this?”
Judith’s jaw tightened.
“Anderson Urban Renewal is facing a temporary liquidity crisis.”
“You told me the company posted its strongest quarter in five years.”
“That was before a lender withdrew.”
“So Daniel stole from me.”
“He moved marital funds.”
“Without consent.”
“Marriage involves sacrifice.”
Nicole stared at her.
“Whose sacrifice?”
Judith looked away.
Nicole picked up Thomas’s letter.
“And what does your husband mean when he says not to let you choose?”
Judith’s face changed.
Barely.
But enough.
“Where did you get that?”
“Behind the mirror.”
“You had no right.”
“It was hidden in my living room.”
“That house belonged to the Anderson family for ninety-two years before you entered it.”
There it was.
The thing Judith had always disguised beneath manners.
Ownership.
Territory.
Nicole unfolded Thomas’s letter.
“He says you saw this before.”
Judith went silent.
“Did Daniel see two versions of his father?”
“Daniel was a frightened child.”
“The ledger says fingerprints matched.”
“My husband became obsessed.”
“Was he lying?”
Judith looked at Nicole with exhausted contempt.
“You want a supernatural answer because it is easier than accepting that Thomas destroyed our family chasing one.”
Nicole lowered the letter.
“Explain.”
Judith glanced toward Ruiz.
“Not with police present.”
Ruiz shrugged. “Then don’t.”
Judith walked toward the empty mirror frame.
“Thomas first noticed the phenomenon after Daniel was born. Reflections. Voices. Lost time. He convinced himself the house was producing duplicates.”
“Did you see them?”
Judith remained still.
“Yes.”
Monica inhaled sharply.
“How many?”
“One that mattered.”
Nicole waited.
Judith turned.
“My husband came home during a storm in 1999. I had been speaking to him upstairs ten seconds earlier.”
Nicole felt gooseflesh rise across her arms.
“What happened?”
“Two Thomases stood exactly where your two Daniels stood.”
“And?”
“I chose my husband.”
“How?”
Judith’s mouth became a thin line.
“One knew something the other didn’t.”
“What?”
“That is none of your business.”
Nicole shook her head.
“Thomas says you chose wrong.”
For the first time, Judith lost control.
“He didn’t know what he was talking about!”
Her voice cracked through the room.
Silence followed.
Judith regained herself.
“The other one disappeared.”
“How?”
“I told him he wasn’t my husband.”
“And then?”
“He walked toward the mirror.”
Judith’s eyes unfocused at the memory.
“And he was gone.”
Monica whispered, “Just like that?”
“No.”
Judith looked at Nicole.
“He said something first.”
“What?”
“He said, ‘You didn’t choose the real one. You chose the one who needed you to believe him.’”
Nicole felt cold.
Officer Ruiz’s phone rang.
She stepped aside.
Judith moved closer to Nicole.
“You need to get rid of the second Daniel.”
“Which one?”
“The one without identification.”
“That makes him fake?”
“It makes him dangerous.”
Nicole studied her.
“You knew he wouldn’t have identification.”
Judith looked away.
Another mistake.
Nicole stepped closer.
“You know how this works.”
“I know more than you.”
“Then tell me.”
Judith lowered her voice.
“The second self knows every memory the original knows up to the fracture. It knows every secret. Every shame. Every promise.”
Nicole thought of the missing $42,000.
“What fracture?”
Judith looked toward the loan documents.
“You already found it.”
The door opened behind them.
Officer Ruiz returned.
Her face was tense.
“Nicole.”
“What?”
“The hospital called.”
Nicole’s heart stopped.
“The unidentified Daniel disappeared.”
Judith closed her eyes.
Ruiz continued.
“No broken locks. No security breach. The camera shows him entering the elevator.”
“And?”
“He never came out.”
Monica whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Ruiz looked directly at Nicole.
“Not according to the camera.”
She held out her phone.
A hospital security still showed Sweater Daniel entering an elevator alone.
Behind him, polished steel reflected his body.
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But in the reflection, he was not wearing the charcoal sweater.
He was wearing Daniel’s navy raincoat.
