Eva's POV
I'm running through a hospital parking lot with a newborn baby in my arms.
This is crazy. I gave birth yesterday. My body screams with every step. But Dominic has a bomb in his car, and I have less than eight minutes to save him.
Seven minutes now.
Lily starts to cry. I hold her closer, saying, "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."
A security guard calls out behind me. "Mrs. Thornfield! You can't leave yet! You haven't been fired!"
I don't stop. Can't stop. I push through the escape doors into the cold night air.
Where's Dominic's car? The message said it was in the parking area, but which level? Which section?
My phone buzzes. Another text from "M."
"Level 3, Section B. But don't spend time trying to defuse it. You're not that smart. Get to Pier 17. Save Dominic. That's your only job."
Level 3, Section B. I run toward the lift, then stop. Elevators are too slow. I find the stairs and start climbing, cradling Lily against my chest.
My legs feel like they're on fire. My body isn't healed enough for this. But I push through the pain.
Level 3. I burst through the door, scanning the parking spots. There. Dominic's black Mercedes, stopped under a flickering light.
I approach carefully, my heart beating. What if the bomb is motion-activated? What if getting too close sets it off?
I kneel down, phone flashlight on, and look under the car.
There it is. A small black box connected to the underside with a blinking red light. Professional. Clean. Deadly.
Six minutes.
I take a shot and send it to the number that's been texting me.
"I see the bomb. Tell me how to defuse it."
The answer comes immediately: "You can't. Only one person can disarm that gadget. And he's waiting for you at Pier 17. Move. Now."
"Five minutes until Dominic starts his car. Four minutes until you lose him forever. Again."
I want to scream. Want to cry. But I don't have time.
I run back to the stairwell and down to the ground floor. Outside, I look for any car, any way to get to Pier 17 in less than five minutes.
A taxi is dropping off a patient at the emergency door.
"Wait!" I run toward it, still holding Lily. "Please! I need to get to Pier 17 right now! It's an emergency!"
The driver looks at me like I'm crazy. "Lady, you just had a baby. You should be in the hospital."
"Please!" I'm crying now. "Someone's going to die if I don't get there. Please!"
Maybe it's the tears. Maybe it's the despair in my voice. Maybe it's the baby in my arms. But he opens the door.
"Get in."
I climb into the back seat, buckling Lily into my lap as safely as I can. The car pulls away from the hospital.
"Step on it," I beg. "I'll pay you anything. Just get me there fast."
He looks at me in the rearview mirror, then nods and accelerates.
My phone shows 12:25 AM. Five minutes until the bomb goes off. Pier 17 is at least ten minutes away in average traffic.
"Faster," I whisper. "Please go faster."
The car runs a red light. Then another. We're flying through empty streets, and I'm hoping we don't get pulled over.
My phone buzzes again.
" Dominic just left the hospital. He's driving toward Pier 17. The bomb is set to detonate the moment his car hits the pier entrance. Three minutes."
"No!" I grip my phone. "How do I stop it? Tell me how to stop it!"
"You can't. But I can. If you do exactly what I say."
"When you arrive at Pier 17, you'll see a man standing at the end of the pier. Walk toward him. Bring Lily. Come alone. When you reach him, hand over the baby. Then and only then will I disarm the bomb in Dominic's car."
My blood freezes. "No. No, I won't give you my daughter." " Then Dominic dies. Simple choice, Eva. The man you love, or the baby you've known for one day. Choose."
Lily makes a small sound against my chest. So innocent. So useless. How can anyone ask me to make this choice? " Two minutes. Tick tock."
The taxi screeches around a turn. I can see the water now. The pier is ahead, lit up against the dark sky.
And there, pulling into the parking lot, is Dominic's black Mercedes.
"Stop!" I scream. "Stop the car!"
The driver slams on the brakes. I throw money at him and jump out, still holding Lily.
Dominic's car is moving toward the pier entry. Slowly. Carefully. He has no idea what's about to happen.
I run toward him, yelling his name. "Dominic! Stop! Don't drive any closer!"
But he can't hear me. His windows are up. He's too far away.
My phone shows 12:28 AM.
Two minutes until the bomb detonates.
I look at the pier. At the end, exactly as told, stands a figure. Too far away to see clearly. But they're waiting.
Waiting for me to bring them Lily.
"Dominic!" I scream again. But his car keeps moving forward.
My phone buzzes one last time.
"Final answer, Eva. Walk to the end of the pier with Lily right now, or watch Dominic's car explode. You have ninety seconds."
" Oh, and Eva? Dr. Adrian Cole is on his way too. He's trying to save everyone. How brave. But there's a bomb on this pier that will explode at exactly 12:30 AM—whether you make it here or not. So really, you're picking who dies. Dominic alone in his car? Or Dominic, Dr. Cole, and whoever else comes in the next ninety seconds?"
"Bring me Lily, and everyone lives. Refuse, and everyone dies. Including you. Including the baby. The pier bomb doesn't discriminate."
I look at Dominic's car. At the pier. At Lily in my arms.
Eighty seconds.
I start running toward the pier. Toward the figure waiting at the end. Toward whatever trap this is.
Because I can't let Dominic die. I can't let Dr. Cole die trying to save us. I can't let any of this happen.
But as I step onto the pier, my phone lights up with one final message. Not from "M" this time.
From Dominic.
"Eva, if that's really you—don't come to the pier. It's a trap. I figured out who M is. It's not who we thought. Get Lily somewhere safe. I'll handle this. I love you. I never stopped."
Seventy seconds.
I'm stuck on the pier. Dominic's car is still going forward. The person at the end of the pier is getting closer.
And behind me, I hear another car screech into the parking lot. Dr. Cole's voice calling my name.
Sixty seconds.
My phone buzzes with a new picture. It's security video from right now. Showing me on the pier. Showing Dominic's car. Showing Dr. Cole running toward us.
And showing someone else. Someone hiding in the dark near Dominic's car. Someone holding what looks like a controlled detonator.
The picture zooms in on their face.
It's Marcus Thornfield. Dominic's dying father.
But he doesn't look sick. Doesn't look weak. He looks perfectly healthy. And he's happy.
The message below the picture reads: "Surprise. I'm not dead. Never was. The cancer was fake. All of it. I've been arranging this from the beginning. Project Second Chance wasn't about bringing Eva back for Dominic's pleasure. It was about bringing her back to destroy him."
"Fifty seconds, Eva. Make your choice. Give me Lily, or watch everyone you love die."
I look at my girl. At the man I love driving toward his death. At Dr. Cole running to save us. At Marcus Thornfield holding an explosive.
Forty-five seconds.
The person at the end of the pier steps into the light.
And my heart stops completely.
Because it's not Marcus Thornfield waiting for me.
It's not Vanessa Carrington.
It's me.
The real me. Eva Hart. In my old body. Alive. Awake. Walking.
And she's smiling like I'm her worst enemy.
"Hello, Celeste," my own voice calls out across the pier. "Or should I say... hello, fake Eva. Did you really think you could steal my life and get away with it?"
Forty seconds.