Marissa stood in the farmhouse, aiming a gun at Gordon Evans. She'd already shot Brianna Stapleton as she was giving the orders to kill six-year-old Nadiya Naziri. Knowing that only she could stop the girl's execution, Marissa was about to lean over to retrieve the radio from the floor when a figure in gray blazed in, just a blur.
"Get in the other room!" The intruder shouted and Marissa was shocked into listening not only by the sudden timing of someone else being in the house, but also because of the exact appearance of the woman. She was Marissa's mirror image.
Without waiting for Marissa to respond, the other woman shot Gordon squarely in the head. He slumped over and it was obvious to see that he was dead. Then she turned to Marissa again. "Go! Didn't you hear me the first time? And wear this," she tossed a bulletproof vest that came all the way down to Marissa's hips into her hands.
Marissa mechanically obeyed her double, going into the next room and pulling the vest on over her shirt. She shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if the other woman hadn't shown up. She had reluctance to kill her father but the double evidently did not. She had saved Marissa's life.
The double walked into the room and nodded with approval when she saw Marissa in the vest. "It's about time. Look, I'm sorry to be so abrupt but this is a serious situation. You must be confused. I'm Alex - Alexandra Evans. I've been watching you for some time because he," she nodded to the dead man in the next room, "wanted to use me to kill you. I pretended to go along but I never intended to kill my own sister."
"What? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Marissa was shocked. "I have a sister. Trace."
"And me," Alex said. "Mom hid me away when I showed too much of an aptitude for warfare. She was scared of me, I think."
Marissa couldn't blame her but said nothing.
"Or she knew that Dad would use me to be some kind of super soldier," Alex continued. She looked out of the window. "We don't have much time to waste. You want to get to Hanna before they do, right?"
"I do," Marissa said, regaining her voice. "But how do I know that you are who you say you are?"
Alex dug into her pocket and produced a locket that Marissa would recognize anywhere. It was small and round, made of gold. A rose was etched on top. It was identical to the one that Marissa's mother had given her in secret upon her high school graduation. "Come on, you can call mom once Hanna is safe. Will that make you feel better?"
"I don't know," Marissa answered honestly. But she had little choice if there were more Utrax guards in the woods. Hanna was depending on her. It seemed that the only thing to do in the immediate moment was to follow this Alex person. Then she'd have a lot of questions to ask.