Shocking Identity

Shocking Identity
Emma's POV

Emma's finger was on the trigger when the warehouse door burst open.
"Emma, don't shoot!" yelled a voice Emma knew better than her own.
Standing in the doorway was Jess - her roommate, her best friend, the girl who was meant to be dead.
Emma spun around, keeping the gun raised but not knowing who to point it at anymore. "Jess? How are you here? Vincent killed you!"
Jess stepped into the building, her hands up to show she wasn't armed. "I faked my death to protect Rebecca. But I was too late. Vincent found her anyway."
"What are you talking about?" Marcus demanded.
"Rebecca's not CIA," Jess said quickly. "She's been lying to protect Emma, but she got it all wrong."
Rebecca stood up from where Emma had been pointing the gun at her. "Jess, you can't be here. It's too dangerous."
"More dangerous than letting Emma think she's some kind of secret agent?" Jess shot back.
Emma's head was spinning. "Will someone please tell me the truth? Just once, can someone tell me what's really going on?"
Jess looked at Emma with tears in her eyes. "Emma, I'm so sorry. I've been lying to you too. But I had to. Vincent would have killed you if he knew."
"Knew what?"
"That you're not Emma Martinez," Jess said quietly. "You're Emma Rodriguez. And Rebecca isn't your boss. She's your sister."
The gun fell from Emma's hands. "What?"
Vincent started laughing from his chair. "Oh, this keeps getting better and better."
"Shut up," Marcus said, pointing his own gun at Vincent.
Jess kept talking, her voice shaking. "Emma, your parents didn't adopt you. Rebecca's parents did. You and Rebecca are sisters, but you were separated when you were babies."
Emma sat down hard on a box. "That's impossible."
"Your real parents were David and Maria Rodriguez," Jess stated. "They had twin girls - Rebecca and Emma. But when Maria was killed, David couldn't take care of two kids alone. He gave Emma to his partner's family to raise."
Rebecca was looking at Jess like she'd seen a ghost. "How do you know all this?"
"Because I'm not really your roommate's friend," Jess said sadly. "I'm FBI. I've been watching both of you for years."
Emma wanted to scream. "Another lie! Is anyone in my life real?"
"My feelings for you are real," Jess said. "Emma, you're like the sister I never had. That's why I faked my death - to draw Vincent away from you."
"But he found me anyway," Emma said.
"Because someone told him where you were," Jess said, looking at Rebecca. "Someone Vincent has been working with all along."
Rebecca's face went white. "Jess, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying Rebecca Chen isn't the hero in this story," Jess said. "She's been feeding information to Vincent for months."
"That's not true!" Rebecca protested.
But Marcus was putting things together. "That's how Vincent always knew where we were going. Someone was telling him."
Emma felt like the world was ending. Again. "Rebecca, is it true?"
Rebecca looked at Emma with eyes full of pain. "It's not what you think."
"Then explain it," Emma ordered.
Rebecca took a deep breath. "Vincent has my real sister. My real sister Sarah - Detective Sarah Chen. He's been holding her prisoner for six months. Every time I gave him information, he promised to keep her alive."
Emma's heart broke a little. "So you sold me out to save your sister."
"I was trying to save you both," Rebecca said. "I thought if I could get close enough to Vincent, I could rescue Sarah and still protect you."
"Well, it didn't work," Vincent said happily. "Sarah Chen has been dead for three months. I just kept telling Rebecca she was alive so she'd keep helping me."
Rebecca screamed and lunged at Vincent, but Marcus caught her. "Sarah? SARAH?"
"Dead as a door nail," Vincent said. "Just like Emma's going to be once I get those files."
Emma stood up, feeling rage burn through her sadness. "You killed her sister. You've been torturing Rebecca for months with fake hope."
"Business is business," Vincent shrugged.
That's when Emma realized something. "Jess, if you're FBI, why didn't you arrest Vincent when you had the chance?"
Jess looked uncomfortable. "It's complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"Because the FBI doesn't want Vincent arrested," Jess revealed. "They want him to lead them to the real boss of the trafficking ring."
Marcus cursed. "Vincent isn't the top guy?" "Vincent is middle management," Jess said. "The person really running this business has been hiding for twenty years. The FBI thinks Emma's parents' files will expose them."
"So I'm bait," Emma said coldly. "Again."
"Emma, no," Jess started.
"Yes," Emma said. "Everyone in my life is using me. Rebecca used me to try to save her sister. You're using me to catch some unknown boss. Even my own father is using me."
"Your father loves you," Rebecca said.
"Does he?" Emma asked. "Because according to Vincent, even my father has been lying to me."
Vincent smiled. "Smart girl. David Martinez has been playing a very long game."
"What does that mean?" Emma demanded.
"Ask him yourself," Vincent said. "He should be here any minute."
Emma frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Because I called him," Vincent said. "Right before your friend Rebecca showed up. I told him exactly where you are."
Jess pulled out her phone. "We need to go. Now."
"Why?" Marcus asked.
"Because David Martinez isn't coming to save Emma," Jess said, her face pale. "He's coming to collect her."
Emma's blood turned cold. "Collect me for what?"
"Emma," Jess said softly, "there's something else about your parents' files. Something I didn't tell you."
"What now?"
"They don't just contain evidence about the trafficking ring," Jess said. "They contain directions. Instructions for something called Project Emma."
Emma felt sick. "Project Emma?"
"Your parents weren't just trying to stop the trafficking ring," Jess stated. "They were trying to build the perfect agent to infiltrate it. Someone who could get close to the bosses, someone they would never suspect."
"Someone like their daughter," Emma whispered.
"Emma, you weren't hidden to keep you safe," Jess said. "You were hidden to be taught. Everything in your life - where you lived, who you met, even your job as a journalist - was meant to prepare you for one mission."
"To infiltrate the trafficking ring," Emma said.
"To become its new leader," Vincent corrected. "The files don't just have proof, Emma. They have the full plan to take over the entire operation. And you're the key to making it work."
Emma backed toward the door. "I won't do it. I won't be part of this."
"You don't have a choice," said a familiar voice behind her.
Emma turned around and saw her father standing in the doorway. But he wasn't alone.
Behind him were six guys in black suits. FBI agents.
"Hello, sweetheart," David said. "It's time to go."
"Dad, please," Emma said. "I don't want to be part of this."
"You already are part of this," David said gently. "You always have been. From the time you were born, this was your destiny."
"I choose my own destiny," Emma said.
David smiled sadly. "No, you don't. Because Emma Rodriguez died when she was three years old. The girl standing here now is someone else entirely."
Emma's world turned. "What are you talking about?" "The real Emma Rodriguez is buried in a grave in Ohio," David said. "You're not my kid, sweetheart. You never were."
Emma couldn't breathe. "Then who am I?"
"You're the daughter of the person we've been hunting for twenty years," David said. "You're the daughter of the real leader of the trafficking ring."
Emma stumbled backward. "No."
"Your real father killed Emma Rodriguez and her parents," David continued. "Then he gave you Emma's name and disappeared. We've been raising you, teaching you, preparing you to help us find him."
"Where is he?" Emma whispered.
David's smile was cold as ice. "That's what you're going to help us find. Because even though you don't know him, he's been watching you your whole life. And when we put you out in the open as bait, he'll come for you."
Emma felt tears running down her face. "You're going to use me to catch my real father."
"We're going to use you to catch the most dangerous criminal in America," David corrected.
Emma looked around the factory - at Rebecca, who'd betrayed her to save her sister; at Jess, who'd been lying to her for years; at Marcus, who looked as shocked as she felt; at Vincent, who was still smiling his evil smile.
"What if I refuse?" Emma asked.
David nodded to his handlers. They all drew their guns.
"Then you die here tonight," David said simply. "Just like the real Emma Rodriguez did twenty years ago."
Emma closed her eyes. She wasn't Emma Martinez. She wasn't Emma Rodriguez. She was the daughter of some monster, raised by people who'd been planning to use her since she was a kid.
"What's my real name?" she asked softly.
David looked at her for a long moment. "We don't know. Your father never told us before he disappeared."
"But he left us a clue," Vincent said from his chair. "He tattooed it on your back when you were little, just like your fake mother supposedly did with the files."
Emma spun around. "What's tattooed on my back?"
Vincent's smile got bigger. "Not evidence. Not files. Just three words that will change everything when your real father sees them."
"What words?"
"Daddy's little monster."
Emma felt her knees give out. Somewhere out there was a man who'd killed an innocent family, stolen their daughter's identity, and given it to his own child. A man who'd been watching her for twenty years, waiting.
A man who'd raised her to be just like him.
And now everyone wanted to use her to catch him.
But what none of them knew was that Emma had been having dreams lately. Dreams about a man's voice singing lullabies. Dreams about hands that were gentle but dangerous. Dreams about a man who called her his little monster and promised they'd be together again someday.
Dreams that felt like memories.
Emma looked up at David with new understanding.
"He's not going to come for me," she said quietly.
"What?" David asked.
"My real father. He's not going to come for me because he never left."
Everyone in the warehouse went quiet.
"He's been here all along," Emma said, pieces falling into place in her mind. "Watching me, protecting me, making sure his plan worked perfectly."
"What plan?" Jess whispered.
Emma smiled, and for the first time, it felt real. Cold, dangerous, but real.
"The plan to take over everything," Emma said. "The trafficking ring, the FBI, all of it. And I know who he is."
She looked around the room at all the people who'd been lying to her, using her, manipulating her.
"My real father isn't some mysterious criminal hiding in the shadows," Emma said. "He's been right here all along, playing the part of the good guy."
Emma pointed at the one person in the room no one suspected.
The person who'd been pulling all the strings from the very beginning.
"Hello, Daddy," Emma said.
The person she was pointing at smiled back, and Emma finally saw the family resemblance.
Her real father had been playing the long game for twenty years.
And now it was time for the final move.