Chapter 6 - THE STRANGER WEARING HER HUSBAND'S FACE
Élodie read Mathéo's message so many times that the words began to lose their meaning.
The man here isn't Dad.
Her first thought was that her son was frightened and confused.
Her second was worse.
What if Mathéo was trying to tell her that someone had been impersonating Laurent?
She called Claire.
Then Thomas.
Within an hour, they were examining every detail of the airport photographs and the messages.
Thomas enlarged the image of Laurent standing beside Mathéo.
“Look at his left hand.”
Élodie leaned closer.
“What about it?”
“Laurent has a scar across his knuckles.”
She remembered.
He had injured his hand in a skiing accident during their marriage.
The scar was unmistakable.
The man in the photograph had no visible scar.
Claire frowned.
“That could be lighting.”
“Maybe,” Thomas said.
He enlarged the man's ear.
Then compared it with an older photograph of Laurent.
The shape was slightly different.
Élodie felt cold.
“Are you saying someone is pretending to be him?”
“I'm saying we shouldn't dismiss Mathéo's warning.”
The next morning, Claire received a response from an investigator assigned to review the evidence.
The threatening messages and custody-related concerns had been formally documented.
Authorities were beginning to coordinate with counterparts in Canada.
But the process would take time.
Time Élodie feared they didn't have.
Thomas contacted an old associate in Montreal, a private investigator named David Mercer.
David had once worked on international financial fraud cases.
He agreed to help identify the apartment where Mathéo had been photographed.
By noon, he had found a possible match.
A luxury residence near downtown Montreal.
Registered to a company linked to Asterion Holdings.
Élodie wanted to fly there immediately.
Claire urged caution.
“If Laurent knows you're coming, he may move Mathéo. We need to coordinate with the authorities.”
“I can't sit here while my son is terrified.”
“You won't be sitting here. We'll keep working. But rushing into a place controlled by Laurent could put both of you at greater risk.”
Élodie hated that Claire was right.
That afternoon, David sent another discovery.
Security footage from a building near the residence showed Mathéo entering with a man who resembled Laurent.
But the real Laurent had been photographed at a business event in Paris that same evening.
Two men.
Two countries.
The same face.
Élodie stared at the images.
“Who is he?”
Thomas looked deeply unsettled.
“Laurent has a younger half brother.”
Élodie turned toward him.
“What?”
“His name is Adrien Delmas. He used to work in private security.”
“Laurent never told me he had a brother.”
“Because they had a falling-out years ago. At least, that's what everyone believed.”
Claire studied the images.
“Do they look alike?”
“Enough that someone unfamiliar with Adrien might mistake him for Laurent, especially from a distance.”
Élodie felt sick.
“Mathéo knows his own father.”
“Yes,” Thomas said. “Which is probably why he noticed.”
The realization terrified her.
Her son was trapped in another country with a man impersonating his father.
And the real Laurent was still in Paris.
Watching.
Waiting.
Controlling everything from a distance.
That evening, David followed a lead to a small medical clinic outside Montreal.
The clinic had received funding from the Saint-Clair Foundation.
Its administrator had previously worked for Laurent.
David sent photographs of the exterior.
One showed a service entrance.
Another showed a delivery van.
The third showed a woman walking through the parking lot.
She wore a dark green coat.
Dr. Camille Renard.
Élodie almost dropped her phone.
“She is alive.”
Thomas nodded.
“And if Camille is there, Gabriel may be there too.”
David arranged to speak with a former clinic employee.
The woman agreed to meet him at a public café.
But she insisted on one condition.
He had to come alone.
At 8:42 p.m., David called Élodie.
“I found someone who knows about Mathéo.”
Her heart raced.
“Is he safe?”
“I believe so.”
“Where is he?”
“I'm still confirming that.”
“What about Gabriel?”
David hesitated.
“Élodie, there's something you need to know about the clinic.”
“What?”
“They weren't treating Gabriel as a patient.”
She swallowed.
“Then why was he there?”
David's voice became quiet.
“They were holding him.”
Élodie closed her eyes.
“And the photograph?”
“Someone wanted you to think he was helpless.”
“What about Mathéo's name on the whiteboard?”
David exhaled.
“That was the room designation. They were preparing it for your son.”
Élodie's knees weakened.
“Preparing it for what?”
Before David could answer, a woman's voice sounded in the background.
Then a sudden crash.
David shouted something.
The call disconnected.
A minute later, Élodie received a photograph.
It showed the clinic's interior hallway.
At the end stood Mathéo.
May you like
He was holding a silver key.
And behind him, a man in a white coat was reaching for his shoulder.
