Chapter 10 - The Man at the Front Door
Adrian Lane entered the vault wearing a federal tactical jacket.
He looked like an older version of the photographs Daniel once showed me.
Same gray eyes as Rebecca.
Same narrow face.
Emma’s eyes.
Behind him came legitimate federal agents.
The pounding at the front door had originally been his team.
Rebecca’s contractors intercepted them before entry.
Adrian looked at his sister.
“You failed.”
Rebecca laughed.
“You used me for twelve years.”
“I gave you a chance to recover the archive.”
“You promised immunity.”
“You poisoned a child.”
Her face hardened.
Adrian turned toward Emma’s voice on the intercom.
“Is she stable?”
Cole answered from upstairs.
“For now.”
Adrian looked at me.
“She needs a full toxin panel.”
“You are not touching her.”
“I can save her.”
“You helped create her.”
The words stopped Daniel.
Adrian did not deny them.
The fertility records were real.
He had authorized the genetic selection.
But he claimed Emma was not created as an experiment.
Rebecca stole his genetic material and used it without consent.
Richard laughed.
“Everyone becomes innocent when the documents appear.”
Adrian ordered agents to arrest Richard and Rebecca.
My mother remained beside the console.
“What about her?” I asked.
“She is a protected federal witness.”
“For twenty-three years?”
“She entered protection after collecting evidence.”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
Adrian’s voice softened.
“Her survival depended on it.”
The same justification again.
Protection.
Secrecy.
Control.
I was tired of men turning lies into shields.
“You could have told me when I became an adult.”
“Richard monitored you.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stepped toward Adrian.
“Is Emma biologically yours?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The probability is high.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
I moved between them.
“DNA can wait.”
Emma needed treatment.
Agents escorted us upstairs.
The mansion was surrounded by emergency vehicles.
The fake officers had been arrested or killed.
Cole’s partner was found alive near the gate.
Emma was taken to a children’s hospital.
I rode with her.
Daniel sat on the other side of the stretcher, holding her hand.
She looked at him through swollen eyes.
“Are you mad?”
“At you? Never.”
“Because you’re not my real dad?”
He leaned closer.
“Real is who stays.”
Her fingers tightened around his.
At the hospital, doctors stabilized her.
The toxin caused burns and temporary neurological effects, but the dose had been small.
She would survive.
Relief weakened my knees.
Then an agent entered the room.
“The archive upload failed.”
“What?”
“Someone erased the federal server copies.”
“Who had access?”
May you like
He looked through the glass wall.
Adrian stood in the hallway.
