Chapter 11 - THE ORIGINAL LIST
By the time police reached Lily’s room, Melissa and Lily were gone.
The officer outside had been sedated.
The security camera showed Lily walking willingly beside Melissa.
That frightened me more than force.
Melissa had convinced her.
A message appeared on my phone.
COME ALONE. OLD MATERNITY WING. BRING THE HALE LEDGER.
Rebecca wanted police surrounding the building.
Melissa warned that Lily was connected to a medication pump she could stop remotely.
I took the ledger and entered the abandoned wing with a hidden transmitter sewn into my sleeve.
The corridors smelled of dust and bleach.
Old bassinets lined the walls.
Lily sat in a wheelchair beneath a broken delivery-room light. She was conscious but pale.
Melissa stood behind her holding a remote control.
“I needed you to understand before the government buries this again.”
She placed a thick binder on a delivery table.
The original list contained judges, senators, hospital executives, and donors who had purchased children or funded illegal medical testing.
Jonathan’s name appeared first.
Melissa’s appeared second.
She admitted helping create Providence after losing custody of her own son in a corrupt family court case. She believed she was building a system to bypass injustice.
Then money changed everything.
Jonathan began choosing children based on wealth, genetics, and influence.
Melissa tried to expose him.
He imprisoned her instead.
“Why take Lily?”
“Because she trusts you less than she trusts the truth.”
Lily looked at me.
“Melissa says Rebecca knew about the donor embryos.”
I refused to believe it.
Melissa opened a file containing Rebecca’s signature.
Ten years earlier, while still a resident physician, Rebecca had authorized preservation of Judge Hale’s genetic samples.
She had not known they would be used illegally, but she had hidden the paperwork after her father confessed that Providence existed.
Rebecca had protected him.
Melissa wanted me to release the list publicly before prosecutors could negotiate secret deals.
Naomi warned through my transmitter that publishing victims’ identities could destroy innocent families and children.
Melissa heard the signal.
She ripped the transmitter from my sleeve.
“You brought them.”
“I brought people who can keep Lily alive.”
Melissa’s hand tightened around the remote.
I stepped closer.
“You know what it feels like to lose a child.”
Her eyes changed.
“Don’t use my son.”
“Then don’t become Jonathan.”
Silence filled the abandoned room.
Lily reached for Melissa’s wrist.
“Please.”
Melissa lowered the remote.
Federal agents entered.
She did not resist.
But before Naomi could seize the original list, a rifle shot shattered the window.
Melissa fell.
The binder slid from the table.
Another shot struck the lights.
Darkness swallowed the room.
I crawled toward Lily as agents returned fire.
When emergency lights came on, Melissa was alive but bleeding.
May you like
The original list was gone.
On the wall behind her, a laser sight moved toward Lily’s chest.
