Chapter 12 - The Son They StoleEverything happened at once.
Damien pushed Evelyn and Noah behind a steel table.
Mara grabbed the emergency switch.
The facility plunged into darkness.
Shots cracked through the room.
Metal screamed.
People shouted.
Lena pulled an old fire door open.
“Go!”
They ran.
Evelyn held Noah's hand.
“Stay with me!”
“I am!”
They reached a narrow corridor.
Behind them came footsteps.
Victor shouted,
“Don't let them reach the surface!”
Evelyn looked back.
For seven years, she'd lived in fear of her own body.
Now something stronger was carrying her.
Anger.
She pulled Noah forward.
They climbed the stairs.
At the top, Damien stopped.
“You go.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“What about you?”
“I'll slow them down.”
“No.”
“You have to get Noah out.”
Damien looked at the boy.
“Your mother has been fighting this alone for years.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“Don't let them take her again.”
He slammed the door behind them.
Evelyn, Noah and Mara escaped into the garden.
Police sirens could be heard in the distance.
For the first time, Evelyn smiled.
Then the mansion exploded.
Windows shattered.
Fire erupted from the west wing.
Victor's empire began burning from the inside.
Evelyn stared at the flames.
“He destroyed the evidence.”
Lena shook her head.
“No.”
She held up a small drive.
“He destroyed what he thought was the evidence.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“What's on that?”
“The original research files.”
Mara took it.
“This is enough to bring him down.”
But there was one problem.
The police arrived.
So did reporters.
And Victor was gone.
Three days later, Evelyn testified.
The investigation uncovered years of financial fraud, illegal medical experimentation and forged records.
Julian Mercer was arrested.
Damien disappeared after escaping the underground facility.
Victor remained missing.
Then Evelyn received a letter.
No return address.
She opened it.
Inside was one photograph.
Victor standing beside a hospital bed.
On the bed was a woman.
Evelyn's mother.
Alive.
Evelyn's hands shook.
The letter contained one sentence.
You still don't know where your mother went.
Evelyn stared at the photograph.
Mara looked over her shoulder.
She dropped the letter.
“No.”
Evelyn turned.
“What?”
Mara's face was white.
“That photograph was taken eight years ago.”
Evelyn stared at her.
Her mother had supposedly died seven years ago.
Which meant the woman in the photograph was alive after the date of her supposed death.
Evelyn whispered,
“Then where is she?”
Lena looked toward the dark hallway.
“There's only one place Victor would have taken her.”
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
“Where?”
May you like
Lena answered,
“The first Project Eden facility.”
