Chapter 5 - Elena's SecretRoman couldn't move.
His mother looked older.
Much older.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
Elena Callaway.
The woman he had buried seventeen years ago.
“Mom?”
She smiled sadly.
“I was wondering when you'd finally call me that again.”
Roman stepped closer.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I didn't have a choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Elena's eyes moved toward Sophia.
“No.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“I had one choice.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“What happened to Vincent?”
Elena's face changed.
“He didn't die.”
Roman stared at her.
“Then who was in the grave?”
“A man your father paid to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because Vincent found out what your father was doing.”
Roman's voice dropped.
“What was he doing?”
Elena looked at Sophia.
“Your family built more than businesses.”
She pointed to the envelope.
“They built identities.”
Roman frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Elena took a breath.
“Your father had a private network. Hospitals. Adoption agencies. Wealthy clients. Politicians. Doctors. People who wanted children without questions.”
Roman felt sick.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They were selling babies?”
“Not exactly.”
Elena shook her head.
“They were selling records.”
She explained.
A child could be made to disappear legally if enough documents were manipulated.
A mother could be declared unstable.
A father could be erased.
A birth certificate could be replaced.
A new identity could be created.
And powerful people could obtain children who were never supposed to leave their original families.
Roman looked at Gabriel.
“So why does everyone want him?”
Elena's voice trembled.
“Because he carries proof.”
Roman turned.
“What proof?”
Elena pointed toward the sealed paternity report.
“Your brother's DNA.”
Roman stared.
“Vincent discovered the network. He tried to expose it.”
“And they killed him?”
“No.”
Elena lowered her eyes.
“They made you believe they killed him.”
Roman felt the room tilt.
“Then where is he?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“I don't know.”
A sudden sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Marcus drew his weapon.
Elena whispered:
“They found us.”
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Roman grabbed Sophia and pulled her down.
Marcus returned fire.
Someone screamed.
Then silence.
Roman looked toward his mother.
She was gone.
The chair was empty.
Sophia stared.
“She disappeared.”
Roman ran toward the doorway.
Nothing.
No exit.
No window.
Nothing.
Except a small black key lying on the floor.
Roman picked it up.
Stamped into the metal were three numbers.
714.
Sophia looked at him.
“What is 714?”
Roman's phone vibrated.
One new message.
A photograph.
Vincent stood alive in front of a hospital.
Underneath it:
ROOM 714.
Then another message appeared.
COME ALONE.
May you like
And one final line.
BRING THE BABY.
