CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
The gunshot shattered the night.
Isabella screamed.
I threw myself over her.
For one terrible second, I expected to feel a bullet tear through my back.
Nothing.
Then another sound came.
Glass breaking.
Lucas spun toward the trees.
“Get down!”
The woman who had just claimed to be Isabella's mother dropped behind a stone wall.
Beatriz screamed and ran toward the house.
I grabbed Isabella and pulled her behind the garden fountain.
“Stay here.”
“Dad!”
“I'll be back.”
“No!”
She clung to my shirt.
“Please don't leave me.”
I looked into her terrified eyes.
Whatever else was true, one thing wasn't.
I wasn't abandoning my daughter.
“I'm not going anywhere.”
I crouched beside her.
“Stay behind this wall.”
Then I stood.
Lucas was already moving toward the trees.
“Who fired?”
He didn't answer.
“Lucas!”
He pointed toward the darkness.
“Someone else is here.”
My stomach tightened.
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
A second gunshot struck the stone fountain.
Fragments exploded across the garden.
I pulled Isabella lower.
“Stay down!”
Footsteps rushed through the grass.
Then silence.
I looked toward the woman.
She was still hiding behind the wall.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Her voice.
Even after six years, I knew it.
It was Elena.
My first wife.
Isabella's mother.
The woman I had buried in my mind every day since she disappeared.
I crawled toward her.
She looked at me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“You shouldn't have come home.”
I stared at her.
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You could have told me!”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
“I know.”
“Beatriz said I was drugged.”
Elena looked away.
“She wasn't lying.”
My anger returned.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you come back?”
She looked toward Isabella.
“Because they were watching you.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
I froze.
“Your father?”
Elena nodded.
“The same man who funded the program.”
“What program?”
She took a shaky breath.
“The one Isabella was born into.”
I looked at my daughter.
She was still crouched behind the fountain.
“What exactly happened when she was born?”
Elena's eyes hardened.
“She wasn't supposed to survive.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“They told me she had complications.”
“They?”
“The doctors.”
She swallowed.
“But I discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Elena looked at me.
“Isabella wasn't sick.”
“She was perfectly healthy.”
“Then why?”
“Because she wasn't the child they wanted.”
I couldn't understand.
“What does that mean?”
Elena whispered:
“There was another baby.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“When I gave birth, there were two babies.”
My mind went blank.
“Twins?”
She nodded.
“One girl.”
She looked at Isabella.
“And one boy.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where is he?”
Elena didn't answer.
I grabbed her shoulders.
“Where is he?”
“He died.”
“Why?”
“He didn't.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
I looked toward Lucas.
He was standing near the trees, scanning the darkness.
“Who took him?”
Elena whispered:
“Your father.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“He wanted the boy.”
“Why?”
“Because of his blood.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Elena's voice dropped.
“The children were part of an experiment.”
“What kind of experiment?”
“Genetics.”
My stomach turned.
“They were testing whether certain inherited traits could be manipulated.”
I looked at Isabella.
“No.”
“She was one of the surviving children.”
“Surviving?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
Elena's face went pale.
“Thirty-two.”
I felt sick.
“Thirty-two children?”
“Thirty-two pregnancies.”
“And Isabella was one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Who were the others?”
“Most died.”
Silence.
I looked at my daughter.
She was only eight.
She had spent the afternoon dragging garbage bags through mud.
And all this time, people had apparently been fighting over her for reasons she couldn't possibly understand.
I turned toward Elena.
“Why is she so important?”
Elena hesitated.
“Because she wasn't the first.”
“What?”
“She was the second.”
I frowned.
“The second what?”
“The second successful child.”
My blood ran cold.
“Then who was the first?”
Elena looked toward Lucas.
Lucas's face had changed.
He looked terrified.
“Don't,” he whispered.
Elena ignored him.
“The first child was a boy.”
I stared at Lucas.
His eyes met mine.
Then Elena said:
“His name was Lucas.”
Everything stopped.
I looked at my brother.
“No.”
Lucas lowered his head.
“He was the first successful experiment.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“You're saying my brother…”
“Isn't your brother,” Elena said.
I couldn't breathe.
Lucas finally spoke.
“I was raised by your family.”
“But I thought we were brothers.”
“You were.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Lucas looked at me.
“They took me from my mother.”
Elena nodded.
“They told me my son died.”
“Your son?”
Lucas looked at her.
“My mother.”
Elena's face crumbled.
“I never stopped looking for you.”
Lucas stared at her.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I was forced to.”
“You let me believe I was an orphan.”
“I was trying to find you.”
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“For twenty-eight years?”
Elena cried.
“I found you six years ago.”
He froze.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father was still alive.”
Lucas looked toward the house.
“He's dead.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
I felt a chill.
“My father died eight years ago.”
“He staged his death.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
Lucas slowly lowered his weapon.
“Where is he?”
Elena looked toward the road.
“Close.”
A car engine suddenly roared outside the property.
Headlights swept across the garden.
Someone had arrived.
A black SUV stopped at the gate.
Four men stepped out.
All wearing dark clothes.
One of them held a rifle.
Lucas immediately raised his gun.
“Get Isabella inside!”
I grabbed my daughter.
“Come on!”
We ran toward the house.
Beatriz was standing in the doorway.
She looked terrified.
“Daniel!”
“Open the door!”
She stepped aside.
We rushed inside.
Lucas and Elena followed.
The moment the door slammed shut, the house lights went out.
Total darkness.
Isabella grabbed my hand.
“Dad?”
“I'm here.”
Outside, footsteps approached.
Slow.
Heavy.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Nobody moved.
Another knock.
Beatriz started crying.
I whispered:
“Who is that?”
Elena answered.
“My father.”
The knocking stopped.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
“Daniel.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it my entire childhood.
My father's voice.
Impossible.
He spoke again.
“Open the door.”
I looked at Elena.
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
The voice outside became colder.
“You've already learned too much.”
I held Isabella closer.
Then the front door exploded inward.
Men rushed into the house.
Lucas fired.
The room erupted into chaos.
I dragged Isabella toward the hallway.
Beatriz screamed.
Elena grabbed her.
“Basement!”
I stopped.
“The basement?”
“Yes!”
“That's where you were kept?”
“No.”
Elena looked at me.
“That's where they kept the children.”
I stared at her.
“What children?”
She pointed toward the locked cellar door.
“All the children who didn't survive.”
My blood ran cold.
Then Isabella suddenly pulled on my hand.
“Dad.”
“What?”
She pointed toward the wall.
There was a small red light blinking beneath an old painting.
I pulled the painting away.
Behind it was a hidden panel.
And beneath the panel was a camera.
Someone had been watching us.
For years.
Then the camera's tiny speaker crackled.
A man's voice came through.
My father's voice.
“Hello, Daniel.”
I froze.
He laughed softly.
“I've missed my son.”
Then he said something that made Isabella scream.
“Bring me my daughter.”
May you like
The lights suddenly came back on.
And Beatriz was gone.
