Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE CABINThomas looked exhausted.
His clothes were dirty.
His face was bruised.
His hands were trembling.
“You're Grace's father?”
“Yes.”
“Then where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expected you to be dead.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas looked at Sophie.
Then at me.
“Daniel told me you wouldn't believe the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Grace was never supposed to survive.”
The room went silent.
Sophie stepped forward.
“Who wanted her dead?”
Thomas shook his head.
“They aren't trying to kill her anymore.”
“Then what do they want?”
He looked toward the nursery.
“They want what she carries.”
I frowned.
“She carries nothing.”
Thomas gave a bitter laugh.
“That's what everyone thinks.”
He reached into his jacket.
The police officer pointed his gun.
“Slowly.”
Thomas pulled out a small black drive.
He placed it on the table.
“Everything is here.”
“What?”
“Names. Payments. Records. DNA results.”
My throat tightened.
“DNA?”
Thomas looked at Grace's photographs.
“She isn't just Daniel's daughter.”
He paused.
“She's the genetic key to something your husband built.”
I stared at him.
“This sounds insane.”
“Your husband was a scientist.”
“No. Daniel worked in finance.”
“He told you that.”
I felt my world tilt again.
Thomas continued.
“Daniel worked on a classified biological project.”
The police officer interrupted.
“Classified by whom?”
Thomas looked at him.
“You don't want that answer.”
The officer went silent.
I took the drive.
“Where is Grace?”
Thomas lowered his head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“She was taken from the house before I arrived.”
“Then how did you get here?”
“I was following the people who took her.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Rebecca.”
My blood ran cold.
“She took the baby?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The man who works for her.”
I stepped closer.
“You know Rebecca?”
“I know what she did.”
“What did she do?”
Thomas looked at the photographs on the wall.
“She helped Daniel disappear.”
My knees went weak.
“Why?”
“Because five years ago, Daniel discovered that the company he worked for was experimenting on children.”
Sophie froze.
“Children?”
Thomas nodded.
“They were looking for genetic traits.”
“For what?”
“Memory.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Some children had unusual neurological patterns.”
“And Grace?”
“Grace was the only successful case.”
“What does that mean?”
“She inherited something Daniel spent years trying to understand.”
I looked at the baby photos.
“Then why was Emily raising her?”
“She was supposed to be her guardian.”
“Until she disappeared.”
Thomas nodded.
“She found out the truth.”
“What truth?”
Thomas leaned toward me.
“Emily wasn't Grace's mother.”
I stared at him.
“Then whose baby was she?”
“Yours.”
I stopped breathing.
Sophie looked at me.
“What?”
Thomas continued.
“Grace was born using your DNA.”
My mind rejected the words.
“You're lying.”
“I'm not.”
“You said Daniel was her father.”
“He was.”
“And I'm her mother?”
“Biologically? Yes.”
Sophie stared at me.
“You had another baby?”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You don't remember.”
I stared at him.
“Remember what?”
“Five years ago, Karen, you were admitted to the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“For a minor surgery.”
“Yes.”
“And afterward, you were unconscious for six hours.”
My stomach turned.
“What are you saying?”
Thomas looked me directly in the eyes.
“You didn't lose six hours.”
“They took them.”
The police officer suddenly grabbed the black drive.
“What exactly is on this?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Daniel's death wasn't a death.”
He looked at me.
“It was an extraction.”
The officer frowned.
“Extraction?”
Thomas whispered,
“Daniel was taken.”
A loud crash came from outside.
Everyone turned.
Gunfire.
The window shattered.
Thomas shoved Sophie to the floor.
The officer returned fire.
I screamed.
Someone was shooting at the cabin.
Thomas grabbed my arm.
“Get down!”
Another bullet tore through the wall.
Then the shooting stopped.
Silence.
I crawled toward Sophie.
She was alive.
The baby was still missing.
Then Thomas looked at me and whispered,
“They're not here for us.”
He pointed toward the road.
“They came back for the drive.”
The front door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Rebecca.
She stared at me.
Then she smiled.
“Karen.”
May you like
She raised her gun.
“You really should have stayed home.”
