Chapter 11 - The Name on the CertificateI couldn't read it twice.
My eyes moved over the same line again and again.
Father: Daniel Reeves.
I turned.
Daniel was standing behind me.
His face was pale.
“That's impossible.”
He didn't answer.
“Is Emily your daughter?”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
“I didn't know.”
“That's not an answer.”
“I didn't know until six months ago.”
My mind refused to process it.
“You knew?”
“I found out after I started investigating Mark.”
“You're her biological father?”
He nodded.
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Mark threatened you.”
“With what?”
“Your life.”
I felt sick.
“Did you and I…”
“No.”
“Then how?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“There was a donor program.”
I looked through the glass at Emily.
A thousand pieces of our family's history shifted into place.
Mark wasn't her biological father.
But he had raised her.
He had still lied.
He had still endangered her.
And Daniel had been living somewhere near our lives without telling us.
I stepped toward the glass.
Emily looked confused.
Dr. Vance entered the room.
“You finally know.”
I turned.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel was her father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because his genetic profile is the missing half of the research.”
My hands shook.
“What research?”
Dr. Vance smiled.
“Emily isn't just genetically rare.”
She opened the folder.
“She is a match.”
“For what?”
“For your mother's original treatment.”
I stared.
“The treatment that prevented the disease in me.”
“Yes.”
“And now Emily has the same marker.”
“Plus something more.”
“What?”
“Your daughter has developed a spontaneous mutation.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“What kind?”
Dr. Vance looked at him.
“A mutation we have spent fifteen years trying to reproduce.”
She turned to me.
“And your daughter developed it naturally.”
“That doesn't give you the right to experiment on her.”
“I disagree.”
“You're insane.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You are.”
I stared at her.
She tapped the folder.
“This is why Mark was never allowed to leave.”
I looked at her.
“You kept him trapped.”
“He volunteered.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I turned toward Mark, who had been brought into the hallway by police.
He looked at me.
“I thought if I cooperated, they would leave you alone.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“You traded us.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
He lowered his head.
Dr. Vance interrupted.
“The police are too late.”
“What?”
She pulled a small remote from her pocket.
The lights went out.
Emergency alarms screamed.
Doors locked.
Smoke filled the corridor.
People began shouting.
Emily was behind a secured door.
I ran toward her.
The lock wouldn't open.
Daniel tried the emergency panel.
Nothing.
Then Dr. Vance's voice came through the speakers.
“You have ten minutes.”
My heart pounded.
“Ten minutes for what?”
Her answer came calmly.
“For you to choose.”
A countdown appeared on the monitor.
09:59
Daniel stared at it.
“What does she want?”
Then the screen changed.
Two options appeared.
RELEASE EMILY.
OR RELEASE THE RESEARCH DATA.
I looked at Daniel.
“What happens if we choose Emily?”
He stared at the screen.
“They'll erase everything.”
“And if we choose the data?”
He looked at Emily.
“They may never let her go.”
The countdown dropped.
08:47.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
THE TRUTH HAS A PRICE.
