CHAPTER 2 THE MEN BEHIND MY HUSBAND
Daniel stood at the end of the corridor.
Blood covered the side of his face.
His expensive white shirt was torn at the collar.
And behind him stood six men dressed in black.
Every one of them was armed.
I couldn't breathe.
“Daniel?”
His eyes found mine.
For the first time since I had known him, my husband looked terrified.
Not angry.
Not annoyed.
Terrified.
“Emma,” he whispered.
Luka immediately stepped in front of me.
“Stay behind me.”
Daniel raised both hands.
“I'm not here to hurt her.”
Luka's eyes narrowed.
“Then why did you bring them?”
“I didn't.”
One of the armed men stepped forward.
“Mr. Hale.”
Daniel flinched.
The man smiled.
“You were instructed not to leave the building.”
“I changed my mind.”
“That was unfortunate.”
He lifted his weapon.
Luka moved before I even understood what was happening.
He grabbed the metal hospital cart beside him and slammed it forward.
The gun fired.
The bullet shattered the glass panel behind us.
I screamed and dropped to the floor, shielding Amelia with my body.
The hallway erupted.
Doctors ran.
Nurses screamed.
More gunshots cracked through the air.
Luka moved like he had been trained for this exact moment.
He kicked one man's weapon away.
Elbowed another across the throat.
Then grabbed Daniel by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“You brought them here.”
Daniel coughed.
“I was followed.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't care what you believe!”
Daniel pointed toward me.
“They're after her!”
Luka's fist stopped inches from his face.
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
His expression changed.
“Because of the baby.”
My stomach twisted.
“What about Amelia?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She isn't supposed to exist.”
Silence.
Even the gunfire seemed distant.
I stared at my husband.
“What did you just say?”
Daniel's lips trembled.
“She was never supposed to be born.”
My heart shattered all over again.
I pushed myself upright.
“You knew?”
He looked away.
“You knew something was wrong with my pregnancy?”
“Emma…”
“You knew?”
His silence was the answer.
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the corridor.
“You let me carry her for nine months while knowing someone wanted her dead?”
Daniel touched his cheek.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You abandoned us!”
“I was trying to make you hate me!”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“If you hated me, you'd stay away from me.”
“You brought your mistress to my hospital room!”
“She isn't my mistress.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I saw you leave with her.”
“She was working for them.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Luka.
“Tell her.”
Luka's expression remained unreadable.
“Tell her yourself.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Victoria was assigned to watch you.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“She has been following you for eleven months.”
“No.”
“She was the reason your medical records disappeared.”
I stared at him.
“Then why did you leave with her?”
Daniel's voice broke.
“Because she told me they had Amelia.”
I froze.
“What?”
“They had another newborn.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“They threatened to switch the babies.”
I felt sick.
Luka's head snapped toward him.
“Who told you that?”
Daniel whispered a name.
“Dr. Marcus Vale.”
Luka went completely still.
I noticed it.
“You know him.”
Luka didn't answer.
“Who is Marcus Vale?”
Daniel looked at him.
“He's the man who created M-17.”
My hands went cold.
“What is M-17?”
Neither man answered.
I looked between them.
“What is my daughter?”
Luka finally spoke.
“She isn't the experiment.”
I stared at him.
“Then what is she?”
He looked at Amelia.
“She is the evidence.”
Before I could ask what that meant, a loud crash came from the maternity ward.
Luka turned instantly.
“Stay here.”
He disappeared around the corner.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“We have to go.”
I pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
“Emma, listen to me.”
“You lied to me.”
“I lied because I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
His eyes hardened.
“You think I wanted to walk out on you?”
“You did.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I walked away because someone was standing outside this hospital with a photograph of Amelia.”
My blood froze.
“What photograph?”
Daniel reached inside his jacket.
His fingers were shaking.
He pulled out a small photograph.
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
It was Amelia.
My baby.
But the photograph had been taken before she was born.
I recognized the hospital blanket.
I recognized the room.
And in the corner of the photograph was my pregnant stomach.
Someone had photographed me sleeping.
My hands began trembling violently.
“When was this taken?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Who took it?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
A voice came from behind us.
“I do.”
Luka stood there.
His knuckles were bloody.
He was holding a small black device.
He placed it on the floor.
“This was hidden underneath your hospital bed.”
I stared at it.
“A camera?”
“Audio and video.”
My stomach turned.
“How long?”
Luka looked at the device.
“Seven days.”
I covered my mouth.
Someone had been watching me.
Watching my pregnancy.
Watching my daughter.
Luka crouched and examined the device.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
He turned it over.
There was a tiny symbol engraved on the back.
A circle.
With the number seventeen inside.
M-17.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
Luka looked at him.
“You recognize it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I've never seen that before.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
Luka grabbed him by the throat.
“Who gave you the order to leave her?”
Daniel struggled.
“Victoria.”
“Who gave Victoria the order?”
“I don't know!”
Luka tightened his grip.
“Who?”
Daniel's face turned red.
Finally, he whispered,
“Your father.”
Luka released him.
The corridor went silent.
I looked at Luka.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father ordered me to leave you.”
I felt like the world had split open.
“My father is dead.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He's alive.”
I turned toward Luka.
He didn't deny it.
“You knew.”
Luka stared at me for several seconds.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He opened a photograph.
My breath caught.
It showed an old man sitting inside a dark room.
White hair.
Gray beard.
A scar across his left cheek.
My father.
Alive.
Older.
But unmistakable.
I stepped backward.
“No…”
Luka whispered,
“He's been alive for seven years.”
I couldn't speak.
“Where is he?”
Luka's jaw tightened.
“That's the problem.”
“Why?”
“Because he disappeared three days ago.”
Daniel suddenly looked toward the hospital entrance.
His face went pale.
“What?”
Luka turned.
Daniel pointed.
“Look.”
At the end of the corridor, the automatic doors slowly opened.
A woman walked inside.
Victoria.
She wasn't injured.
She wasn't afraid.
And she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood an elderly man in a black suit.
I recognized him instantly.
My father.
He looked directly at me.
Then at the baby in my arms.
And he said,
“Give me my granddaughter.”
I couldn't move.
Luka stepped between us.
My father smiled.
“Luka.”
Luka's eyes turned cold.
“Gabriel.”
My father looked past him.
“You signed the father line.”
Luka didn't respond.
My father's smile disappeared.
“You should never have done that.”
Then he looked at me.
“Because now they know she's mine.”
I stared at him.
“Dad…”
His expression softened for the first time.
“I am sorry, Emma.”
“Sorry for what?”
He looked at Amelia.
“For what I did to her mother.”
A gunshot exploded.
My father staggered backward.
Blood spread across his chest.
Victoria screamed.
Luka grabbed me and pulled me behind the wall.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
And from somewhere high above us, a sniper fired again.
The bullet struck the hospital floor exactly where my daughter had been standing seconds earlier.
Luka looked at me.
Then at Amelia.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“They aren't trying to kill your father.”
I swallowed.
“Then who are they trying to kill?”
He looked down at my baby.
“Her.”
And then Amelia opened her eyes.
For the first time since she was born.
There was a tiny mark behind her left ear.
May you like
A black number.
17.
