Chapter 12 - HIS MOTHERFlynn couldn't speak.
He stared at the screen.
His mother looked older.
But there was no doubt.
It was her.
“Why?” he whispered.
She answered through the camera.
“Because I wanted you to survive.”
Flynn shook his head.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Marcus.”
She looked away.
“He controlled everything.”
“Then why help him?”
Her eyes moved toward the camera.
“Because I had no choice.”
Jonathan laughed from the chair.
“She always had a choice.”
Flynn's mother looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
Jonathan spat blood.
“I understand perfectly.”
Then Selina shut off the screen.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To decide.”
She placed two folders on the table.
“One contains the location of Jonathan.”
“The other?”
“Your mother's medical records.”
I stared at her.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
She pointed to me.
“Come with me.”
Flynn stepped forward.
“No.”
Selina smiled.
“Then Jonathan dies.”
I looked at Flynn.
He looked at me.
There was no hesitation.
“I'll go.”
“No.”
“Mabel.”
“It's what they want.”
“Yes.”
“And they will kill you.”
“Probably.”
He took my hand.
“But this time, I choose.”
I looked at him.
This was the first time he had said those words without fear.
We followed Selina.
She led us to an underground laboratory beneath Vance Global.
The walls were covered with monitors.
My medical history was displayed everywhere.
My pregnancy.
My hormone levels.
My blood work.
The twins.
Everything.
I felt sick.
At the center of the room was a glass chamber.
Inside stood Marcus Vale.
Jonathan was locked into a chair nearby.
And Flynn's mother sat behind a desk.
Marcus smiled.
“Welcome home.”
Flynn stood in front of me.
“What do you want?”
“The bloodline.”
“You already have samples.”
“We need a living carrier.”
He pointed at me.
“Her.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at Flynn's mother.
She pressed a button.
Jonathan's chair shocked him.
He screamed.
Flynn lunged forward.
Guards stopped him.
Marcus laughed.
“Choose.”
I shouted:
“Stop!”
The machine shut off.
Marcus smiled.
“Good.”
He stepped toward me.
“You will help complete what your mother started.”
I looked at Flynn's mother.
“Did she know?”
“Yes.”
“Did my father know?”
“Yes.”
“Did Flynn know?”
Marcus smiled.
“No.”
That answer mattered.
For the first time, I believed Flynn might truly be innocent.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire exploded.
The guards fell.
Jonathan broke free.
Someone had cut the power.
We ran.
A hallway door opened.
Detective Mason stood there.
“Move!”
We followed him through the underground facility.
Behind us, Marcus screamed:
“Kill them!”
We ran toward the exit.
Then Flynn stopped.
“Where's my mother?”
I turned.
She was gone.
Selina was gone too.
Marcus was gone.
Only one person remained.
Jonathan.
He looked at me.
“Mabel.”
“What?”
He held up a flash drive.
“I found the master file.”
“What's on it?”
His face changed.
“The truth about the twins.”
My heart stopped.
“What truth?”
He looked directly at Flynn.
“Those babies were alive after the surgery.”
Silence.
“What?”
“They didn't die.”
May you like
I felt the world tilt.
“They were taken.”
