Chapter 7 - The DoctorDr. Vale was found two miles from the hospital.
Unconscious.
His car had crashed into a concrete barrier.
He survived.
Barely.
But the police found his phone.
And on it were dozens of messages.
Most were encrypted.
One wasn't.
It came from my father.
THE GIRL MUST NOT SURVIVE.
Detective Morgan showed me the message.
I couldn't breathe.
“She?”
My stomach tightened.
“My father called my daughter ‘the girl.’”
Ethan sat beside me.
“He never cared who she was.”
“He cared about what she represented.”
“The trust.”
“Yes.”
But Detective Morgan shook her head.
“There's more.”
She placed a second document on the table.
It was a Bellhaven research report.
I read the title.
PROJECT CROWN.
Under it:
Objective: prenatal genetic activation.
My eyes scanned the page.
Then stopped.
A patient code appeared.
C-17.
“What is C-17?”
Detective Morgan looked at Ethan.
“Ellie's patient number.”
I stared at the page.
My baby was not simply being targeted because of money.
Someone had identified her before she was even born.
“How?”
The detective opened another file.
“Your grandmother's medical history.”
I frowned.
“My grandmother?”
“She participated in a Bellhaven trial twenty-eight years ago.”
I felt cold.
“What kind of trial?”
“Genetic screening.”
“For what?”
Detective Morgan looked at the report.
“An inherited trait.”
“What trait?”
She paused.
“Something called Crown Marker.”
I laughed nervously.
“That sounds insane.”
“It does.”
“What does it do?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why does Bellhaven care?”
“Because your grandmother's DNA showed it.”
My hands began trembling.
“And my mother?”
“Negative.”
“My father?”
“Negative.”
“Then why me?”
Detective Morgan looked directly at me.
“Because you inherited it.”
The room felt smaller.
“What does that mean for my daughter?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why are they trying to kill her?”
“Because your daughter appears to have a stronger expression of the marker than you.”
Ethan stood.
“Why?”
The detective looked at him.
“That's what Bellhaven wanted to study.”
I shook my head.
“They were experimenting on Ellie.”
“Yes.”
“And now they want my baby.”
“Yes.”
“Why did my grandmother put the inheritance trust in my daughter's name?”
Detective Morgan froze.
“We don't know.”
Suddenly Ethan looked at me.
“Maybe the trust wasn't about money.”
“What?”
He pulled the original document from the evidence box.
My grandmother had written a private letter attached to the trust.
We had never read it because my father claimed it was sealed.
Detective Morgan opened it.
Inside were only three lines.
To my granddaughter,
If you are reading this, Crown has found you again.
Do not trust your parents.
My heart stopped.
I whispered:
“Her parents?”
The letter was addressed to me.
I continued reading.
Your mother knows what happened.
Your father knows where the records are.
And if your child is a girl, they will come for her.
I looked at Ethan.
“Why?”
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
My mother's number.
I answered.
“Mom?”
Her voice was shaking.
“Claire.”
“Where are you?”
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
She began crying.
“Your father isn't the mastermind.”
I froze.
“Then who is?”
A long silence.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
