Chapter 12 - THE REAL FATHERNobody spoke.
Marlo reread the sentence.
Elias was only the donor.
She looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Elias shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You told me Poppy was your daughter.”
“I thought she was.”
“You said the records proved it.”
“They proved I was genetically connected.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
Marlo stepped back.
“Then who is her father?”
Elias looked at the paper.
“We find the original file.”
“Where?”
“Where every secret begins.”
“The hospital?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
“Your house.”
Marlo frowned.
“My bakery?”
“Your mother's old house.”
“She sold it.”
“No.”
Marlo stared.
“You said—”
“Your mother never sold it.”
They left the building through a side entrance.
Dawn was beginning.
The city looked normal.
Cars moved.
People walked.
Nobody knew what had happened underground.
Marlo carried Poppy.
Elias drove.
Neither spoke for fifteen minutes.
Then Marlo asked,
“Do you really think Preston was trying to protect us?”
Elias kept his eyes on the road.
“Yes.”
“Do you forgive him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because protecting someone doesn't give you the right to destroy them.”
Marlo stared out the window.
Then Poppy woke.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Did Daddy die?”
Marlo closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Poppy was silent.
Then,
“Was he bad?”
Marlo looked at Elias.
“No.”
She swallowed.
“He was scared.”
They arrived at a small abandoned house outside town.
Margaret's old home.
The windows were boarded.
The garden had become wild.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Elias moved through the rooms.
Marlo followed.
“Where?”
“Your mother said there was a room.”
“What room?”
“The one your father built.”
They searched upstairs.
Nothing.
Then Poppy stopped.
“Mommy.”
She pointed at a wall.
“There's a door.”
Marlo stared.
It was hidden behind old wallpaper.
Elias tore it away.
A steel door appeared.
The master key opened it.
Inside was a tiny archive.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Records.
A computer.
And one old cassette recorder.
Marlo opened the first box.
Birth certificates.
Hospital records.
Photographs of Poppy's infancy.
Then she found a photograph that made her blood run cold.
It showed her mother holding a newborn.
Beside her stood a man.
Marlo recognized him.
Her father.
Except he was holding a second baby.
Twins.
Marlo's hands shook.
“Poppy had a twin?”
Elias took the photograph.
“No.”
He turned it over.
There was writing.
BABY A: FEMALE.
BABY B: MALE.
Marlo stared.
“Where is the boy?”
No one answered.
Then the computer turned on by itself.
A video began.
Margaret appeared on the screen.
“If you're watching this, I'm dead.”
Marlo whispered,
“You weren't.”
Margaret continued.
“Or you think I am.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Marlo, there is something I never told you.”
The video paused.
Then resumed.
“Poppy was not born alone.”
Marlo covered her mouth.
“She was one of two.”
The screen flickered.
“And the second child was taken.”
Elias stared.
“By Victor?”
Margaret shook her head on the recording.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Margaret looked frightened.
“The child was taken by his father.”
Silence.
Marlo whispered,
“Who is his father?”
The recording froze.
A voice came from behind them.
“Me.”
They turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Older.
Gray hair.
A scar across his face.
He looked directly at Elias.
“Hello, son.”
Elias dropped his weapon.
“Dad?”
The man smiled.
Then looked at Marlo.
“And hello, Marlo.”
Marlo couldn't breathe.
Her father stepped forward.
“I've been looking for Poppy.”
May you like
He paused.
“And the other child.”
