Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEADMarlo's mother stood at the end of the hallway.
Older.
Thinner.
Her hair completely gray.
But it was her.
Margaret Hart.
The woman Marlo had buried when she was sixteen.
The woman whose funeral she remembered in painful detail.
The woman who had supposedly died twelve years ago.
Marlo whispered,
“Mom?”
Margaret looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Marlo.”
Marlo took one step.
Then stopped.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked at Victor.
“Because he wouldn't let me leave.”
Victor's expression remained calm.
“You misunderstand.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“You always liked that word.”
Elias stepped forward.
“You knew my mother?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You knew about Poppy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you change her records?”
“No.”
Victor interrupted.
“She signed the order.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I signed nothing.”
“Then explain.”
Margaret looked at Marlo.
“Your daughter was never supposed to be part of this.”
“But she was.”
“Because Preston was desperate.”
Marlo turned.
“Preston?”
He looked away.
Margaret continued.
“He was in debt.”
“To whom?”
Victor.
Marlo stared at Preston.
“You sold us.”
“I didn't know.”
“You signed papers.”
“I thought they were medical assistance forms.”
“You were educated.”
“I was scared.”
Margaret's face hardened.
“Fear makes ordinary men do terrible things.”
Victor smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Elias stepped toward him.
“You murdered my brother.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Your brother died because your mother ordered an illegal procedure.”
“That isn't true.”
Margaret shook her head.
“He was already dying.”
“Then why hide the report?”
“Because the report proved the program existed.”
Marlo stepped closer.
“What program?”
Margaret looked at Poppy's photograph on the wall.
“The Children's Renewal Program.”
The name sounded harmless.
It wasn't.
“Doctors were selecting children with rare blood markers.”
Marlo's stomach tightened.
“They weren't treating them.”
Margaret shook her head.
“They were harvesting cells.”
Elias's expression hardened.
“For what?”
“Experimental procedures.”
Marlo whispered,
“And Poppy was a match.”
“Yes.”
“For Elias's brother?”
Margaret hesitated.
“For anyone they designated.”
Silence.
Poppy's cry echoed through the building.
Marlo looked toward the sound.
“Where is my daughter?”
Victor answered.
“Below.”
Margaret grabbed Marlo's wrist.
“Don't go down.”
“Why?”
“Because the basement doesn't exist on any official blueprint.”
Elias looked at Victor.
“What is in the basement?”
Victor smiled.
“History.”
Margaret whispered,
“Dead children.”
The smile disappeared.
Then the entire building shook.
A deep explosion came from below.
Victor's face changed.
“Who did that?”
Elias listened.
Another explosion.
Then alarms.
Victor stepped backward.
Margaret whispered,
“They've breached the basement.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked at Elias.
“Your sister.”
Elias froze.
“My sister is dead.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
A voice came from the elevator speaker.
“Elias?”
His face drained of color.
The voice continued.
“I've been waiting eleven years.”
Elias stepped toward the elevator.
“Who are you?”
The answer came softly.
“Elena.”
Then the elevator doors opened.
Nobody was inside.
Except a little girl's stuffed rabbit.
Poppy's.
May you like
Marlo screamed.
And from the floor below came a gunshot.
