Chapter 8 - ELENAThey ran down the emergency stairs.
The building shook around them.
Smoke crawled upward.
Marlo called Poppy's name.
No answer.
Elias moved faster.
At the thirty-eighth floor landing, a man appeared.
Gun raised.
Elias fired first.
The man fell.
Marlo stared.
“Who was that?”
“Vale's security.”
“Are you always this calm?”
“No.”
“Then why now?”
Elias looked at her.
“Because I'm terrified.”
They reached the twenty-first floor.
The emergency doors burst open.
Elena stood in the hallway.
She looked about thirty.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
A scar across her neck.
And a pistol in her hand.
Elias stopped.
She did too.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Elena lowered the gun.
“Hello, brother.”
Elias looked like someone had struck him.
“You're alive.”
“Barely.”
He walked toward her.
She stepped backward.
“Don't.”
“It's me.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“Everything.”
She glanced at Marlo.
“Where's Poppy?”
“Taken downstairs.”
Elena's expression hardened.
“Then we have less than twenty minutes.”
“To do what?”
“Get her out before Vale activates the transfer.”
Marlo stepped closer.
“What transfer?”
Elena looked at her.
“They're moving Poppy.”
“To where?”
“Switzerland.”
Marlo felt sick.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“You knew?”
“I've known for years.”
“Then why didn't you stop them?”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“Because I was one of them.”
Silence.
She looked at Elias.
“I spent eleven years working inside Vale's network.”
“You helped him?”
“I survived him.”
“Why?”
“Because he had the original records.”
Elias stared.
“What records?”
“The ones proving our father was alive.”
Marlo frowned.
“Your father?”
Elena nodded.
“Our father didn't die.”
Elias's face went white.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Mother said he was dead.”
“Mother lied.”
Margaret appeared behind them.
Elena looked at her.
“So did you.”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
Marlo felt lost.
“How many lies are there?”
Elena looked at her.
“Enough to bury a city.”
Then she stepped close.
“Do you still have the blue envelope?”
Marlo hesitated.
“Yes.”
Elena exhaled.
“Then we're not too late.”
A loudspeaker crackled.
Victor's voice echoed through the hall.
“Marlo.”
She looked up.
“Bring the envelope to the basement.”
Elena shook her head.
“Don't.”
Victor continued.
“Or Poppy dies.”
Marlo's blood ran cold.
Elena grabbed her.
“He can't kill her yet.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he needs her alive.”
“For what?”
Elena looked at the blue envelope.
“For the same reason everyone has been chasing it.”
She took a breath.
“It contains a list.”
“What list?”
“Children.”
Marlo stared.
“How many?”
Elena answered,
“Six hundred and fourteen.”
Marlo nearly stopped breathing.
“Six hundred and fourteen?”
“Every child who passed through the program.”
“And Poppy?”
“Number 615.”
Silence.
Marlo looked toward the basement.
“Then why is she different?”
May you like
Elena's voice dropped.
“Because she is the only one still alive.”
