Chapter 10 - The Sister Nobody RememberedMarcus had spent twenty-eight years believing he was an only child.
Now his father was telling him that was a lie.
“What was her name?”
David hesitated.
“Clara.”
Marcus repeated it.
“Clara.”
The word felt strangely familiar.
Not remembered.
Felt.
Like an old song he couldn't quite hear.
“What happened to her?”
David said nothing.
Daniel answered.
“She witnessed something she wasn't supposed to.”
Marcus looked toward the red room.
“When?”
“She was seven.”
“I was six.”
“Yes.”
“What did she see?”
Daniel's face hardened.
“The shipment.”
Marcus frowned.
“What shipment?”
“The first one.”
Elliot laughed weakly from the floor.
“You still don't get it.”
Marcus turned.
“The first what?”
Elliot's smile vanished.
“The first human transfer.”
David closed his eyes.
Marcus felt sick.
“What was transferred?”
“Children.”
Rosa gasped.
Victoria stepped backward.
David shook his head.
“Not sold.”
Marcus stared.
“Then what?”
“Moved.”
“For what?”
David's voice broke.
“Identity replacement.”
Marcus frowned.
Daniel explained.
“Some children had information powerful people wanted erased. They were relocated, given new records, new names, new histories.”
Marcus looked at Lily.
“No.”
David nodded.
“That system continued for years.”
“What happened to Clara?”
David swallowed.
“She saw a child being taken through the estate.”
“Who?”
“We never found out.”
Marcus's voice became cold.
“Who took her?”
David looked toward Victoria.
“Hargrove Security.”
Victoria went pale.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
Marcus turned on her.
“You knew.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I knew they had records. I didn't know about Clara.”
“Then why were you here?”
“Because I discovered the truth.”
David stepped forward.
“And when did you discover it?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Three years ago.”
Marcus frowned.
“Three years?”
Her eyes filled.
“I began investigating before I met Marcus.”
David stared.
“You were sent.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I was.”
Silence.
Marcus whispered:
“Sent by who?”
Victoria lowered her head.
“My brother.”
Marcus didn't move.
“He runs Hargrove Security now.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Thomas Hargrove.”
Victoria nodded.
“He wants the ledger.”
Marcus looked at her.
“And what do you want?”
“To stop him.”
“You could have started by telling me the truth.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of him?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Of what you would become if you learned everything.”
The alarm grew louder.
A red light flashed.
Then the mansion doors opened.
Someone had overridden the security system.
A fleet of black SUVs appeared outside.
Armed men poured from them.
David looked toward Marcus.
“They're here.”
Marcus grabbed Lily's hand.
“Where do we go?”
Daniel pointed toward the lake.
“The underground entrance.”
Rosa shook her head.
“We don't know what's down there.”
Daniel answered:
“That's why we have to go.”
They ran through the rear corridor.
The snowstorm had intensified.
The frozen lake stretched behind the estate.
At its center stood a small stone structure.
Marcus had always thought it was an abandoned pump house.
Daniel entered.
A hidden switch revealed a steel staircase.
They descended.
At the bottom was a door.
It required two keys.
Marcus looked at Lily's brass key.
Daniel produced another.
Together, they turned them.
The door opened.
Inside was a laboratory.
Dusty.
Abandoned.
Yet one machine remained active.
A small screen blinked:
SUBJECT CLARA WHITMORE: LOCATION CONFIRMED.
Marcus stopped.
His sister was alive.
Or had been.
Then the screen changed.
SUBJECT LILY DELGADO: MEMORY STATUS 87%.
Rosa screamed.
Marcus stared at the display.
Lily looked up at him.
“Mr. Mark?”
Marcus knelt.
“How long have you been remembering?”
Lily frowned.
“Since the man put the bad picture in my room.”
“What man?”
She pointed behind them.
May you like
Thomas Hargrove was standing at the entrance.
Smiling.
