Chapter 19 - The Last DoorI looked at Daniel.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
"Evan?"
My father's voice continued.
"Ask him what happened to the first family."
I turned to Daniel.
"What did you do?"
He closed his eyes.
"I took Evan."
"From whom?"
"Meridian."
"Why?"
"Because they were going to erase him."
My father laughed.
"You saved the boy."
Daniel whispered:
"Yes."
"Then why call him your son?"
Daniel's face collapsed.
"Because I needed them to believe he belonged to me."
I looked at Evan.
He was crying.
My father continued.
"But that's not the real secret."
He pressed another button.
The screen showed a woman.
Claire.
But younger.
Holding a baby.
Behind her stood my mother.
And a doctor.
The doctor held another infant.
My stomach dropped.
"What am I looking at?"
Daniel whispered:
"The transfer."
"Which means?"
"Claire gave birth to Evan."
I looked at her.
She nodded.
"But the DNA was altered."
"By whom?"
My father answered.
"By me."
I felt sick.
"Evan is not genetically related to Daniel."
Daniel looked at me.
"He's genetically related to you."
Silence.
My mind stopped.
My father's final weapon was not the archive.
It was blood.
The boy hiding behind my chair in the police station.
The child I had promised to protect.
He was genetically my son.
Not by choice.
Not by love.
By a program designed before he was born.
I looked at Evan.
None of that changed what I felt.
He was still the frightened child who had come through my door.
He was still the boy who trusted me.
And that was enough.
I turned toward my father.
"You lose."
He smiled.
"No."
I reached behind me and pulled the server cable.
The entire room went dark.
Emergency alarms erupted.
Files began uploading automatically.
Every record.
Every photograph.
Every name.
Meridian's secrets flooded onto public networks.
Phones across the country began ringing.
News stations interrupted broadcasts.
Police databases started receiving evidence.
My father stared at the screen.
"No."
I pulled the cable free.
The server exploded.
He raised his gun.
Daniel moved first.
The shot hit him.
"Daniel!"
He fell.
I caught him.
My father ran.
I followed.
Up the stairs.
Through the burning house.
Into the street.
Police vehicles surrounded the property.
Federal agents.
Reporters.
Helicopters.
The world had arrived.
My father stopped.
He looked at me.
"You think this ends with me?"
I pointed my weapon.
"Get on your knees."
He laughed.
"Meridian isn't a building."
"Get down."
"It's an idea."
"On your knees!"
He slowly knelt.
As officers arrested him, he leaned close.
"You'll never find all of them."
I looked at the burning house.
"Maybe not."
He smiled.
"Because one is standing right behind you."
I turned.
A woman was walking away through the crowd.
Claire.
I called her name.
She stopped.
Then turned.
Tears ran down her face.
"I lied to you, Jack."
"What about?"
She looked at Evan.
Then at Daniel.
"My son wasn't the only child I hid."
I stepped closer.
"Where is the other?"
She pointed toward the helicopter landing area.
A stretcher was being carried out.
Someone covered in a white blanket.
The blanket slipped.
A little girl's face appeared.
Lena.
My sister.
Alive.
Then Claire whispered:
"She's not the one you should be afraid of."
May you like
The girl opened her eyes.
And smiled.
