Chapter 9 - Emily screamed.The gunman grabbed her.
Raymond moved instantly.
The two men faced each other.
Identical.
Impossible.
The false Raymond smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
The real Raymond raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
Emily stared between them.
The false Raymond tightened his grip.
“You have no idea who you're standing beside.”
The real Raymond said:
“Emily, look at his left hand.”
She did.
The false Raymond's wedding ring was on the wrong finger.
Emily remembered.
Her uncle had always worn it on his right hand.
She realized instantly.
“He's not you.”
The impostor's smile disappeared.
Raymond fired.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
He stumbled.
Emily pulled free.
Security rushed into the room.
The impostor ran.
Raymond followed.
Emily stood frozen.
Then the screens flickered again.
Margaret's video resumed.
“Emily, your uncle is not the man you should fear.”
Margaret looked directly into the camera.
“It's your father.”
Emily stared.
“Why?”
“Because Lucas didn't die.”
Raymond looked at the screen.
“Margaret…”
Her voice became urgent.
“He has spent twenty years building the Black Rose program.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“He created it.”
“No.”
“And you are the final piece.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“My father wouldn't do that.”
Margaret whispered:
“You don't know your father.”
The video ended.
Emily turned toward Raymond.
“You told me Lucas was protecting me.”
“He was.”
“Then why did my mother say he's the enemy?”
Raymond didn't answer.
“Tell me!”
“He changed.”
“When?”
“When he discovered what you inherited.”
Emily looked at her stomach.
“From him?”
“Yes.”
Raymond's voice was heavy.
“You inherited his mutation.”
“What does it do?”
Raymond sat down.
“It allows certain drugs to affect your body differently.”
Emily frowned.
“What does that have to do with Black Rose?”
Raymond looked at her.
“The project was designed around that mutation.”
“For what?”
“To create a biological key.”
Emily's face hardened.
“You're saying my unborn child is part of an experiment?”
Raymond nodded.
“Your father believed humanity could be engineered.”
“And my mother?”
“She wanted to destroy the program.”
Emily whispered:
“That's why she disappeared.”
Raymond nodded.
A security officer entered.
“Mr. Black.”
“What?”
“We found the impostor.”
“Where?”
“He escaped through the old surgical wing.”
Raymond's jaw tightened.
“What else?”
The officer handed him a small device.
“A tracker.”
Emily stared.
“What is it tracking?”
Raymond looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Emily.”
“What?”
“The signal is coming from inside the hospital.”
She frowned.
“Inside?”
He nodded.
“From the maternity ward.”
Emily immediately thought of her baby.
“Go.”
They ran.
The maternity ward doors were open.
Nurses were unconscious.
Medical equipment had been unplugged.
Emily rushed into her room.
Her bed was empty.
The ultrasound machine was still running.
But someone had left a paper beside it.
Emily picked it up.
One sentence:
THE CHILD HAS BEEN MOVED.
She screamed.
“MY BABY!”
Raymond grabbed the paper.
“Emily, you're here.”
She looked at him.
“My baby hasn't been born.”
He frowned.
“Exactly.”
The ultrasound monitor suddenly displayed a live image.
A heartbeat.
But it wasn't Emily's baby.
The monitor displayed a different fetus.
Another pregnancy.
Same genetic markers.
Same mutation.
Raymond whispered:
“There's another child.”
Emily stared.
“Whose?”
The screen displayed one name.
VICTORIA HAYES.
Emily felt sick.
Victoria was pregnant too.
May you like
And according to the records...
she had been pregnant for eleven months.
Related Stories
