Chapter 10 - THE DEBT WAS NEVER ABOUT MONEYFor three days, Vancouver descended into chaos.
Blackwell Holdings collapsed.
Government contracts disappeared.
Bank accounts were frozen.
Security agencies raided private laboratories.
Names connected to Lazarus leaked across the world.
But Gregor was gone.
So was the chairman.
And Rhea had become the most wanted person in North America.
Not because she had committed a crime.
Because she carried information no one else could unlock.
She stood on the roof of the safehouse at sunrise.
Ezra joined her.
He leaned against the railing.
"You should be sleeping."
"So should you."
"I've heard that before."
She smiled faintly.
"Your arm?"
He looked at the mechanical hand.
"It's quiet."
"That's good."
"For now."
Rhea looked toward the city.
"Where is Gregor?"
"Missing."
"Your father?"
"Recovering."
"Gus?"
"Asleep."
She nodded.
Then silence.
Ezra turned toward her.
"You never answered one question."
"What?"
"Why did you agree to work for me?"
Rhea looked at him.
"Because I wanted to save my brother."
"And now?"
She smiled.
"Now I want to destroy the people who did this to him."
Ezra nodded.
"Good."
Rhea frowned.
"That's it?"
"No."
He stepped closer.
"I also want you to stay."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because every time you leave, someone tries to kill you."
"That's a terrible argument."
"It's the best one I have."
She laughed.
For the first time, Ezra smiled fully.
Then a car engine roared below.
Security shouted.
Ezra's hand reached for his weapon.
Rhea looked over the roof.
A black sedan stopped.
A man stepped out.
He looked up.
It was Gregor.
Rhea's heart slammed against her ribs.
Ezra raised his gun.
Gregor lifted his hands.
"I'm not here to fight."
Ezra's voice was cold.
"Then why are you here?"
Gregor looked directly at Rhea.
"To finish what your father started."
Rhea stepped forward.
"Where is the chairman?"
Gregor's face darkened.
"Dead."
Ezra lowered his gun slightly.
"Who killed him?"
Gregor looked at Rhea.
"You did."
Rhea froze.
"What?"
"The memory transfer wasn't data."
He pulled a file from inside his coat.
"It was a trigger."
He opened it.
Rhea stared at the first page.
Her name.
Her blood type.
Her DNA.
Then a second name.
Her mother's.
And beneath it:
PROJECT LAZARUS PRIMARY ARCHITECT.
Rhea shook her head.
"That isn't possible."
Gregor looked at her.
"Your mother was the real creator."
Ezra stared at the document.
"Then my father?"
"Her partner."
"And the chairman?"
"The man who stole their work."
Rhea's face went pale.
"My mother didn't die because of Lazarus."
Gregor nodded.
"She died trying to destroy it."
Rhea looked at him.
"You killed her."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she succeeded."
He handed her a small drive.
"The final archive."
Rhea hesitated.
"What is it?"
"Everything."
She took it.
Gregor looked at Ezra.
"Your debt story was a lie."
Ezra didn't respond.
Gregor continued.
"Rhea's brother never owed $183,000."
Rhea looked at Ezra.
"I know."
Gregor smiled.
"But here's what you don't know."
He looked at Rhea.
"The debt was never financial."
Rhea's expression changed.
"The debt was what your father owed mine."
She shook her head.
"What debt?"
Gregor's eyes hardened.
"His son."
Gus appeared behind them.
Everyone turned.
He was holding an old photograph.
He walked toward Rhea.
"This is the first Lazarus patient."
He handed it to her.
Rhea looked at the photograph.
A little boy.
Gregor's son.
Beside him stood young Rhea.
And another child.
Ezra.
Three children.
One experiment.
One secret.
One future.
Rhea stared.
"I knew you."
Ezra looked at the photograph.
He did not remember.
Gregor whispered:
"You weren't victims."
Rhea looked at him.
"What were we?"
Gregor gave a cold smile.
"The three subjects who survived."
Rhea's blood turned to ice.
Ezra's mechanical hand suddenly activated.
The hidden device opened.
A final message appeared.
SUBJECT 01: EZRA BLACKWELL
SUBJECT 02: GUS CONNOLLY
SUBJECT 03: RHEA CONNOLLY
Then a fourth line appeared.
Rhea's breath caught.
SUBJECT 04: UNKNOWN
Ezra stared.
"What does that mean?"
Gregor stepped backward.
"It means there was another survivor."
"Who?"
Gregor looked toward the city.
And smiled.
"You'll meet him soon."
He turned and disappeared into the waiting car.
Ezra started forward.
Rhea grabbed his arm.
"No."
He looked at her.
"Let him go."
"Why?"
She held up the photograph.
"Because he wants us chasing him."
Ezra stared at the image.
Rhea's eyes narrowed.
"He's afraid."
"Of what?"
Rhea looked toward the horizon.
"Of the fourth subject."
Behind them, the safehouse door slammed open.
Helena rushed outside.
Her face was pale.
"We have a problem."
Ezra turned.
"What?"
She held up a tablet.
Every screen displayed the same message.
Lazarus Protocol Reopened.
Then the final line appeared.
SUBJECT 04 HAS AWAKENED.
The screen went black.
Rhea looked at Ezra.
Ezra looked at the city.
And somewhere beneath Vancouver, something began to move.
For seventeen years, everyone had believed the war started with the explosion that took Ezra's arm.
They were wrong.
That explosion had only been the beginning.
Because the debt that had brought Rhea into Ezra Blackwell's house had never been about money.
It had been a promise.
May you like
A blood promise.
And now, someone had come to collect.
