Chapter 11 - Sloan stared at the screen.“No.”
News vans lined the street.
Aurelio's had become the city's biggest crime scene.
Victor had no official authority to enter.
That didn't stop him.
Five minutes later they were inside.
The tables were covered.
Broken glass remained on the floor.
Blood stained the marble near Table Seven.
Sloan stood there.
Her fingers touched the edge.
“This is where my father wanted me.”
Victor nodded.
“Look under the table.”
She crouched.
Nothing.
Then she saw a tiny screw in the floor.
She removed it.
A panel shifted.
Hidden beneath it was a metal lock.
She inserted the brass key.
Nothing happened.
Victor frowned.
“Try again.”
She turned it.
A click.
The floor moved.
A section of wood slid aside.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Sloan stared.
“How long has this been here?”
“Decades.”
They went down.
The stairs ended at a concrete corridor.
Old restaurant pipes ran along the ceiling.
They walked fifty yards.
Then the corridor opened into a massive underground facility.
Computers.
Monitors.
Server racks.
Files.
Maps.
Photographs.
A wall showed the city divided into sections.
At the center was a symbol.
Black raven.
Sloan stared.
“This is their headquarters.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“A control room.”
“For what?”
Victor looked at the screens.
“Everything.”
Cameras showed the city's streets.
Traffic lights.
Police stations.
Hospitals.
Warehouses.
Courthouses.
Even Aurelio's.
Sloan stepped closer.
“That camera is inside my apartment.”
Victor said nothing.
Then an alarm sounded.
A red light flashed.
Elias appeared on a monitor.
“Boss, you need to leave.”
“Why?”
“The system has identified Sloan.”
The screen changed.
A photograph of Sloan appeared.
Underneath it:
SUBJECT M-17
Then another line.
STATUS: ACTIVE
Sloan stared.
“What is M-17?”
Victor's expression became unreadable.
Her stomach dropped.
“You know.”
“I know the code.”
“What does it mean?”
“Medical program.”
Sloan stepped backward.
“What medical program?”
Victor looked at her.
“You were part of something when you were a child.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father would never.”
“He didn't choose it.”
“Then who did?”
Victor looked at the screen.
“Mara.”
Sloan's hands went numb.
“My mother?”
“She was a researcher before she joined the Black Raven.”
“What did she research?”
Victor didn't answer.
Elias' voice crackled through the speaker.
“Boss, there's movement above.”
Victor turned.
A door slammed.
Then another.
They were being surrounded.
Sloan looked at the screens.
One camera showed dozens of men entering Aurelio's.
Another showed the street blocked.
A third showed a convoy.
She noticed something.
One monitor displayed a hospital room.
A young boy was lying in bed.
The room number was visible.
Sloan recognized it.
“That's the hospital where I was born.”
Victor looked.
The video timestamp was from eleven years ago.
Sloan watched.
Her mother entered the room.
Daniel followed.
And in his arms was a baby.
Sloan whispered:
“That's me.”
The footage continued.
A doctor entered.
He handed Mara a file.
Mara signed something.
Daniel grabbed her wrist.
They argued.
Then the footage ended.
Sloan looked at Victor.
“What did she sign?”
“We need the file.”
“Find it.”
“There are thousands.”
“Then search M-17.”
He did.
One file appeared.
He opened it.
Sloan read the first page.
Her name was listed.
So was her blood type.
Her genetic profile.
Then a sentence:
M-17 is the only viable carrier.
Sloan froze.
“Carrier of what?”
Before Victor could answer, every monitor changed.
A single sentence appeared across all screens.
SLOAN, YOUR FATHER LIED ABOUT WHY HE LEFT.
Then another line.
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BROTHER.
Sloan's breath vanished.
“I don't have a brother.”
Victor looked at her.
“You did.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You did.”
“How old?”
Victor swallowed.
“Six months older than you.”
Sloan stared at the screen.
Then a video started.
A little boy.
Same eyes.
Same dark hair.
Same birthmark beneath the left ear.
And standing beside him was Daniel.
The boy looked directly into the camera.
“Dad said my sister would come looking for me one day.”
The video paused.
The boy's mouth moved.
“Sloan.”
The screen went black.
Then the door behind them opened.
Daniel Mercer stepped inside.
Alive.
Older.
Bleeding.
May you like
And carrying a gun.
He pointed it directly at Victor.
