Chapter 18: What the Family Buried
The explosion didn't come.
Instead, a low mechanical rumble traveled through the building.
The lights flickered.
Then everything went dark.
Victoria couldn't see anything.
She heard Margaret calling her name.
Veronica shouting.
Samuel coughing.
And somewhere behind them, a man screaming.
"Daniel!""
Elena.
Victoria crawled toward the sound.
Her hand struck something cold.
A metal cabinet.
Then she found Elena's sleeve.
"Are you hurt?""
Elena shook her head.
"Where is Daniel?""
Victoria looked into the darkness.
"I don't know.""
Emergency lights flickered on.
The archive room was filled with smoke.
Several storage units had ruptured.
Their contents lay scattered across the floor.
The central cabinet was open.
Daniel was gone.
Samuel checked the exit.
"The facility is shutting down. We need to leave.""
Victoria turned toward Richard.
He was conscious, but barely.
Veronica pressed a cloth against his wound.
"Stay with us.""
Richard managed a weak smile.
"I've survived worse.""
"Don't joke.""
He looked at Elena.
"I'm sorry.""
She didn't answer.
Not yet.
The federal team forced open the main security doors.
Medical personnel rushed inside.
Margaret was taken to an ambulance.
Richard followed.
Victoria stayed behind.
"Where is Daniel?""
An officer shook his head.
"We're searching the lower levels.""
"What about Anna?""
Samuel pointed toward the observation room.
The glass had shattered.
The room was empty.
Victoria stared.
"She escaped.""
Samuel nodded.
"Someone opened the emergency passage.""
"Who?""
He looked toward the corridor.
A small access panel was open.
Beside it lay a security badge.
The name printed on it was:
*ANNA HALE.*
Two hours later, Victoria stood outside the hospital intensive care unit.
Richard had survived surgery.
The bullet had missed his heart, but the doctors weren't certain he would regain full mobility.
Elena sat beside him.
She held his hand.
For the first time in years, neither seemed interested in discussing the past.
Veronica approached Victoria.
"Daniel's still missing.""
Victoria looked toward the hospital windows.
"They'll find him.""
"How can you be sure?""
"Because he won't stop until he gets what he wants.""
Veronica folded her arms.
"What does he want now?""
Victoria thought about the archive.
The files.
The samples.
The hidden research.
"Control.""
Samuel arrived carrying a cardboard evidence box.
"We found something.""
He placed it on a nearby table.
Inside were several documents recovered from the archive.
Most had been damaged by the shutdown.
But one folder remained intact.
It was labeled:
*PROJECT GENESIS — FAMILY STRUCTURE AND SUCCESSION.*
Victoria opened it.
The first page contained a family tree.
Robert Hale was at the top.
Below him were three branches.
Margaret.
Elena.
And a third woman whose name had been blacked out.
Victoria looked at Samuel.
"Who is this?""
"I don't know.""
She turned the page.
A medical record followed.
It listed Daniel as Subject 000.
Matthew as Subject 001.
And Anna as Subject 014.
But there was another entry.
*SUBJECT 015 — STATUS: ACTIVE.*
Victoria stared.
"Fifteen?""
Samuel nodded.
"Apparently.""
Veronica took the document.
"Where is this person?""
The next page contained a photograph.
It showed a young man in his twenties.
He had dark hair and a familiar expression.
Victoria recognized him immediately.
"That's impossible.""
Samuel looked at her.
"What?""
She pointed to the photograph.
"That's James Miller.""
The former laboratory technician.
The man who had helped them escape the underground hospital.
The man who had revealed the Project Genesis files.
Veronica stepped closer.
"James was one of the children?""
Samuel read the note beneath the photograph.
"Subject 015. Transferred to external care. Memory suppression protocol completed.""
Victoria felt a chill.
"That's why he knew so much.""
Samuel nodded.
"His memories were suppressed. He may not have known his own identity.""
Victoria closed the folder.
"Where is he now?""
Samuel checked his phone.
"He was taken to a safe location after the rescue.""
"Which location?""
Samuel looked uncomfortable.
"An apartment in Newport.""
Victoria turned.
"Call him.""
Samuel dialed.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then a woman's voice answered.
"Hello?""
Samuel frowned.
"Who is this?""
"Who are you?""
"I'm Samuel Price. I'm trying to reach James Miller.""
A pause.
Then the woman said:
"James isn't here.""
Victoria leaned closer.
"Where is he?""
The woman whispered:
"He went to meet his mother.""
Samuel froze.
"His mother?""
"She said she had waited long enough.""
Victoria grabbed the phone.
"What's her name?""
The woman hesitated.
Then answered:
"Margaret Vance.""
Victoria's eyes widened.
"That's impossible. My mother is here.""
The woman began crying.
"Not your mother.""
She whispered a different name.
"James's mother.""
The call disconnected.
Victoria returned to the intensive care unit.
Margaret was sitting beside Richard's bed.
Her face was pale.
She looked up when Victoria entered.
"What's happened?""
Victoria placed the Genesis folder on the table.
"James Miller is Subject 015.""
Margaret's expression changed.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked away.
"Yes.""
Victoria felt the room become smaller.
"You knew?""
Margaret closed her eyes.
"I suspected.""
"Who is his mother?""
Margaret didn't answer.
Victoria leaned forward.
"Tell me.""
Margaret's hands began trembling.
"Before I met Robert, I had a sister.""
Victoria stared.
"You never told us about a sister.""
"Her name was Catherine. She worked with me in the original research program.""
"What happened to her?""
"She discovered what Robert was doing. She tried to expose him.""
Margaret swallowed.
"He took her.""
Victoria's voice hardened.
"And James?""
"James was born in the facility. Catherine begged me to save him.""
"You said the program had fourteen children.""
"There were more. The official records were altered.""
Victoria looked at the file.
"Subject 015.""
Margaret nodded.
"I managed to remove him from the facility. I arranged for him to be raised outside the program.""
"Then why did he lose his memory?""
Margaret began crying.
"Because Robert found out where he was. I had to authorize the suppression procedure to protect him.""
Victoria stepped back.
"You erased a child's memories?""
"I thought I was saving his life.""
"That's what you always say.""
Margaret lowered her head.
Victoria turned toward the door.
"Where is Catherine now?""
Margaret whispered:
"Dead.""
Victoria stopped.
"How do you know?""
"Because I killed her.""
The silence was absolute.
Richard opened his eyes.
"Margaret.""
She looked at him.
"Don't.""
Victoria turned slowly.
"Explain.""
Margaret wiped her cheeks.
"Catherine tried to take James out of the country. Robert ordered me to stop her. I met her at the old hospital.""
"What happened?""
"We fought.""
Margaret's voice broke.
"She fell down the stairs.""
Victoria stared.
"Did you push her?""
Margaret looked at her daughter.
"I don't remember.""
Victoria felt something inside her break.
Then a nurse entered.
"Miss Vance?""
Victoria turned.
"Yes?""
"We have someone waiting to see you.""
"Who?""
The nurse looked toward the hallway.
"A young man. He says his name is James Miller.""
Victoria hurried outside.
James stood near the elevators.
He looked exhausted.
His eyes were red.
In his hands was an old photograph.
Victoria approached him.
"James.""
He looked at her.
"Is Margaret inside?""
"Yes.""
He nodded.
"I need to ask her something.""
"What?""
He held up the photograph.
It showed a younger Margaret standing beside a woman with the same dark hair and eyes as James.
On the back, someone had written:
*CATHERINE AND HER SON.*
James looked at Victoria.
"I remember now.""
Victoria's throat tightened.
"What do you remember?""
He stared at the photograph.
"Everything.""
Then he looked toward the intensive care unit.
"And I remember who killed my mother.""
Victoria didn't move.
James stepped closer.
"Your mother didn't push Catherine down those stairs by accident.""
He lowered his voice.
"She came back the next morning and finished the job.""
Inside the room, Margaret began screaming.
And from the elevator behind James, a familiar voice spoke.
"That's enough, son.""
Victoria turned.
Daniel stood there.
His shoulder was bandaged.
His face was pale.
May you like
And in his hand was a small black case.
"Now," he said, smiling, "let's talk about what really happened to Catherine.""
