Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN BEFORE ME
Evelyn Reed was forty-two years old.
She had dark hair cut to her shoulders and a thin scar running beneath her left ear.
She entered the house alone.
Luka searched her bag himself.
Inside were two passports.
Three encrypted flash drives.
And a photograph of my father.
She looked at me for a long time.
“So you’re Elena.”
I held Grace closer.
“You’re M-16?”
“That’s what they called me.”
My mother sat down.
“Oh my God.”
Evelyn gave her a tired smile.
“You must be Julia.”
“You knew Michael?”
“He saved my life too.”
Luka folded his arms.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Samuel called me.”
My stomach tightened.
“Dr. Reed?”
“My brother.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“He works for Helix.”
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“He pretends to.”
Ryan stared.
She removed one of the flash drives.
“Samuel has spent eleven years feeding Helix false data.”
“Why?”
“To keep me alive.”
I looked at her.
“What happened to you?”
She sat slowly.
“I was born from the sixteenth protocol.”
“My mother died shortly after.”
“Carter Biomedical told the research team I died too.”
“Michael smuggled me out.”
My mother began crying again.
“I never knew.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
Evelyn looked at me.
“Michael hid me with relatives in Maine.”
“He paid for my education.”
“He wrote every birthday.”
My chest tightened.
“My father knew you all those years?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because the moment anyone linked us, Helix would have found both of us.”
I thought about my childhood.
The business trips.
The locked office.
The phone calls my father would take outside.
There had been an entire hidden life around me.
Evelyn reached into her coat.
Luka’s guard tensed.
She slowly removed a necklace.
A small silver key hung from it.
“Samuel told me Grace tested positive.”
“For M-17?”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father solved the final problem.”
Luka frowned.
“What final problem?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“Stability.”
“M-16 damaged my heart.”
“I’ve had three surgeries.”
“I can’t have children safely.”
“M-17 repaired what was wrong without creating the defects I have.”
My arms tightened around Grace.
“So she’s healthy?”
“From what Samuel saw, yes.”
Relief nearly collapsed me.
Then Evelyn continued.
“And that makes her the first known second-generation carrier.”
The room went silent.
Ryan looked sick.
“That’s why Helix wants her.”
Evelyn nodded.
“They don’t need Elena anymore.”
The words hit me hard.
“What do they need Grace for?”
“To recreate the protocol.”
Luka stepped closer.
“They already have her cord blood.”
“Not enough.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Michael removed three critical sequences from the research database.”
“He encoded them into separate biological verification keys.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the missing data can only be decrypted using genetic samples from the surviving subjects.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“And me.”
“Yes.”
“And Grace?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Third key.”
My mouth went dry.
Luka looked at Ryan.
“Helix needs all three.”
Ryan’s face changed.
Something clicked.
He grabbed his phone.
“No.”
“What?”
I asked.
He stared at the screen.
“I know why they told me to leave Elena.”
Luka’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Ryan looked at me.
“Because they wanted you isolated.”
My blood went cold.
“And they needed someone with legal standing to authorize an emergency transfer for Grace.”
I stared at him.
“You.”
Ryan nodded slowly.
“They planned to take her from the hospital.”
My body went numb.
“Where?”
He looked at Evelyn.
She already knew.
“Helix Crown’s clinical facility.”
“Where is it?”
Ryan whispered.
“Colorado.”
Luka’s phone buzzed.
He read a message.
His expression changed.
“What?”
I demanded.
He turned the screen toward us.
Security footage from the hospital loading bay showed Dr. Samuel Reed being forced into a black SUV.
Timestamp.
Twenty-three minutes ago.
Evelyn went white.
“They have my brother.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Luka shook his head.
I answered anyway.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Elena Carter.”
I said nothing.
“We have Dr. Reed.”
My knees weakened.
May you like
The voice continued.
“And we know where your daughter is.”
