Chapter 10 - THE MIDNIGHT VAULT
We needed the original Meridian records.
Luka knew where some of them had been hidden.
Beneath an abandoned private bank once owned by the Moretti family.
At midnight, Marcus drove us downtown.
I left Sofia with Luka’s sister, Alessia, in a guarded apartment.
It was the first time I had been separated from my daughter.
I hated every second.
The bank had been closed for fourteen years.
Luka opened a steel door in the basement using a key he wore around his neck.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
He found one marked V.M.
The first files confirmed Vittorio Moretti had been enrolled in Meridian’s original research program.
He carried the M-17 marker.
But he had undergone a complete sterilization procedure after discovering Meridian planned to use his genetics without consent.
The surgery had occurred three years before I was conceived.
I released a breath I had not realized I was holding.
“So he wasn’t my father.”
“No.”
Luka looked relieved too.
Then I noticed another folder.
C.H.
Claire Hart.
My mother.
Inside were photographs.
Medical examinations.
Pregnancy records.
And one document that made Luka swear.
EMBRYO TRANSFER PROTOCOL.
I stared at the words.
“What does that mean?”
He did not answer.
I read further.
My mother had not conceived me naturally.
Meridian had implanted an embryo without her informed consent during what she believed was a fertility procedure after an earlier miscarriage.
My biological mother was Claire.
But the sperm donor was recorded only as SUBJECT R-1.
I felt nauseated.
“Who is R-1?”
Luka searched through the files.
Nothing.
Then he found a payment ledger.
A transfer of twelve million dollars had been made after my birth.
Recipient.
ARTHUR VALE.
I stared at the name.
“No.”
Luka’s expression turned hard.
“It doesn’t prove he was the donor.”
“But it proves he was paid.”
A sound came from behind the vault door.
Metal scraping against concrete.
Luka immediately killed the light.
Someone had entered the bank.
Voices moved down the stairs.
Three men.
Maybe four.
Luka pulled me behind a row of deposit boxes.
One of the men spoke.
“Vale wants the Hart woman alive.”
Another voice asked.
“And Moretti?”
A pause.
“Kill him.”
Luka looked at me.
He put one finger to his lips.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of my mother tied to a chair.
May you like
Underneath were six words.
BRING SOFIA OR CLAIRE DIES TONIGHT.
