CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3
THE NIGHT THEY CAME FOR HER
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
The emergency lights painted the hospital corridor in a deep, pulsing red.
I stood behind Luka with my daughter pressed against my chest, listening to her frightened cries.
There were at least five men.
Two stood at the far end of the corridor.
Two more had appeared behind us.
And the man holding my daughter's photograph stood directly in front of Luka.
He looked completely calm.
That frightened me more than the weapons.
Luka's voice was low.
"Who sent you?"
The man smiled beneath his mask.
"You know who."
"No."
"Then perhaps you know what M-17 means."
Luka's jaw tightened.
"I know enough to bury it."
The man's smile disappeared.
"That's not your decision anymore."
His eyes moved toward me.
"It belongs to her."
I didn't understand.
"What belongs to me?"
The man didn't answer.
Luka suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Run."
Everything happened at once.
He shoved me toward the nearest stairwell.
A gunshot exploded behind us.
I screamed.
Luka slammed the door shut.
Another shot struck the metal.
"Move!"
I ran.
My hospital gown tangled around my legs.
My daughter cried against my chest.
I could barely see through the darkness.
"Luka!"
"Keep going!"
"Where?"
"Down."
I stumbled down the stairs.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Behind us came the sound of footsteps.
Fast.
Several pairs.
"They're following us!"
"I know."
"Where are we going?"
"Parking level."
"What then?"
"You'll see."
I almost laughed from panic.
"That's not reassuring!"
For the first time, I heard something like amusement in his voice.
"You're doing fine."
"I'm terrified!"
"Good."
"What?"
"Fear keeps you alive."
We reached the bottom.
A metal door stood ahead.
Luka pushed it open.
Cold air hit my face.
We were in the underground parking garage.
Rows of empty cars stretched beneath flickering lights.
I looked around.
"Where's your car?"
"Not here."
"What?"
He pulled a key from his pocket.
A dark sedan's headlights flashed three rows away.
I stared at him.
"You planned this?"
"I always have an exit."
He grabbed my hand.
We ran.
Behind us, the stairwell door burst open.
"Faster."
"I have a baby!"
"I know."
"I can't run faster!"
Luka stopped.
For half a second, I thought he was angry.
Instead, he took my daughter from my arms.
I froze.
"What are you doing?"
"Trust me."
He held her against his chest with surprising gentleness.
Then he looked at me.
"Now run."
Something about seeing that enormous, tattooed man holding my tiny daughter made my heart twist.
He looked completely unnatural.
And yet somehow—
safe.
We reached the car.
Luka opened the back door.
"Get in."
I climbed inside.
He placed my daughter beside me.
Then he slammed the door and ran around to the driver's side.
The engine roared.
Tires screamed against concrete.
We shot toward the exit.
A black SUV appeared behind us.
Luka looked in the rearview mirror.
"They're coming."
I stared at the headlights.
"Can they follow us?"
"Yes."
"Can you lose them?"
"Yes."
I swallowed.
"Are you sure?"
"No."
That answer terrified me.
He accelerated.
The hospital disappeared behind us.
The city blurred into streaks of light.
I looked down at my daughter.
She had stopped crying.
She was awake.
Her tiny eyes stared up at me.
I touched her cheek.
"Mommy's here."
My voice broke.
"I won't let anyone take you."
Luka looked at us through the mirror.
His expression softened.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
"Speak."
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Luka, they breached the hospital."
"I know."
"They have Elena's medical records."
"How much?"
"Everything."
Luka's grip tightened around the steering wheel.
"Who has them?"
"We don't know."
"Find out."
"They're already inside the network."
Luka hung up.
I stared at him.
"Who was that?"
"Someone who works for me."
I blinked.
"You have people?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Enough."
"Enough for what?"
"To keep you alive."
I looked through the rear window.
The black SUV was still there.
"You're not just some random man."
"No."
"Who are you?"
He didn't answer.
"Luka."
"Not now."
"You keep saying that."
"Because right now, the people behind us matter more than my biography."
I crossed my arms.
"You signed my daughter's birth certificate."
His eyes met mine in the mirror.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she needed a father."
"She has a father."
"Not one who will protect her."
My chest tightened.
"Daniel is her father."
Luka said nothing.
I looked at him.
"Isn't he?"
Silence.
"Luka."
His jaw clenched.
"You should ask Daniel that question."
The black SUV suddenly accelerated.
It slammed into our rear bumper.
I screamed.
My daughter started crying.
"Hold on!"
Luka swerved.
The SUV hit us again.
The car spun halfway across the road.
I grabbed the seat.
Luka regained control.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"The baby?"
I looked down.
She was crying.
"But she's okay."
Luka's face hardened.
He pressed the accelerator.
The sedan surged forward.
The SUV followed.
We turned sharply onto a narrow road.
Then another.
The city lights disappeared.
Trees surrounded us.
"Where are we going?"
"Home."
"Your home?"
"Yes."
"How far?"
"Twenty minutes."
"Can we make it?"
"If they don't know where it is."
I stared at him.
"And if they do?"
He didn't answer.
I looked back.
The SUV was gone.
For a moment, relief washed through me.
Then Luka said:
"Don't relax."
"Why?"
"They didn't disappear."
I looked at him.
"They're waiting."
"For what?"
"For us to lead them somewhere."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
He turned the car onto a dirt road.
"We're not going home."
"Then where are we going?"
"Somewhere they don't know exists."
Twenty minutes later, we stopped beside a lake.
The darkness was almost complete.
A huge house stood among the trees.
There were no neighboring buildings.
No streetlights.
No visible road.
Luka got out.
I remained in the car.
He opened my door.
"Come."
I looked at the house.
"Is this safe?"
"For tonight."
"Only tonight?"
"Probably."
That wasn't comforting.
I climbed out.
Luka took the baby again.
This time I didn't protest.
He carried her toward the house.
I followed.
The front door opened automatically.
Warm light filled the entrance.
Inside was nothing like I expected.
The house was enormous.
Modern.
Quiet.
And strangely empty.
No family photographs.
No decorations.
No signs that anyone actually lived there.
Except for one wall.
It was covered with photographs.
I stopped.
Luka turned.
"What?"
I walked toward them.
Photographs of my father.
Robert Hayes.
Some showed him alone.
Others showed him with people I didn't recognize.
Then I saw one that made my breath catch.
My father stood beside Luka.
They were both younger.
And beside them was a woman.
I didn't know her.
But there was something familiar about her face.
"Who is she?"
Luka went still.
"My mother."
I turned.
"Your mother?"
He nodded.
"What was her name?"
"Maria."
I looked at the photograph again.
"Why was she with my father?"
"Because they were working together."
"On M-17?"
"Yes."
I swallowed.
"Was she part of the program?"
Luka looked away.
"She was the reason it existed."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he carried my daughter into the living room.
I followed.
He placed her carefully in a large bassinet beside the sofa.
Then he walked toward a cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were medical supplies.
Bandages.
Antibiotics.
Painkillers.
Baby formula.
Diapers.
Everything.
I stared.
"You were prepared."
"Yes."
"For me?"
"For you and the baby."
"How long?"
"Since I learned you were pregnant."
I felt a chill.
"You really were watching me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because your father asked me to."
"Six years ago."
"Yes."
"Why would he know I'd need protection?"
"Because he knew they would come."
"Who?"
Luka's expression darkened.
"The people who killed your mother."
I couldn't breathe.
"My mother is dead?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he nodded.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Twenty-five years ago."
I stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because my father told me she died when I was three."
Luka's eyes hardened.
"He lied."
My stomach twisted.
"Why would he lie about my mother?"
"To protect you."
"From what?"
"From the truth."
I laughed bitterly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
I walked toward the photographs.
"What truth?"
Luka remained silent.
I turned.
"What was M-17?"
He looked at my daughter.
"A project."
"I know that."
"A project your mother wanted to destroy."
"Why?"
"Because she discovered what they were really doing."
"What?"
Luka's eyes met mine.
"They weren't studying the children."
I waited.
"They were selecting them."
"For what?"
"Survival."
I frowned.
"I don't understand."
"They wanted to know which children could survive something the rest of us couldn't."
"What?"
He hesitated.
"An experimental treatment."
"Treatment for what?"
"Cellular degeneration."
I stared at him.
"So it's medical research."
"It started that way."
"And became what?"
"A business."
I felt sick.
"People were buying children?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what?"
"Access."
He walked toward the wall.
"Imagine a treatment capable of repairing damaged organs."
I nodded slowly.
"That would be worth billions."
"More."
"Then why children?"
"Because the genetic sequence appears naturally in certain bloodlines."
I looked at my daughter.
"And Lily?"
"She carries the strongest known version."
I felt cold.
"How do you know?"
"Because someone tested her before she was born."
I stared at him.
"Who?"
"Your husband."
My heart stopped.
"Daniel?"
Luka nodded.
"He had access to the hospital records."
"No."
"He did."
"Why?"
"Because he was looking for the M-17 marker."
I shook my head.
"Daniel doesn't work in medicine."
"No."
"Then how?"
Luka looked at me.
"Because Daniel was recruited."
My chest tightened.
"By whom?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
I walked closer.
"What was he supposed to do?"
"Monitor you."
"And my baby?"
"Report the results."
I couldn't speak.
Every memory of my marriage suddenly felt contaminated.
Daniel holding my hand during doctor's appointments.
Daniel asking what the doctor said.
Daniel insisting on attending every ultrasound.
Daniel asking whether the baby had any complications.
I'd thought he was worried.
Maybe he had been collecting information.
I felt tears burning my eyes.
"Why did he leave me?"
Luka's expression changed.
"He didn't leave because he stopped loving you."
I stared at him.
"Then why?"
"Because Vanessa found out something."
"What?"
"That Daniel wasn't willing to finish the job."
I whispered:
"What job?"
Luka didn't answer.
My daughter began crying.
I rushed toward her.
Luka stepped aside.
I picked her up.
She immediately calmed against my chest.
I kissed her forehead.
"It's okay."
But my hands were shaking.
"What did Daniel refuse to do?"
Luka's voice came quietly from behind me.
"Take your daughter."
I turned.
"What?"
"He was ordered to take her from the hospital."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"To deliver her to the people who created M-17."
My blood ran cold.
"But he didn't."
"No."
"Because he loved us?"
"Maybe."
"Then why did he leave?"
"Because he knew if he stayed, they would use you to get to her."
I shook my head.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
He paused.
"I expect you to eventually discover it yourself."
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He listened.
Then:
"How long?"
A pause.
"Understood."
He ended the call.
I knew immediately.
"What happened?"
He looked toward the windows.
"They found the house."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"They shouldn't have."
"Then how?"
He didn't answer.
"Luka."
His eyes met mine.
"Someone betrayed us."
The lights suddenly went out.
My daughter began crying.
Luka moved toward me.
"Don't make a sound."
Outside, a vehicle engine growled.
Then another.
I looked toward the windows.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
One.
Two.
Three.
My throat tightened.
"They're here."
Luka took my daughter from my arms.
This time, I let him.
He held her against his chest and looked at me.
"There's a room beneath the house."
"You're coming with us?"
"Yes."
"You promise?"
His expression softened.
"I told you."
He opened a hidden panel beneath the floor.
A staircase appeared.
We descended.
The door closed above us.
Darkness swallowed us.
I could hear my own breathing.
Luka switched on a small flashlight.
The tunnel was narrow.
Concrete walls.
Metal doors.
We moved quickly.
Behind us came the distant sound of the house being breached.
Glass shattered.
Men shouted.
Then gunfire.
I covered my mouth.
Luka looked at me.
"Keep moving."
We reached the end of the tunnel.
A steel door opened.
Beyond it was a small underground room.
There was a bed.
Water.
Food.
Medical supplies.
And an old computer.
Luka placed my daughter on the bed.
Then locked the door.
I looked at him.
"How long can we stay here?"
"Not long."
"Why?"
"Because this room was built before they knew I was alive."
I stared.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at the computer.
"Someone else built it."
"Who?"
"My father."
I frowned.
"Your father?"
"Marcus Moretti."
The name seemed to change the temperature in the room.
"Where is he?"
Luka's expression hardened.
"Dead."
I didn't believe him.
"You don't look like someone talking about a dead man."
"Because he isn't."
My breath caught.
"What?"
Luka looked at me.
"My father has been alive for twenty years."
I stared at him.
"Then why did you say he was dead?"
"Because that's what he wanted everyone to believe."
"Why?"
"Because he runs M-17."
Silence.
The world seemed to stop.
My daughter slept quietly a few feet away.
I looked at Luka.
"The man behind all of this is your father."
"Yes."
"And he knows about my baby."
"Yes."
"And he sent those people."
"Probably."
I swallowed.
"Then why did you bring me here?"
Luka looked toward the locked door.
"Because this is the one place he cannot enter."
"Why?"
He gave me a look I couldn't understand.
"Because this was the place where your father hid you from him."
My heart stopped.
"My father?"
"Robert."
"Why would Robert hide me from Marcus?"
Luka didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the old computer.
He pressed the power button.
The screen flickered.
A password prompt appeared.
Then something unexpected happened.
The computer unlocked automatically.
A single file appeared.
ELENA HAYES — CONFIDENTIAL
I stepped closer.
"What's that?"
Luka stared at the screen.
"I've never seen this."
The file opened.
A video appeared.
My father's face filled the monitor.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
I covered my mouth.
"Elena."
My knees nearly gave out.
Robert looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then Luka has finally brought you here."
I looked at Luka.
He was staring at the screen.
My father's voice continued.
"That means the baby has been born."
My heart began pounding.
"I am sorry."
The video paused for a second.
Then Robert said the words that made everything inside me freeze.
"Elena, your daughter is not M-17."
I stopped breathing.
"She is the reason M-17 was created."
The screen went black.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then a second line appeared.
FILE M-17: ACCESS RESTRICTED
Underneath it:
PATERNITY REQUIRED.
Luka stared at the screen.
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
The computer began counting down.
10
9
8
I stepped closer.
"Luka."
7
6
"What is happening?"
His face had gone pale.
5
4
He whispered:
"They're trying to access the paternity file."
3
2
"Whose paternity?"
He looked at me.
1
The screen changed.
One sentence appeared.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF M-17: UNKNOWN.
Then another line appeared beneath it.
SECOND CANDIDATE: LUKA MORETTI.
I stared at the screen.
My daughter began crying.
May you like
And for the first time since Luka Moretti had walked into my life—
I was afraid of him.
