CHAPTER 5 — The Missing Medical Records
CHAPTER 5 — The Missing Medical Records
The lights remained off.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Maya could hear only Emma's frightened cries and the uneven sound of her own breathing.
Then Luka whispered:
"Don't move."
A second gunshot struck the wall.
Plaster exploded across the room.
Maya screamed and covered Emma with her body.
Daniel grabbed her shoulder.
"Down!"
Luka moved toward the window.
"Are you insane?" Maya whispered.
"I need to know how many of them there are."
"You'll get yourself killed."
Luka looked back.
"I've survived worse."
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Maya pressed herself against the floor.
Daniel crouched beside her.
"I'll protect you."
She looked at him bitterly.
"You've had plenty of opportunities to do that."
He lowered his eyes.
"I deserve that."
"No."
Maya tightened her arms around Emma.
"You deserve much worse."
Daniel didn't argue.
Then his phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"What?"
Maya stared at him.
"What happened?"
He slowly turned the phone toward her.
A message contained a photograph.
It was Emma.
Taken only minutes earlier.
Someone had photographed them inside the safe house.
Underneath the picture were four words:
THE RECORDS NEVER LIE.
Daniel whispered:
"They're watching us."
Maya's blood ran cold.
"No."
Luka returned through the back door.
"Three vehicles."
"How close?"
"Close enough."
Daniel stood.
"Where do we go?"
Luka looked at Maya.
"Hospital."
Maya stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because the answer is there."
"What answer?"
"The missing medical records."
They left through a hidden passage beneath the garage.
Luka drove.
Daniel sat in the back.
Maya held Emma against her chest.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Maya asked:
"What exactly are we looking for?"
Luka kept his eyes on the road.
"Your original medical file."
"My medical file?"
"From the hospital where you were born."
Maya frowned.
"I already have my birth certificate."
"That's not the same thing."
"What could be in it?"
"Your mother's medical history."
"My mother's?"
"Your genetic records."
Maya looked at him.
"And possibly the first evidence that M-17 existed."
She stared at Emma.
"Why would the hospital erase that?"
Luka's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Because someone paid them."
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"I know who."
Maya looked at him.
"Who?"
"The man who signed the authorization."
"Who?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Your father."
Maya froze.
"My father?"
"He didn't erase your records."
Daniel looked toward the window.
"He ordered them sealed."
Maya couldn't understand.
"Why would my father seal my medical records?"
Luka answered.
"Because he was trying to hide you."
"From my mother?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"Everyone."
Maya shook her head.
"You keep giving me half-answers."
"I know."
"I'm tired of being protected."
Luka looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Your father believed that if the organization discovered your genetic connection to M-17, they would use you to locate your mother."
"And?"
"He was right."
Maya stared at him.
"So my father hid my records."
"Yes."
"Then why did they disappear?"
"Because someone opened the seal."
Daniel leaned forward.
"When?"
Luka looked at him.
"Six years ago."
Maya's heart stopped.
Six years.
That was when she had met Daniel.
The hospital appeared ahead.
It was nearly empty at three in the morning.
Luka parked underground.
They entered through an emergency access door.
Daniel stayed behind.
Maya followed Luka down a corridor.
"How do you know this hospital?"
"My family owns part of it."
She stopped.
"Of course they do."
Luka looked back.
"Maya—"
"Everywhere I go, your family is there."
"I know."
"Maybe that's the problem."
He didn't answer.
They reached a locked archive.
Luka pulled a key from his pocket.
Maya stared.
"How many keys do you have?"
"Enough."
The door opened.
Inside were thousands of paper files.
Luka switched on a small lamp.
"Your birth records should be here."
Maya looked around.
"What year?"
"Your birth year."
They searched.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Nothing.
Then Daniel entered.
"I found something."
He held up a cardboard box.
Maya's name was written on the side.
Her hands trembled.
She took it.
Inside was a single envelope.
The seal had been broken.
She opened it.
The first page was a medical report.
PATIENT: MAYA BENNETT
BLOOD TYPE: O NEGATIVE
MATERNAL HISTORY: CLASSIFIED
GENETIC TESTING: RESTRICTED
Maya stared.
"Why would my mother's history be classified?"
Luka turned the page.
There was another notation.
M-17 COMPATIBILITY: POSITIVE.
Maya stopped breathing.
"So it's true."
Luka nodded.
"Yes."
"How positive?"
He looked at the report.
"Extremely."
She looked down at Emma.
"Then she has it too."
"Most likely."
Daniel stepped closer.
"There's more."
He pointed to the final page.
Maya read it.
Then read it again.
Her hands began to shake.
The report contained a handwritten note.
DO NOT RECORD PATERNAL DNA.
She looked at Daniel.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
Luka did.
"Because they didn't want to know whether the father carried the marker."
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"Why would that matter?"
Luka took the paper.
"Because if the father also carried M-17..."
He stopped.
"What?"
"Then the child would be genetically unique."
Maya looked at Emma.
"What does unique mean?"
Luka's expression was grim.
"It means the organization has been waiting for a child like her."
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Luka immediately extinguished the lamp.
Daniel whispered:
"How many?"
"At least two."
Maya held Emma tightly.
The archive door handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
A man's voice came from outside.
"Mr. Moretti."
Luka's face hardened.
"Who is it?"
"Hospital security."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Luka looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because I recognize the voice."
The door opened.
A man entered.
He wore a security uniform.
But there was no hospital identification badge.
He looked directly at Daniel.
"You weren't supposed to come."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who sent you?"
The man smiled.
"Your employer."
Daniel's expression collapsed.
"I don't work for them anymore."
"You don't get to decide that."
The man reached inside his jacket.
Luka moved first.
The man hit the floor.
Another man appeared behind him.
Daniel tackled him.
The archive erupted into chaos.
Maya ran.
She didn't know where she was going.
She only knew she needed to get Emma away.
She reached the end of the corridor.
A door opened.
A woman stood there.
Maya stopped.
The woman looked at her.
Then at Emma.
She whispered:
"Oh my God."
Maya backed away.
"Who are you?"
The woman started crying.
"I've been waiting fifteen years to see you."
Maya froze.
"Do I know you?"
"No."
The woman shook her head.
"But I knew your mother."
Her name was Dr. Elena Ross.
She had been a pediatric geneticist at the hospital for twenty-two years.
And she had been one of the few people who refused to destroy Maya's records.
"I kept copies," Elena whispered.
"Why?"
"Because your father asked me to."
Maya looked at her.
"Where?"
Elena glanced toward the corridor.
"Not here."
Luka appeared behind Maya.
"Who is she?"
"She helped my father."
Elena looked at Luka.
"You're Victor's son."
Luka stiffened.
"Yes."
"I remember you."
"You knew my father?"
"Everyone who worked on M-17 knew him."
Maya stepped closer.
"Tell me about my mother."
Elena hesitated.
"Your mother didn't die."
"I know."
"She wasn't just a patient."
"What was she?"
Elena looked at Emma.
"She was the first successful subject."
Maya's stomach twisted.
"Successful?"
"Your mother was the first person to carry the M-17 marker without developing the neurological complications the others experienced."
"And my daughter?"
Elena's eyes filled with fear.
"Your daughter may be the second."
Maya couldn't breathe.
"Why would anyone want that?"
Elena looked at Luka.
"Because M-17 was never created to cure disease."
Luka's jaw tightened.
"What was it created for?"
Elena whispered:
"Authentication."
Maya frowned.
"Authentication of what?"
"Bloodlines."
Daniel stepped closer.
"That's what the trusts are for."
Elena nodded.
"Exactly."
She explained that several old family trusts contained clauses requiring biological confirmation before assets could be transferred.
But ordinary DNA tests weren't always reliable enough for certain disputed bloodlines.
M-17 was different.
It could identify a very specific inherited sequence.
A sequence passed through one particular family line.
Maya's family.
And the Morettis.
The two families had once been connected.
Then they had separated.
The wealth had been divided.
The trusts had been locked.
Until a child appeared who carried markers from both sides.
Emma.
Maya's daughter.
The key to billions.
Maya stared at Luka.
"That's why your father wants her."
"Yes."
"And my mother?"
"She knew where the original trust documents were."
Maya's voice shook.
"Where?"
Elena looked at her.
"Inside your father's house."
Maya frowned.
"My father sold that house years ago."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"He never sold it."
Daniel looked confused.
"Then who owns it?"
Elena answered:
"You."
The room went silent.
Maya stared.
"Me?"
"Your father transferred it to you when you turned eighteen."
"I never received anything."
"Because someone intercepted the documents."
Daniel's face went pale.
He knew.
Maya looked at him.
"You knew."
"I didn't know."
"You did."
Daniel shook his head.
"I knew your family had assets. I didn't know they belonged to you."
Luka looked at Daniel.
"Who handled the transfer?"
Daniel swallowed.
"My father."
Maya's expression hardened.
"So your family stole my inheritance."
"Apparently."
She turned away.
Everything was connected.
The marriage.
The company.
The money.
M-17.
Her mother's disappearance.
Emma's birth.
Daniel's betrayal.
None of it had been random.
Her entire adult life had been built around a secret she hadn't known existed.
Then Elena reached into her coat.
She removed a small envelope.
"This was left for you."
Maya opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
She recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her father's.
Maya,
If you are reading this, the records have been found.
That means they know about Emma.
Do not trust anyone who tells you they are protecting you.
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
Then she read the final line.
Especially Luka.
She slowly looked up.
Luka was standing across the room.
He had seen the note.
His face had become unreadable.
Maya whispered:
"My father told me not to trust you."
Luka nodded.
"I know."
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
"Why would he say that?"
Luka looked at Emma.
Then at Maya.
"Because he knew what I was going to have to do."
"What?"
Luka stepped closer.
"I was supposed to take your daughter."
Maya's blood turned cold.
Daniel stared at him.
"You?"
Luka didn't deny it.
"Your father gave me one instruction."
"What instruction?"
"Protect Maya."
He paused.
"And if the organization ever found her..."
Maya's voice trembled.
"What?"
Luka looked directly into her eyes.
"Take the child and disappear."
Maya tightened her arms around Emma.
"You were going to take my daughter?"
"Only if it was the only way to keep her alive."
"You should have told me."
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because you wouldn't have trusted me."
Maya laughed bitterly.
"Now I don't."
Luka accepted the words without protest.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"What?"
A voice spoke on the other end.
Luka slowly lowered the phone.
Maya knew immediately.
"What happened?"
He looked at her.
"The hospital records weren't the only thing they erased."
"What else?"
Luka's voice was barely audible.
"Your daughter's birth record."
Maya froze.
"But I have her birth certificate."
"That certificate is a copy."
"Then what happened to the original?"
Luka looked at Daniel.
Daniel's face had gone white.
"The original," Luka said, "was signed by someone else."
Maya's heart stopped.
"Who?"
Luka stared at Emma.
Then he answered.
"Your father."
Silence.
Maya shook her head.
"My father died before Emma was born."
"I know."
"Then how could he sign it?"
Luka didn't answer.
Because another possibility had already entered her mind.
One that was far more terrifying.
Maybe her father hadn't died when everyone said he did.
Maybe he had been alive long enough to know Emma would be born.
And maybe...
May you like
He had been waiting for her.
To be continued.
