CHAPTER 8 — THE MAN BEHIND GRANT
CHAPTER 8 — THE MAN BEHIND GRANT
The empty incubators broke something inside me.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something deeper.
A mother's certainty that her children were where she had left them.
“Noah?”
My voice cracked.
“Elise?”
I ran toward the incubators.
The machines were still running.
The monitors still displayed their names.
Their oxygen levels.
Their heart rates.
Everything looked normal.
Except there were no babies inside.
I turned toward Margaret.
“Where are they?”
She didn't answer.
“WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?”
For the first time, Margaret looked frightened.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn't take them.”
I turned toward Daniel.
“You?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
My grandfather looked at the empty incubators.
His face had gone completely white.
Then a security alarm began screaming through the underground facility.
A red light flashed above the door.
BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FAILURE.
The doctors ran toward the central laboratory.
One of them shouted:
“The transport chamber has been opened!”
I followed.
My grandfather grabbed my arm.
“Emma, stop.”
I pulled away.
“They have my children.”
We entered the laboratory.
A man in a white coat was lying unconscious beside the transport chamber.
The chamber door stood open.
Inside was a blanket.
Nothing else.
My heart stopped.
Then I saw something on the floor.
A tiny hospital bracelet.
NOAH WHITMORE.
I picked it up.
My hands shook violently.
“Where is Elise's?”
No one answered.
I looked around.
“Elise's bracelet.”
Daniel stared at the floor.
Then he pointed.
A second bracelet lay near the opposite wall.
ELISE WHITMORE.
Both babies had been removed.
Together.
Someone had planned this.
Someone who knew exactly how the facility worked.
Someone with access.
I looked at Margaret.
“You said you controlled this place.”
“I do.”
“Then someone controls you.”
Her expression hardened.
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“Yes.”
I held up the bracelets.
“Someone walked into your laboratory, took my children, bypassed every security system, and disappeared.”
I looked directly at her.
“You're not in control anymore.”
A voice came through the intercom.
Calm.
Male.
Familiar.
“Emma.”
My blood froze.
Grant.
I ran toward the nearest speaker.
“Where are my children?”
A pause.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Grant, if you hurt them—”
“I would never hurt Noah or Elise.”
“Then bring them back.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm trying to keep them alive.”
I looked at Daniel.
He had gone completely still.
“Who are you working for?”
Grant didn't answer.
I shouted:
“Who?”
Another pause.
Then:
“The man behind everything.”
Daniel's face changed.
My grandfather whispered:
“No.”
I turned.
“What?”
He stared at the speaker.
“He found us.”
“Who?”
My grandfather's lips trembled.
“Arthur.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Daniel reacted differently.
He looked as if someone had walked into the room carrying a loaded weapon.
“Arthur who?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Margaret did.
“Arthur Vance.”
My heart stopped.
“Another Vance?”
Margaret nodded.
“Daniel's older brother.”
I stared.
“I thought there were only two children.”
“There were three.”
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“You said he died.”
“I believed he did.”
My grandfather stepped backward.
“You knew.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew about him?”
He nodded.
“Arthur disappeared before you were born.”
“Why?”
Daniel answered.
“Because he was the most dangerous of us.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the family should own everything.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“And he believed I was too weak to do it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You helped him.”
“I survived him.”
“No.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“You joined him.”
I stared between them.
“Someone explain.”
My grandfather sighed.
“Arthur built the first version of the Vance medical network.”
“What happened?”
“He became obsessed with genetic research.”
“And Daniel?”
“Your father opposed him.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur wanted to experiment on human subjects.”
I remembered the underground rooms.
The files.
The research.
The missing children.
I whispered:
“He's still doing it.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“And my babies?”
“Are valuable to him.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because Arthur believes Noah and Elise carry the completed genetic sequence.”
The intercom clicked again.
Grant's voice returned.
“Emma.”
“What?”
“You need to leave the hospital.”
“I'm not leaving without my children.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Arthur has people everywhere.”
“Where are you?”
“Inside his facility.”
“Which facility?”
Grant hesitated.
“The old Vance research center.”
“Where?”
“New Mexico.”
My grandfather's face changed.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“The center was destroyed.”
Grant laughed without humor.
“That's what they wanted everyone to believe.”
I stared at the speaker.
“Why are you helping him?”
“I've been trying to escape.”
“You're lying.”
“I deserve that.”
“You tried to steal my trust.”
“Yes.”
“You planned my death.”
“I was told you wouldn't survive anyway.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I found out too late.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn't you warn me?”
“Because Arthur threatened Vanessa.”
My eyes opened.
“What did he threaten?”
“Her brother.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“My brother is dead.”
Grant said:
“He isn't.”
Vanessa froze.
“What?”
“He's alive.”
She looked at the speaker.
“Where?”
“Arthur has him.”
Vanessa's face collapsed.
“Why?”
“Because he needs you.”
“For what?”
“To get to Emma.”
I looked at Vanessa.
She looked at me.
And suddenly I understood.
Vanessa hadn't been merely a mistress.
She had been bait.
We found a hidden elevator beneath the laboratory.
Grant had left instructions.
The elevator went upward.
Not down.
When the doors opened, we were inside the hospital's executive floor.
People walked past us.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Administrators.
Nobody knew what had happened below.
Nobody knew two premature babies had been stolen.
Nobody knew a hidden research facility existed beneath their feet.
Then I saw a man standing at the end of the corridor.
Grant.
He was bleeding.
His suit was torn.
One hand pressed against his side.
I froze.
He looked at me.
“Emma.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the corridor.
He didn't react.
I slapped him again.
“You deserve worse.”
“I know.”
“Where are my children?”
He looked at my grandfather.
Then Daniel.
Then Vanessa.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
“On a plane.”
My heart dropped.
“Where are they taking them?”
“To New Mexico.”
“How long?”
“Three hours.”
I grabbed his jacket.
“You're coming with us.”
He nodded.
“I expected that.”
The private jet was ready within twenty minutes.
My grandfather refused to let me go alone.
Daniel came.
Vanessa came.
Grant was handcuffed to a security officer.
The entire flight was silent.
Until Grant finally spoke.
“There is something you need to know.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“I didn't choose you.”
“You already told me.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I mean the marriage wasn't the beginning.”
“What was?”
“I met your grandfather five years before I met you.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He recruited me.”
My grandfather looked away.
I turned toward him.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You keep saying that.”
“He needed someone close to you.”
“So he hired Grant.”
“Yes.”
“And Grant betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
Grant lowered his head.
“I became greedy.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I became afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Arthur.”
I felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because I discovered what he was doing.”
“What?”
“He was creating children.”
My stomach turned.
“Human embryos.”
“Yes.”
“Using the Vance marker.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To test the genetic response.”
“And my babies?”
Grant looked at me.
“They're the first naturally conceived children to carry the complete sequence.”
Silence.
“That's why Arthur wants them.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he need me?”
Grant's face went pale.
“Because the sequence only activates during pregnancy.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Your body activated it.”
I looked at my hands.
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
Grant swallowed.
“But Arthur believes your pregnancy triggered the final stage.”
I looked at my grandfather.
“Did you know?”
He nodded.
“I suspected.”
“You let me marry Grant anyway.”
“I thought I could control him.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
I turned away.
“None of you could.”
The plane landed after midnight.
The facility was hidden beneath an abandoned research station.
We entered through a tunnel.
The deeper we went, the colder it became.
Then we heard crying.
A baby's cry.
I ran.
“Noah!”
Another cry.
“Elise!”
Grant caught my arm.
“Wait.”
“I hear them!”
“It's a recording.”
I stopped.
He pointed toward a speaker.
The sound continued.
Artificial.
A trap.
Suddenly, lights came on.
Hundreds of monitors surrounded us.
Every screen displayed my children's medical records.
Birth.
Blood tests.
Genetic profiles.
Then another file appeared.
SUBJECT MOTHER: EMMA VANCE-WHITMORE.
My blood froze.
Another.
SUBJECT FATHER: DANIEL VANCE.
Another.
SUBJECT GRANDPARENT: ARTHUR VANCE.
I looked at Daniel.
“You're brothers.”
“Yes.”
“Then Arthur is their great-grandfather.”
Daniel nodded.
A final screen appeared.
GENETIC SUCCESSOR: ELENA VANCE.
I stared.
“Why Elena?”
Daniel looked terrified.
“She was the first successful carrier.”
“What?”
“Before you.”
My heart pounded.
“Then why was she hidden?”
“Because Arthur believed she was defective.”
I looked toward the dark corridor.
“Where is she?”
No one answered.
Then a woman stepped out.
Elena.
My sister.
She was holding a gun.
But she wasn't pointing it at me.
She pointed it at Daniel.
“Don't move.”
I stared.
“Elena?”
She looked at me.
“I told you to run.”
“I came for my children.”
“I know.”
“Are they alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
She lowered the gun.
“Below us.”
My heart broke with relief.
Then she whispered:
“But there's something you don't know.”
“What?”
Elena looked toward the floor.
“Arthur didn't take them because of the genetic sequence.”
“Then why?”
She looked at me.
“Because Noah and Elise aren't the only children who inherited it.”
My breath stopped.
“Who else?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“You.”
I stared.
She continued.
“Your mother never told you.”
“Told me what?”
“You were born with the same genetic marker.”
“But you said the babies were the first successful carriers.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“They're the first activated carriers.”
I didn't understand.
“Activated by what?”
Elena stepped closer.
“By you.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, the entire facility shook.
An explosion echoed somewhere below.
Grant grabbed me.
“Down!”
Glass shattered.
Lights died.
Then a voice filled every speaker.
Arthur.
“Welcome home, Emma.”
I looked toward the corridor.
A man appeared at the far end.
Older.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
He looked exactly like my grandfather.
Except for the smile.
Arthur Vance.
The man behind Grant.
The man behind Margaret.
The man behind the hospital.
He looked at me.
Then at Elena.
Then at Daniel.
Finally, his eyes settled on the twins' medical files.
“You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment.”
I stepped forward.
“Where are my children?”
He smiled.
“Safe.”
“Bring them to me.”
“No.”
“Then I'll come for them.”
Arthur laughed.
“That is precisely what I wanted.”
He turned toward the elevator.
“Because once you enter the lower laboratory…”
He paused.
“…you will finally learn why your mother disappeared.”
The doors closed.
And for the first time, I realized that Arthur had not kidnapped my children to lure me into his facility.
He had kidnapped them because he needed me to come willingly.
I looked at Elena.
“What happens in the lower laboratory?”
She whispered:
“They're going to show you the truth about your birth.”
Then she looked at Daniel.
“And once she learns it…”
May you like
Daniel finished the sentence.
“…she may never forgive any of us.”
