Chapter 5 - The Missing Doctor, the Secret Laboratory, and the Daughter Who Was Never Meant to Survive
Victor had disappeared.
Carter immediately called for backup.
Emma stayed beside me.
I held Sophie.
Lily and Grace were sleeping.
The sight of them kept me from falling apart.
Claire's final warning repeated in my mind.
Never let Victor choose which daughter lives.
What had that meant?
We searched the hospital.
Nothing.
Then we found a hidden elevator.
Carter opened it.
Below the hospital was a laboratory.
Someone had been working there recently.
Machines hummed.
Monitors displayed genetic codes.
There were photographs of my daughters everywhere.
I grabbed one.
Grace at four weeks old.
Another.
Sophie during a medical check.
Another.
Lily sleeping in the nursery.
Someone had been monitoring them from birth.
Then I saw a file labeled PROJECT WILLOW.
My hands trembled.
Inside were records showing Claire had discovered the project while pregnant.
The triplets had inherited a genetic mutation connected to a family bloodline that could supposedly repair a specific cellular disorder.
The company wanted access to that bloodline.
Claire refused.
Someone tried to force her.
She fought back.
Dr. Evelyn Mercer had been the lead physician.
Victor had been assigned as an intermediary.
And Emma's father had been one of the scientists who tried to expose the program.
Then I found something worse.
A record dated six months earlier.
TRIPLET 1 — EXPECTED LOSS.
TRIPLET 2 — EXPECTED LOSS.
TRIPLET 3 — RETAIN IF POSSIBLE.
I nearly dropped the file.
“They intended to kill two of my daughters?”
Emma looked over my shoulder.
“No.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“They intended to kill all three.”
Carter found a second document.
A payment record.
Millions of dollars transferred to an account belonging to someone named Richard Vale.
I recognized the name.
My father's former business partner.
He had disappeared fifteen years ago.
“Why would he be involved?”
Carter stared at the documents.
“Maybe he never disappeared.”
The lights flickered.
Then a voice echoed through the laboratory.
“You're finally beginning to understand.”
Dr. Evelyn Mercer stepped out from the shadows.
She looked exactly like she had six months ago.
Calm.
Professional.
Cold.
“You.”
She smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
I raised my weapon.
“You tried to kill my daughters.”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I tried to preserve them.”
“By drugging them?”
“By preparing them.”
Emma stepped forward.
“You lied to Claire.”
Mercer stared at her.
“Michael's daughter.”
“You knew my father.”
“Very well.”
“What happened to him?”
Mercer smiled faintly.
“He made the mistake of growing a conscience.”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“Where is he?”
Mercer didn't answer.
Carter moved toward her.
“Where is Michael?”
Mercer looked at him.
“He's alive.”
Emma gasped.
“Where?”
“Not anymore.”
Carter froze.
Mercer continued.
“He died three months ago.”
Emma shook with rage.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You're a monster.”
Mercer smiled.
“You think I'm the villain because you don't understand what your father was trying to prevent.”
I stepped forward.
“What was he trying to prevent?”
Mercer looked at me.
“The collapse of an entire medical program.”
I didn't care.
“They're babies.”
“And they are valuable.”
My anger exploded.
“No child is property.”
Mercer tilted her head.
“Your wife understood that too late.”
“What did you do to Claire?”
She smiled.
“Nothing she didn't do to herself.”
I moved toward her.
Carter stopped me.
“She altered the delivery schedule,” Mercer continued.
“What?”
“She knew someone was coming.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
I stared.
“Victor wasn't trying to hurt her?”
“No.”
“He was trying to save her.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“What are you saying?”
Mercer laughed softly.
“Victor was never the mastermind.”
“Then who was?”
She looked at the monitor.
A name appeared.
RICHARD WHITMORE.
My father's name.
I stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Mercer nodded.
“Your father created Project Willow.”
“No.”
“He built the company.”
“No.”
“He financed the research.”
I couldn't speak.
My father had always been a hero to me.
A hardworking rancher.
A loving parent.
A man who taught me honesty.
Mercer smiled.
“He told you what you needed to believe.”
Then the laboratory alarm started screaming.
Carter turned.
Emergency doors began closing.
Emma grabbed the triplets.
Mercer ran.
I chased her.
But she disappeared through a second passage.
On the wall was a single message.
YOUR FATHER STARTED IT.
May you like
YOUR WIFE DISCOVERED IT.
NOW YOU MUST FINISH IT.
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