Chapter 3 - The Archive Hidden in My Three-Year-Old Son Could Expose an Entire Criminal EmpireThe hospital went dark.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Alessandro pushed me behind him.
“Stay close.”
“Where?”
“Parking garage.”
“Why?”
“The helicopter.”
“You have a helicopter?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you do.”
He almost smiled.
Then gunfire erupted.
Men stormed the hallway.
Alessandro fired.
We ran.
I held Logan against my chest.
He was crying.
“Mommy!”
“I've got you.”
We reached a stairwell.
Alessandro stopped.
“Can you go faster?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
We ran down six floors.
At the bottom, we entered the garage.
Three black SUVs waited.
Men opened the doors.
“Boss!”
“Get them out.”
We piled inside.
The vehicle accelerated.
I looked at Alessandro.
“You said the archive is inside Logan.”
“Not the archive.”
“The key.”
“How?”
“DNA.”
“What does it mean?”
“Your husband engineered a biological encryption system.”
“That sounds insane.”
“It was.”
“Why would he do that?”
“To make the information impossible to steal.”
“Why didn't he destroy it?”
“Because the evidence could save thousands of people.”
I looked at Logan.
“He didn't want our son involved.”
“No.”
“But he had no choice.”
“No.”
The SUV sped through Baltimore.
The city lights blurred.
I stared at my son's face.
He was asleep against my chest.
He looked so innocent.
No one should have to carry a secret like this.
We reached a private airfield.
A jet waited.
I looked at Alessandro.
“Where are we going?”
“Virginia.”
“Why?”
“My grandfather built a safe house there.”
“Your grandfather?”
“He started the legitimate side of my family.”
“Not the criminal side?”
“No.”
“Then how did you become who you are?”
He looked away.
“People become what they need to survive.”
We boarded.
Once the plane took off, Alessandro sat opposite me.
He looked exhausted.
“You should rest.”
“I want answers.”
“You'll get them.”
“Now.”
He smiled faintly.
“You're more like David than you realize.”
I stared.
“How?”
“You never stop.”
I looked down.
“My husband is alive?”
Alessandro was quiet.
“I don't know.”
“But you said he gave you the ring.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Was he alive then?”
“Yes.”
My heart stopped.
“When did he die?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
I started crying.
Alessandro looked helpless.
“I wish I could tell you.”
“Why didn't you find him?”
“I tried.”
“Why?”
“Because David saved my life.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“Three years ago, I was poisoned.”
“David found out.”
“He gave me the antidote.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what the Circle was planning.”
“And you trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let him disappear?”
“I didn't.”
“What happened?”
“Thomas took him.”
I froze.
“When?”
“The night your husband died.”
“What does that mean?”
“Thomas staged the accident.”
“Then who died?”
Alessandro looked at me.
“Another man.”
My stomach turned.
“No.”
“I found out afterward.”
“Then David is alive.”
“Possibly.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
“What did Thomas do with him?”
“We believe he moved him.”
“Where?”
“Europe.”
I closed my eyes.
Two years.
Two years believing I was a widow.
Two years raising Logan alone.
Two years grieving.
And my husband might have been alive somewhere.
Alessandro gave me a file.
“Start here.”
I opened it.
Photos.
David.
Different identities.
Different passports.
Different cities.
Berlin.
Vienna.
Prague.
One photo was dated eight months earlier.
David stood beside a woman.
He looked thinner.
Older.
Alive.
I touched the photograph.
“Where?”
“Prague.”
“Then we go.”
“Yes.”
The plane landed.
We took another vehicle.
Hours later, we reached a fortified estate.
I carried Logan inside.
A woman named Sofia waited.
She looked at me.
Then gasped.
“She's finally here.”
I stopped.
“Who are you?”
“David's sister.”
I stared.
“My husband has a sister?”
She nodded.
“Half-sister.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because I wasn't supposed to exist.”
I felt exhausted.
Apparently, everyone in David's life had a secret identity.
Sofia handed me a letter.
“Your husband left this.”
I opened it.
Catherine,
If you ever find Sofia, trust her.
She knows where I was taken.
My hands shook.
“What happened to him?”
Sofia looked at Logan.
“Your son.”
“Yes.”
“He was used as leverage.”
“For what?”
“The archive.”
I stared.
“What is the archive?”
“A complete record of the Meridian Circle.”
“And David?”
“He stole it.”
“Then why isn't he dead?”
Sofia looked at me.
“Because they need him to open it.”
“How?”
“His genetic sequence.”
“Logan has it.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
Then Sofia said:
“Thomas doesn't want your son dead.”
“What does he want?”
“He wants Logan to grow up under the Circle's control.”
I held my son tighter.
“That will never happen.”
Sofia nodded.
“Then we need to find David.”
She opened another folder.
Inside was a location.
Prague.
A private clinic.
May you like
Sofia whispered:
“He's alive.”
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