Chapter 8 - PATIENT TWO
Adrian did not speak for nearly a minute.
The tunnel felt colder.
Lena watched him.
Patient One.
Adrian Vale.
A six-year-old boy treated with an experimental neurological compound.
Successful.
Another child dead.
Daniel Hayes remained on the phone.
“Ask Evelyn about Patient Two.”
Evelyn’s face had gone gray.
Lena turned.
“Who was Patient Two?”
Evelyn whispered, “Daniel, stop.”
His voice came through clearly.
“You’ve had twenty years to tell them.”
“Perhaps tonight is finally a good night for honesty.”
Adrian stepped closer to Evelyn.
“Who was Patient Two?”
She could barely look at him.
“A little girl.”
“Name.”
“Adrian.”
“Name.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Rebecca Cole.”
Adrian did not know the name.
Lena did.
Her stomach dropped.
“Bianca’s childhood friend.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Yes.”
Lena remembered photographs.
A small blonde girl who appeared beside Bianca at birthday parties.
Rebecca disappeared when they were seven.
The adults said her family moved away.
They had not.
“She died in Crown?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Why?”
“The dosage that stabilized Adrian caused catastrophic swelling in Rebecca.”
“Did you know it could?”
“No.”
“After Adrian?”
“His response was different.”
“Different how?”
“His genetics.”
Lena stared at the ledger.
Identical twins.
Family genetics.
A terrible possibility formed.
“Why Rebecca?”
Evelyn’s silence answered before her words.
“She was related to us.”
Lena’s pulse accelerated.
“How?”
“Richard’s daughter.”
The world tilted.
“Dad had another child?”
“Yes.”
“Rebecca was our half sister?”
“Yes.”
Lena closed her eyes.
Another sister.
Another funeral nobody told them about.
Bianca had played beside her own half sister without knowing.
Daniel laughed softly through the phone.
“Now you understand why Richard became useful.”
Evelyn snapped, “You murdered her.”
“No.”
“I made a medical error.”
“You covered it up.”
“So did you.”
Silence.
Daniel disconnected.
Mara took Evelyn to a hospital under armed guard.
The bullet had only grazed her upper arm.
Lena sat in the hallway outside the treatment room.
Adrian stood at the far window.
He had not spoken since leaving the station.
Finally Lena walked toward him.
“You were six.”
He did not turn.
“That doesn’t change anything.”
“It changes whether you’re responsible.”
“I’m alive because a child died.”
“You didn’t choose that.”
“My father did.”
“Your mother did.”
“My mother did.”
Lena stopped beside him.
“You can hate what happened without hating the child you were.”
He looked at her.
“When did you become wise?”
“I spent four months not knowing my name.”
“It gives you time to think.”
For the first time all night, Adrian smiled.
It vanished quickly.
“What happens now?”
“We expose everything.”
“Even Vale?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Lena studied him.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
“You could lose the company.”
“Then I lose it.”
“Thousands of employees depend on it.”
“Then we protect them.”
“But I’m not protecting crimes to protect a stock price.”
Lena remembered why she had loved him.
That frightened her more than almost anything else.
Mara approached.
“We have a problem.”
Lena laughed tiredly.
“Only one?”
“Victor’s gone.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“He was being moved to a secure interview room.”
“The transport vehicle was struck at an intersection.”
“Two officers injured.”
“Victor disappeared.”
“Crane?”
“Still in custody.”
“So someone took Victor.”
“Or Victor arranged it.”
Lena thought about Evelyn’s claim.
Victor financed Project Aurelia.
“He has reason to run.”
Mara nodded.
“More than we knew.”
She handed Lena a preliminary financial report.
Accounts tied to Victor had moved nearly ninety million dollars through medical research subsidiaries over six years.
Adrian stared at the figures.
“My brother was funding it.”
“Looks that way.”
Lena flipped through the report.
One account name caught her attention.
BELLE FOUNDATION.
She recognized it.
“Bianca’s charity.”
Mara nodded.
“Exactly.”
Bianca had created the Belle Foundation after Rebecca supposedly moved away.
At age fourteen, she began raising money for children with neurological disorders.
Everyone praised her compassion.
Now Lena wondered what Bianca had known.
She called Bianca.
The number went straight to voicemail.
Lena left one sentence.
“Rebecca was our sister.”
Twelve minutes later, Bianca called back.
Lena answered.
No greeting.
“Where did you hear that?”
“So you knew.”
Bianca was silent.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Mom told you?”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed something.”
“What?”
“My cooperation.”
Lena laughed bitterly.
“He seems talented at that.”
Bianca’s breathing changed.
“Is Mom really alive?”
“Yes.”
Bianca began crying.
Lena had expected anger.
Instead she heard a child.
“Did she ask about me?”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
It was not entirely true.
But it was not entirely false.
Bianca whispered, “I thought she hated me.”
“Why?”
“Because of Rebecca.”
“You didn’t know Rebecca was our sister.”
“No.”
“But I knew she died.”
Lena went still.
“When?”
“I was seven.”
“What?”
“I saw Dad carry her out of the basement.”
Lena’s stomach turned.
“I told Mom.”
“She slapped Dad.”
“They screamed.”
“Two weeks later everyone said Rebecca moved.”
Bianca’s voice broke.
“I knew it was a lie.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We were children.”
“Later.”
“I tried to forget.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
“It isn’t.”
Lena leaned against the wall.
“Bianca, where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Daniel has Dad.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Daniel contacted me.”
Lena stood straighter.
“What does he want?”
“The Silent Registry.”
“He doesn’t know we have it?”
“He knows Mom took it.”
“But he thinks she made a copy.”
“Why contact you?”
“Because he thinks I know where she would hide one.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
“Bianca.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“The family chapel.”
“We searched it.”
“Not the pew.”
Lena remembered the red door.
“The bell tower.”
“There’s a compartment inside the old bell mechanism.”
“What’s there?”
“Mom’s insurance.”
“Against whom?”
“Everyone.”
Lena looked toward Evelyn’s hospital room.
“Bianca, come in.”
“You think Mara will protect me?”
“Yes.”
“You still trust people so easily.”
“No.”
“I just trust you less.”
Bianca almost laughed.
Then her tone changed.
“Lena.”
“What?”
“I didn’t cut your brakes.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t know they were cut.”
“You left me in the car.”
Bianca began crying again.
“I thought you were dead.”
“You didn’t check.”
“The engine was burning.”
“Victor pulled me out.”
“I ran.”
“You ran.”
“I was terrified.”
“And later?”
“Dad told me you died.”
“You saw me in the hospital.”
Silence.
“That was two days later.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You could have called Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“You could have called police.”
“Yes.”
“You could have saved me.”
Bianca whispered, “Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than excuses.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Dad showed me the trust.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“There it is.”
“He said if you woke up, the police would discover I had been in the car.”
“He said I would be charged.”
“That was a lie.”
“I know that now.”
“And the shares?”
“Yes.”
“The company?”
“Yes.”
“Adrian?”
Bianca stopped breathing.
Lena pressed.
“Was Adrian part of the decision?”
“No.”
“Not at first.”
Those three words changed everything.
Lena’s grip tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Bianca whispered.
“I didn’t plan to fall in love with him.”
Lena laughed without humor.
“You stole my life and accidentally fell in love?”
“I know how it sounds.”
“No.”
“You don’t.”
“Bianca, if you know where the copy is, tell me.”
“I will.”
“Come to the chapel.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel is already there.”
Lena’s blood chilled.
“How do you know?”
“I’m looking at his car.”
“What are you doing there?”
“I came for the copy.”
“Get out.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Bianca’s voice lowered.
“Because Victor is with him.”
Lena looked at Mara.
“And Lena?”
“Yes?”
“Victor isn’t a prisoner.”
A long pause.
“He walked in.”
Then the call cut off.
Lena grabbed her coat.
Mara stepped in front of her.
“No.”
“Bianca is at the chapel.”
“Then we send a team.”
“Victor is there.”
“Which makes it more dangerous.”
Adrian was already moving.
Mara swore.
“Neither of you understands the concept of staying put.”
They drove back to the family chapel.
Police arrived without sirens.
The building appeared empty.
Inside, the second pew remained open.
The bell tower door was unlocked.
Lena climbed the narrow stairs.
At the top, they found Bianca’s phone on the floor.
No Bianca.
The old brass bell mechanism contained a hidden metal box.
Lena opened it.
Inside were dozens of microfilm strips.
A handwritten note from Evelyn.
And one sealed laboratory report.
The report was dated twenty-nine years earlier.
Before Crown officially began.
Lena read the heading.
GENETIC COMPATIBILITY STUDY.
SUBJECT A: LENA MERCER.
SUBJECT B: BIANCA MERCER.
Both were newborns.
Lena’s hands began shaking.
Adrian read over her shoulder.
At the bottom was Daniel Hayes’s signature.
The final line made no sense.
SUBJECT B DISPLAYS TARGET MARKER.
SUBJECT A DOES NOT.
RECOMMEND LONG-TERM OBSERVATION OF SUBJECT B.
Lena stared.
Bianca had been watched since birth.
A sound came from below.
A woman screamed.
Lena ran downstairs.
The chapel doors stood open.
On the altar lay Bianca’s emerald necklace.
Beside it was fresh blood.
Mara lifted her weapon.
Then the old church speakers crackled.
Victor’s voice filled the chapel.
“Lena.”
Adrian looked upward.
Victor continued.
“If you found the report, you finally know why Daniel needs Bianca.”
Lena’s heart hammered.
“Victor!”
“He doesn’t want the registry anymore.”
“He wants your sister.”
May you like
A pause.
“And this time, if you follow us, he will finish the experiment your mother stopped twenty-nine years ago.”
