Chapter 13 - The Missing Child
The mansion erupted into chaos.
Evelyn was unconscious outside Lily’s bedroom.
A chemical-soaked cloth lay near her hand.
The window was open.
Security footage showed nothing.
Every camera on the east wing had looped the same twenty-two seconds.
Alexander ran through the hallway shouting Lily’s name.
Claire followed.
Price called roadblocks.
Daniel checked the archive.
A countdown appeared.
Eight minutes.
Then coordinates.
Blackridge lake.
Alexander stopped.
“They took her back.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Too far. Not enough time.”
The coordinates changed.
The mansion.
Then another.
Beneath them.
Claire whispered, “She’s still here.”
They raced downstairs.
Room 17 was empty.
Countdown: six minutes.
A new map appeared.
A section of the mansion plans Alexander had never seen.
A tunnel from Room 17 toward the old greenhouse.
They found the entrance behind the filing cabinets.
Alexander entered first.
The tunnel was narrow.
Fresh footprints marked the dust.
At the far end, they heard Lily crying.
Alexander ran.
“Daddy!”
He burst into an underground chamber.
Lily sat in her wheelchair.
Rebecca stood behind her.
Bandage wrapped around her shoulder from William’s gunshot.
Alexander stopped.
Claire raised her hands.
“Anna.”
Rebecca looked exhausted.
“You opened the archive.”
“You kidnapped Lily.”
“I saved her.”
Alexander moved forward.
Rebecca pointed a gun.
“Stop.”
He froze.
Lily cried.
“Daddy.”
Rebecca’s hand shook.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
Alexander’s voice became deadly.
“Do not call her baby.”
Rebecca flinched.
Claire stepped between them.
“Why did you take her?”
“Because he’s coming.”
“William is in custody.”
Rebecca laughed.
“William was never the top.”
Daniel arrived behind them.
Rebecca saw him.
Her expression changed.
“You.”
Daniel stopped.
“Anna.”
“You left me.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“That’s everyone’s favorite excuse.”
Claire moved closer.
“Who is coming?”
Rebecca looked at the ceiling.
“The person William answers to.”
Alexander said, “Name.”
Rebecca smiled bitterly.
“You really think this was a Bennett program because Bennett money paid for it?”
“Who?”
“The first Blackridge trials started before William was chairman.”
Daniel frowned.
“Our grandfather?”
“No.”
Rebecca lowered the weapon slightly.
“Your grandmother.”
Alexander stared.
“Margaret Bennett died before I was born.”
Rebecca laughed.
“Did she?”
Do not trust the dead.
Alexander’s stomach turned.
Rebecca pointed toward a metal cabinet.
“Open it.”
Daniel did.
Inside were old film reels.
Patient files.
One photograph.
Margaret Bennett.
Young.
Elegant.
Standing beside Dr. Vale in 1978.
Between them stood several children.
One was William.
Alexander’s father.
A child subject.
Claire whispered, “William was experimented on too.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And then he became the thing that hurt him.”
Alexander looked at Lily.
A cycle.
Grandmother.
Father.
Children.
Grandchildren.
Rebecca said, “The archive activation sent a legacy signal.”
“To whom?” Alexander asked.
“The original administrator.”
“That person would be over ninety.”
Rebecca smiled without humor.
“Yes.”
Claire stared at her.
“You’ve seen Margaret?”
“Three months ago.”
Alexander felt cold.
“My grandmother is alive?”
“Maybe.”
“What does maybe mean?”
“It means I saw a woman who called herself Margaret Bennett. Whether she’s the original or another replacement, I don’t know.”
A mechanical noise sounded overhead.
Rebecca looked up.
“They’re here.”
Lights went out.
Lily screamed.
Alexander moved toward her.
Gunfire cracked through the tunnel.
Daniel shouted.
Claire dropped beside Lily.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Figures entered from the far corridor wearing tactical masks.
Alexander grabbed Lily’s wheelchair and pulled it behind concrete cover.
Rebecca fired.
One attacker fell.
Price returned fire from the tunnel entrance.
Another attacker threw something.
Smoke filled the chamber.
Lily coughed.
Alexander heard Claire screaming his name.
Then someone struck him from behind.
Darkness.
When Alexander opened his eyes, the chamber was empty.
Claire was gone.
Rebecca was gone.
Daniel was wounded.
Lily remained beside him.
And in her hand was a photograph of Margaret Bennett.
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On the back, someone had written:
THE WRONG WOMAN CAME HOME.
