Chapter 10 - The Deputy's Blood
Marcus did not deny it.
That frightened Emma more than denial would have.
Lydia stared at him.
"You're my brother?"
Marcus slowly stood.
"Half brother."
Lydia looked like she had been struck.
"My father had another family?"
"No."
"Then what are you?"
Marcus looked toward the door.
"Thomas wasn't my biological father."
Caleb laughed from the floor.
"Liar."
Marcus kicked the chair beside him.
"Shut up."
Emma raised her voice.
"Marcus."
He looked at her.
"Explain."
Marcus ran a hand over his face.
"My mother worked at Black Pine."
"As what?"
"Nurse."
"Name?"
"Sarah Hale."
Jack inhaled sharply.
"You knew her?"
"Everyone knew Sarah."
Marcus continued.
"She disappeared when I was six. Thomas Carter became my guardian."
Lydia whispered, "Dad never told us."
"He kept me in another town."
"Why?"
"Because I was Subject Eleven."
Silence.
Emma stared at him.
Marcus took an old chain from beneath his uniform.
A metal tag hung from it.
11.
"My mother stole me from the center."
Emma's anger shifted.
"You were one of the children."
"Yes."
"And Thomas protected you?"
"For reasons I never understood."
Caleb whispered, "Because Thomas was trying to destroy the program."
Jack turned.
"What?"
Caleb laughed.
"You're all still telling yourselves the wrong story."
Marcus aimed his gun at him.
"Enough."
Emma stepped between them.
"No."
She looked at Caleb.
"Talk."
Caleb leaned back.
"Black Pine started as a government-funded behavioral research project."
"Government?"
"Indirectly."
"Doing what?"
"Studying memory."
Emma felt sick.
Caleb continued.
"Trauma. Identity. Attachment. Whether children could adapt to new families after controlled memory suppression."
Lydia whispered, "That's monstrous."
"It was."
Caleb's eyes were cold.
"And profitable."
"Profitable how?"
"Black Pine Development bought land. Wealthy families funded private placements. Some couldn't adopt legally. Some wanted children with clean histories."
Emma could barely process it.
"They sold children."
"Some."
"And the others?"
"Some were witnesses."
"To what?"
Caleb looked at Emma.
"Things powerful people didn't want remembered."
Jack stepped forward.
"Helen Vale discovered that."
"Yes."
"What did she do?"
"Copied records. Tried to go federal."
"And they took Emma."
"Yes."
Emma's throat tightened.
"What happened to Helen?"
Caleb looked directly at her.
"Thomas helped her escape."
Lydia shook her head.
"My father?"
"He was already working against Black Pine."
Emma remembered Helen's recording.
She had argued with Thomas.
Maybe not as enemies.
Maybe as allies.
"Then why was I left behind?"
Caleb's smile disappeared.
"Because Thomas couldn't find you."
Emma felt as though the floor had vanished.
"The program moved you within hours."
"Where?"
"Several homes."
"I only remember my aunt."
"Your aunt wasn't your aunt."
Emma closed her eyes.
Every memory became suspect.
Marcus asked, "Where's Subject Four?"
Caleb stared at the ceiling.
"You think she runs this?"
"Doesn't she?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Caleb smiled faintly.
"Subject Four is trying to survive the same person you are."
Emma frowned.
"She recruited Evan."
"Because she thought you were loyal to the program."
"Why?"
"Because of Daniel."
Emma's heart tightened.
"What did Daniel do?"
Caleb looked toward Evan.
"Tell her."
Evan shook his head.
"Tell me what?"
Evan whispered, "Dad knew Rachel was alive."
Emma went still.
"What?"
"He knew."
"How do you know?"
"They showed me letters."
"Who?"
"Subject Four."
Emma fought for breath.
"Rachel died."
"No."
Evan looked at her.
"Dad visited her every year."
Emma felt physically sick.
"Where?"
"A facility in Montana."
Emma shook her head.
"No."
"He told me Mom drowned."
"He lied."
Caleb watched her carefully.
Emma turned toward him.
"Why would Daniel hide Rachel?"
"Maybe he wasn't hiding her."
"Then what?"
"Maybe he was protecting her."
Before Emma could respond, Detective Ortiz called from the front room.
"Marcus!"
They rushed out.
A police radio on the table had activated.
A voice repeated an emergency bulletin.
Fire crews responding to structure fire.
Location:
St. Matthew's Regional Hospital.
Third floor.
Room 318.
Emma's former room.
Marcus looked at her.
"They're cleaning every place you've been."
Caleb began laughing.
Then a shot cracked through the pumping station window.
Caleb's head snapped backward.
Evan screamed.
Jack pulled Emma down.
Another shot hit the wall.
Marcus returned fire blindly.
Detective Ortiz shouted, "Shooter east ridge!"
When they looked back at Caleb, blood covered the floor.
He was still alive.
Barely.
Emma crawled toward him.
"Who?"
Caleb's lips moved.
She leaned close.
"Who runs Black Pine?"
He whispered two words.
May you like
"Daniel Carter."
Then Caleb Shaw died.
