Chapter 9 - Rachel Reed
Alex walked onto the dock alone.
Police watched from the tree line.
Grant had protested.
Alex went anyway.
The woman at the end of the dock turned.
He knew immediately.
Rachel Reed.
Older now.
Silver threaded through dark hair.
Lines around her mouth.
But the eyes were his.
Exactly his.
She stared at him for several seconds.
“My God.”
Alex stopped ten feet away.
“Are you Rachel?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You look like him.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Alex’s chest tightened.
“You know who he is?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“Not yet.”
He almost laughed.
“I’ve spent thirty years inside someone else’s experiment and you’re telling me not yet?”
Rachel flinched.
“I came here to stop them.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“No.”
“You were here.”
“I followed them.”
“Arthur saw you.”
“I helped Arthur.”
Alex studied her.
“Why didn’t you stay?”
“Because the people who brought them here were waiting for me.”
“Who?”
“Men still loyal to Vale.”
“Is Vale alive?”
Rachel looked toward the water.
“Yes.”
Alex closed his eyes briefly.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“You sound exactly like Arthur.”
“Arthur helped steal me from you.”
Rachel looked back.
“No.”
Alex froze.
“What?”
“Arthur saved you.”
The words sounded impossible.
“He signed the transfer.”
“He signed because Vale was going to move you somewhere worse.”
“What happened?”
Rachel breathed slowly.
“I worked at Harbor.”
Alex stared at her.
“As what?”
“A pediatric nurse.”
His stomach turned.
“You helped them?”
“At first I thought Harbor was a treatment center for traumatized children.”
“And when you found out?”
“I tried to expose it.”
“What did they do?”
“They called me unstable.”
“Keene.”
“Yes.”
“He declared you mentally unfit.”
“Yes.”
“And Arthur?”
“He was an accountant for one of Vale’s companies.”
Alex blinked.
“My father was an accountant?”
“Before the shipping business.”
Alex had never known that.
“Arthur discovered the payments connected to Harbor. He came there looking for evidence.”
“And you met him.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were eight.”
“You said you worked there.”
Rachel nodded.
“And I was there because?”
Tears moved down her face.
“Because Vale took you from me.”
Alex felt the dock sway beneath his feet.
“Why me?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Because of your father.”
“Who was he?”
She stepped closer.
“William Vale.”
Alex did not understand the words at first.
Then he did.
“No.”
“Alex—”
“No.”
“William was your biological father.”
Alex backed away.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is.”
“Why would he experiment on his own son?”
“Because he didn’t see you as his son.”
Rachel’s voice broke.
“He saw you as proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That his theories about intelligence and behavior were hereditary.”
Alex stared at her.
“Did he know you were pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you marry him?”
“No.”
“Were you together?”
“For a short time.”
“And then?”
“When I discovered what Harbor really was, I tried to leave.”
“With me.”
“Yes.”
“He took me.”
“Yes.”
Alex looked toward the house.
“So Arthur helped you escape?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
“Vale found us.”
“And Teresa?”
Rachel’s expression changed.
There.
Something deep.
Something hateful.
“Teresa wanted money.”
Alex said nothing.
“Arthur agreed to take you temporarily because he believed Vale wouldn’t search his own financial employee’s home immediately.”
“But Teresa found out.”
“Yes.”
“She realized Vale would pay her.”
“Yes.”
“And she kept me.”
Rachel nodded.
“Arthur spent years trying to undo it.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because Vale threatened Derek.”
Alex frowned.
“Derek was their biological son.”
“Yes.”
“So Teresa protected Derek.”
“Always.”
“And Arthur protected both of us.”
“He tried.”
Alex looked at Rachel.
“You disappeared.”
“I was imprisoned.”
“Where?”
“Private facilities. Clinics. Places Vale owned through other names.”
“For thirty years?”
“No. I escaped eleven years ago.”
“Then why didn’t you find me?”
“I did.”
Alex’s anger sharpened.
“When?”
“I watched your wedding from across the street.”
He stared.
“I saw Lily in the hospital the day she was born.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because Jonathan found me first.”
Alex went silent.
“He said if I approached you, Vale would activate Harbor again.”
“Jonathan protected me?”
“In his way.”
“Then why did he help them?”
“Because Jonathan has always protected the project before protecting people.”
Alex thought about the interview room.
Jonathan had known Lily was in danger.
Maybe because he understood the protocol.
Not because he ordered it.
“Who tried to kill Clara?”
Rachel looked toward Harbor House.
“Teresa and Derek started it.”
“Started?”
“They only wanted Clara unconscious long enough to find the flash drive.”
“And Beatrice?”
“Beatrice was supposed to move Clara somewhere private.”
“Instead she arranged a funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone changed the order.”
“Who?”
Rachel’s eyes filled with fear.
“That’s why I came back.”
“Who changed it?”
She whispered, “William.”
A gunshot exploded from the house.
Rachel dropped.
Alex spun.
Glass shattered in an upstairs window.
Police shouted.
Alex tackled Rachel behind a piling.
A second bullet struck the dock.
Grant’s tactical team returned fire.
Alex looked at Rachel.
Blood stained her coat.
“Where are you hit?”
“My shoulder.”
“Stay down.”
She grabbed his wrist.
“He knows Clara survived.”
“William?”
Rachel nodded.
“And he doesn’t care about you anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Her grip tightened.
“Lily is the project now.”
