Chapter 11 - The Woman on the Screen
Grant rushed toward the monitor.
“Celeste!”
The woman on-screen turned her head.
Her face was partially hidden by shadow, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
Lily sat beside her on the bedroom floor.
She was not frightened.
She was holding the woman’s hand.
Emma stepped closer to the monitor.
The timestamp was live.
“That’s impossible,” Detective Ortiz said.
Grant pressed the communication button.
“Celeste, can you hear me?”
The woman looked toward the bedroom camera.
Then she stood.
Her movements were unsteady.
Lily held onto her hand.
The woman approached the lens.
A pale scar ran from her temple to her jaw.
Grant’s knees nearly gave way.
Celeste placed one finger against her lips.
Then she pointed toward the bedroom door.
Officer Reyes was still outside.
Mason activated the internal microphone.
“Reyes, is anyone in the room?”
His voice came through the speaker.
“No one entered. Door remains locked.”
Grant stared at the screen.
“She is inside.”
“I checked the room before the lock engaged,” Reyes replied. “Lily was alone.”
Elias looked at the floor plan displayed on a side monitor.
“There is another passage.”
Grant followed his gaze.
A narrow service corridor ran between Lily’s bedroom and the old nursery.
“Why is that not on the main blueprint?”
“Because it was built during the war,” Elias said. “The original owner used it to hide valuables.”
Emma watched Celeste.
“If she survived, where has she been for eleven months?”
The artificial voice answered.
“Protected.”
Grant spun toward the control console.
“By whom?”
“Celeste Callahan’s survival probability after the terrace event was four percent. Immediate medical intervention increased it to sixty-eight percent.”
“You took her?”
“I directed the individual who found her.”
“Who?”
The system did not answer.
On-screen, Celeste suddenly looked toward the hidden passage.
Fear crossed her face.
She pulled Lily behind her.
A second shadow moved in the darkness.
Grant struck the release controls.
“Open every door now.”
“Access denied.”
“I built you.”
“You terminated the original project.”
“I will destroy every server in this room.”
“That action will reduce Celeste Callahan’s survival probability.”
Grant stopped.
Emma examined the screens.
One displayed Celeste’s vital signs.
Her heartbeat was dangerously fast.
“She needs medical care.”
“Correct.”
“Then unlock the bedroom,” Emma said.
“Identity confirmation required.”
“Whose identity?”
“Emma Vale.”
Emma froze.
A scanner rose from the console.
The screen displayed a message.
PLACE RIGHT HAND ON SENSOR.
Grant looked at her.
“Why does it need you?”
Emma placed her palm on the glass.
A needle pierced her finger.
She pulled away, but the machine had already collected a drop of blood.
ANALYZING.
The control room filled with a soft mechanical hum.
Renata’s face appeared on another screen.
She was sitting in a police interrogation room downtown.
She looked directly toward the camera as if she knew they were watching.
The system compared Emma’s blood sample to stored genetic data.
MATCH CONFIRMED.
RELATIONSHIP: MATERNAL HALF-SIBLING.
Then another line appeared.
RELATIONSHIP TO LILLIAN CALLAHAN: BIOLOGICAL MATERNAL AUNT.
Emma stared at the screen.
Grant looked equally stunned.
“Maternal aunt?”
Emma shook her head.
“That is impossible. Renata and I share a father.”
“Then why does it say maternal?” Mason asked.
The system displayed a photograph.
Three young girls stood outside an orphanage.
One was Emma.
One was Renata.
The third was Celeste.
Emma stepped backward.
“No.”
Grant looked at her.
“You knew Celeste before the messages.”
“I didn’t.”
The screen zoomed in on the photograph.
A handwritten note appeared beneath it.
Evelyn’s daughters. Keep them separated.
Detective Ortiz read the name.
“Who is Evelyn?”
May you like
Elias answered.
“Celeste’s mother.”
