Chapter 14 - room 417)
Evan should have told the federal investigators.
He didn't.
Neither did Nia.
Naomi argued for nearly an hour.
Eventually she agreed to take them to Boston on one condition.
No secrets once they arrived.
The hotel stood near the harbor.
Room 417 was empty.
No Claire.
No luggage.
No sign anyone had stayed there.
Only a laptop sat on the desk.
Evan opened it.
The screen activated automatically.
Claire appeared in a prerecorded video.
Evan touched the screen.
"Mom."
Claire looked healthier than in the earlier recordings.
The video had been made recently.
Very recently.
"Evan, if you are watching this, Richard has been exposed."
Evan swallowed.
"I wish I could be there."
He whispered, "Then come."
Claire continued.
"But Richard was only one part of Lantern."
Naomi closed the door.
Nia sat beside Evan.
"Your father used sick children to build money and influence. The people behind Lantern wanted something else."
Claire held up the ledger.
"The thirty two children were identified because their genetic profiles showed unusual neurological recovery."
She paused.
"Some could recover from injuries doctors believed permanent."
Evan looked at his legs.
"Nia Brooks was one of those children."
Nia stared at the screen.
"Evan was another."
Claire's expression became tense.
"Eleanor believed these genetic markers could lead to treatments for spinal injuries, degenerative diseases, and brain trauma."
A faint smile.
"She believed it could change medicine."
Then the smile disappeared.
"Whitmore Medical Systems believed it could be owned."
Claire explained how executives secretly collected samples from newborns, children, and hospital patients.
The thirty two children were the strongest matches.
When Claire discovered the program, she began documenting them so the files could never be erased.
"I did approve early screenings."
Evan felt his chest tighten.
"I believed parents had given informed consent. They had not."
Claire's eyes filled with shame.
"That is my responsibility."
Richard had told the truth about one thing.
Claire was not innocent.
But she was not hiding from it either.
"I spent years trying to find the families and tell them what happened."
Claire looked away from the camera.
"Some were already gone."
Nia whispered, "Where?"
Claire continued.
"Eleanor discovered a private Lantern facility operating outside the United States."
Marcus, who had joined by secure video call, leaned closer to his screen.
"I never knew."
Claire continued.
"The children were not prisoners. Not officially. Their families were offered experimental treatment, relocation, debt relief, immigration assistance. Most never understood why they were chosen."
Evan asked the empty screen, "Where is Lily?"
As if Claire heard him, she answered.
"Lily Vale is alive."
Nia gasped.
"She is also the reason I cannot come home."
A photograph appeared.
Lily.
Nine years old.
Red hair.
Gray eyes.
Standing beside a hospital bed.
Another girl lay beneath white blankets.
Evan frowned.
Then Claire said something that made Naomi sit down.
"Lily is not Eleanor's biological daughter."
The photograph changed.
A birth certificate.
Mother.
Claire Whitmore.
Evan stopped breathing.
Father.
Blank.
Nia stared at him.
Claire spoke softly.
"Lily is your sister."
Evan's mind went blank.
"No."
Claire continued.
"I gave birth to Lily when I was twenty three, before I met Richard."
Evan stared at the red haired girl.
"Her adoption was private. Eleanor was my closest friend. She raised Lily as her own."
Claire explained that Lily's genetic markers first led Eleanor toward the regeneration research.
Years later, Evan showed the same markers.
Richard discovered the connection.
He wanted control of both children.
"The night of the crash, Eleanor was trying to take you to Lily."
Evan felt tears run down his face.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
"Richard believed Lily died in the apartment fire."
A long pause.
"He was wrong."
The screen changed.
Coordinates appeared.
Northern Vermont.
Then disappeared.
Claire's final words came quietly.
"Evan, I know you want to find me."
He nodded.
"I know you want your sister."
Another nod.
"But if you come after us now, the people behind Lantern will know exactly where to look."
The screen went black.
Nia whispered, "That's it?"
Then text appeared.
One sentence.
HE IS NOT THE MAN WHO STARTED LANTERN.
Evan frowned.
"Who?"
The laptop camera suddenly activated.
A live feed appeared.
Not Claire.
An elderly man sat in a dark room.
Silver hair.
Black suit.
A gold ring bearing the Whitmore family crest.
Evan had seen his photograph before.
His grandfather.
Alexander Whitmore.
Dead for twelve years.
The man smiled.
"Hello, Evan."
Naomi stepped backward.
"That's impossible."
Alexander leaned toward the camera.
"No."
His voice was calm.
May you like
"What's impossible is how long your father managed to disappoint me."
The screen went black.
