Chapter 5 - THE FATHER'S SIGNATURE
Ava looked at Thomas.
He said nothing.
That was worse than denial.
"Tell me he's lying."
Thomas lowered his weapon.
"Ava."
"Tell me."
The emergency lights painted his face red.
"I signed a preliminary compatibility authorization."
Ava felt something inside her go silent.
Not break.
Disappear.
"When?"
"You were twenty-one."
"And Malcolm?"
"Twenty-five."
"You chose my husband."
"I approved medical screening candidates."
"You chose him."
"I didn't approve a marriage."
"Did you know he would meet me?"
"No."
"Did you give Northstar permission to study me?"
Thomas looked down.
Ava stepped closer.
"Did you?"
"Yes."
She struck him.
This time not a slap.
A closed fist.
Thomas staggered into the storage shelves.
Helen moved forward.
Ava turned on her.
"Stay away from me."
Thomas wiped blood from his lip.
"I deserve that."
"Don't make yourself noble."
"I'm not."
"You disappeared for fourteen years and came back pretending you were protecting me."
"I was protecting you."
"From a machine you helped build!"
Thomas's voice rose.
"I was trying to dismantle it!"
"After using me?"
"I didn't know what Northstar had become."
"You signed my name into their system."
"I authorized genetic screening because I believed it was disease research."
"Without asking me."
Thomas had no answer.
A mechanical noise sounded beyond the storage door.
Someone was opening the corridor barrier.
Helen raised her gun.
"We need to leave."
Ava picked up the family contract and photograph.
"No. We need answers."
Thomas grabbed another box.
"We can have both."
The storage unit's rear wall contained maintenance access. They escaped through it seconds before armed men entered the main corridor.
Snow hit Ava's face outside.
They crossed a loading yard.
Helen's driver pulled the SUV forward.
Gunfire cracked behind them.
Ava ducked.
Thomas fired twice.
They escaped onto the highway.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Ava sat beside Thomas in the rear seat.
She couldn't look at him.
Finally he said:
"Samuel approached me when you were nineteen."
"My grandfather was dead by then."
"His attorney approached me. Samuel left instructions."
"What instructions?"
"To continue Mercer participation in Northstar's hereditary disease research."
"And you agreed."
"At first."
"Why?"
"Your mother developed symptoms."
Ava turned.
"What symptoms?"
Thomas regretted the sentence immediately.
"What is wrong with Mom?"
"Nothing now."
"Thomas."
"When you were in college, your mother began losing sensation in her hands. Doctors suspected an inherited neurological disease."
Ava remembered.
Her mother had undergone tests.
She claimed it was a vitamin deficiency.
"Northstar offered testing," Thomas continued. "They said they could identify whether you or Ryan inherited the same marker."
"And?"
"Ryan didn't."
Ava's mouth went dry.
"I did."
"What marker?"
Thomas looked at Helen.
Helen answered.
"A rare mitochondrial variation."
"Does it make me sick?"
"Not necessarily."
"Then why does Malcolm need it?"
Helen's expression tightened.
"Because combined with a specific Hayes mutation, it produces unusual regenerative properties in certain cell lines."
Ava stared.
"You think my biology can treat his disease."
"Northstar thinks so."
"Then why sterilize me?"
"Because pregnancy changes certain cellular profiles."
Ava felt physically ill.
"So Malcolm took away my ability to have children because my body was more useful to him that way?"
Helen said softly:
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
"We need the full protocol."
Ava looked toward Thomas.
"What about Evelyn?"
"She inherited a related marker."
"Is that why they're hunting her too?"
"Yes."
Ava thought of Evelyn walking beside Claire.
"Or maybe Evelyn is hunting them."
Thomas nodded.
"That's what I hope."
Helen's phone buzzed.
She read the message.
"Claire contacted someone."
"Who?"
"Ryan."
Ava grabbed the phone.
A text message had arrived from an unknown number.
Ryan, I'm alive.
Don't trust Malcolm.
Don't trust the police.
Tell Ava the hospital call wasn't about Malcolm.
Ava read the final line twice.
"What does that mean?"
Another message arrived.
The patient admitted under Malcolm's name was switched before Ava arrived.
Thomas stared.
Helen swore.
Ava whispered:
"Who did I see in that bed?"
Thomas looked at her.
"If the switch happened before you arrived, then Malcolm may never have been hospitalized."
Ava remembered the man in Room 614.
His face.
His voice.
Malcolm.
Impossible.
Helen understood first.
"Facial reconstruction."
"No."
"Northstar has surgical teams."
"No."
Thomas leaned forward.
"Ava, think. Did anything seem wrong?"
She remembered Malcolm's left hand.
He had swept photographs from his chest.
Malcolm was left-handed.
The man used his right.
She remembered his wedding ring.
The engraving inside couldn't be seen.
She remembered his scar.
Malcolm had a thin scar near his ribs from a childhood accident.
The hospital gown covered it.
Ava felt cold.
"That wasn't Malcolm."
Helen whispered:
"Then where is he?"
Ava's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Silence.
Then Malcolm's real voice said:
"Hello, sweetheart."
Ava gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe."
"You sterilized me."
Silence.
He finally said:
"So you found that."
"I'll destroy you."
"You don't understand what I saved you from."
"You forged my consent."
"I prevented something worse."
"What?"
"You getting pregnant."
Ava closed her eyes.
"Why?"
Malcolm exhaled.
"Because the last Mercer woman who carried a Hayes child died giving birth."
Ava looked toward Thomas.
He had gone pale.
Malcolm continued:
"Her name was Evelyn."
Ava stopped breathing.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Malcolm sounded almost gentle.
"Evelyn isn't your sister."
May you like
He paused.
"She's your mother."
