Chapter 12 - the missing sample)
Nathan refused to answer for nine minutes.
Then Ava lost patience.
"What did you remove?"
He stared at his hands.
"A sample."
"We know that."
"A second blood card."
"Why was there a second one?"
"Richard requested it."
Julian leaned across the table.
"For what?"
Nathan looked at him.
"The Mercer marker."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"Tell us what that means."
Nathan inhaled.
"It is not a gene."
Ava frowned.
"Then what?"
"A signature."
Nobody understood.
Nathan explained.
"Certain families in the Halcyon database were assigned private lineage signatures. Multiple inherited markers combined into a probability profile."
"Like a genetic fingerprint?"
"Not exactly, but close."
"So the Mercer marker means Mercer blood?"
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
Ava felt a strange dread.
"Then whose?"
"Thomas Bennett's."
Silence.
Ava stared.
Nathan continued.
"After the factory fire, Halcyon marked Thomas's descendants as a risk lineage."
"Risk of what?"
"Exposure."
Julian understood first.
"They were tracking his family."
"Yes."
Ava stood.
"For forty years?"
"Not constantly."
"Don't defend it."
"I'm not."
"Was I tested?"
Nathan hesitated.
Ava's voice sharpened.
"Was I?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"At birth."
She felt violated across decades she could not even remember.
"My mother?"
"Likely."
"My grandfather?"
"Yes."
Julian looked sick.
"Why?"
"Because Halcyon believed Thomas may have hidden copies of the stolen files with relatives."
Ava thought of family storage boxes.
Old photographs.
Letters.
Nothing had ever seemed important.
"Did he?"
"We never found them."
Ava laughed bitterly.
"We?"
Nathan looked down.
"You worked for them."
"Northstar inherited portions of Halcyon's contracts."
"You tested children without consent."
"Yes."
"Families."
"Yes."
"You watched people their entire lives."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Ava wanted to leave.
Instead she asked the most important question.
"What did Owen's sample show?"
Nathan looked at her.
"Something impossible."
Nobody moved.
"Explain."
"Owen carried the Bennett lineage signature, as expected."
"Because Julian is Thomas's son."
"Partly."
Ava waited.
Nathan's expression was almost frightened.
"He carried it through you too."
Ava frowned.
"We already know I'm related to Thomas."
"Not closely enough."
Julian leaned forward.
"What are you saying?"
Nathan swallowed.
"Owen's profile suggested that Ava's direct maternal line was closer to Thomas Bennett than public records show."
Ava stared.
"How close?"
Nathan hesitated.
"His granddaughter."
The room became silent.
Ava laughed once because the alternative was screaming.
"That is impossible."
Nathan said nothing.
"My mother is Thomas's niece."
"According to public records."
"According to my family."
Nathan's eyes remained on her.
"Richard believed the family records were altered."
Ava sat down slowly.
Another manipulated lineage.
Another hidden child.
Another lie older than she was.
"If my mother was Thomas's daughter..."
Nathan nodded.
"Then you are his granddaughter."
"And Julian is his son."
Ava's stomach turned.
Julian immediately understood.
"No."
Nathan lifted a hand.
"We tested the relationship."
Ava stared at him.
"What relationship?"
"You and Julian are not biologically related."
She let out a shaking breath.
"Then how can both lines connect to Thomas?"
"Because one of the records is false."
Julian frowned.
"Which one?"
Nathan looked directly at him.
"Yours."
Julian became very still.
"But you said the DNA linked me to Thomas."
"It linked you to the Bennett family."
"Not Thomas."
"Correct."
Ava covered her face.
Every answer produced another question.
Marcus stepped closer.
"So Julian's biological father was a Bennett relative, but not necessarily Thomas."
Nathan nodded.
"And Ava's mother may actually be Thomas's daughter."
"Yes."
Julian stared at the table.
"Then why did Richard leave the trust to my first child?"
Nathan whispered, "Because he didn't know which of you carried Thomas's direct line."
Ava looked up.
"What?"
"He suspected either Julian or Ava."
"Before we even met?"
"No."
Nathan looked toward Julian.
"After you brought Ava home."
Ava remembered.
The first family dinner.
Richard had stared at her for a strangely long time.
She had assumed he was judging her.
Maybe he had recognized someone.
"Richard knew my family."
"He knew Thomas's family."
Ava's mind raced.
"When Owen was born, the test confirmed it."
"Confirmed what?"
Nathan answered.
"Owen inherited Thomas Bennett's direct lineage through you."
Ava felt tears sting her eyes.
"Then the trust was really meant for my family."
"Perhaps."
Julian looked at her.
"No."
Ava turned.
Julian's expression was firm.
"It was meant for Owen."
That simple sentence cut through generations of obsession.
Owen.
Not Richard.
Not Thomas.
Not Sebastian.
Not the Mercer name.
A child.
Nathan slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Detective Walsh entered.
"We found Margaret Voss."
Ava stood immediately.
"Where?"
"Security cameras captured her entering a private airfield outside Providence."
"When?"
"Forty minutes ago."
"Stop the plane."
"There is no plane."
Ava frowned.
Walsh placed another image down.
Margaret walked into an empty hangar.
Then disappeared.
"What is inside?"
"We don't know yet."
Marcus looked at the hangar number.
His expression changed.
"Julian."
"What?"
"That property used to belong to Northstar."
Nathan suddenly stood.
"What hangar?"
Walsh showed him.
He went pale.
"Do not go inside."
"Why?"
Nathan stared at Ava.
"Because that isn't an airfield hangar."
"What is it?"
"A records transfer facility."
Marcus asked, "For genetic data?"
May you like
Nathan shook his head.
"For children."
