Chapter 9 - The Son Robert Never Mentioned
Robert stared at the photograph for nearly a full minute.
Emily placed it on the interview table between them.
"Eli Thorne."
Robert didn't touch it.
"Who was he?"
No answer.
Emily leaned forward.
"Was he your son?"
Robert closed his eyes.
"Yes."
The word struck like a physical blow.
Emily sat back.
"You had a child before Maya."
"Yes."
"And never told me."
"I was seventeen."
"That doesn't explain anything."
"His mother and I weren't together long."
"What happened to him?"
Robert looked at the photograph.
"He died."
"I can read."
Robert flinched.
Emily almost felt cruel.
Then she remembered fifteen years of lies.
"How?"
"Complications from the project."
Emily's anger disappeared beneath horror.
"You already had one child harmed by St. Gabriel."
Robert's eyes filled.
"I didn't know it was the same project."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Your son's name is in their records."
"They used another company name then."
"So after one child died in medical research, you handed them another?"
Robert slammed both hands onto the table.
"I didn't know."
A guard outside glanced through the window.
Robert lowered his voice.
"Eli had a heart condition. His mother found a research trial. We were desperate."
"You were his father."
"I was a teenager."
"He died."
Robert swallowed.
"Yes."
"And you buried it."
"I buried everything."
Emily stared.
"Then years later Voss found you."
"He knew who I was."
"And you still said yes."
Robert looked broken.
"He told me Eli hadn't died because of the treatment. He said the project had almost saved him."
Emily's disgust returned.
"He used your guilt."
"Yes."
"And your greed."
Robert looked away.
"Yes."
Emily pointed at the photograph.
"Why is there a picture of him in your desk?"
Robert looked up sharply.
"You found that?"
"Years ago."
"I couldn't throw it away."
"You could hide it from your wife."
He didn't answer.
Emily took the photograph.
"Was Maya chosen because she was your daughter?"
Robert nodded.
"Voss said siblings sometimes shared compatible markers."
"Siblings."
Emily's voice caught.
"Maya and Eli."
"Half-siblings."
"And Lucas?"
Robert looked confused.
"What about Lucas?"
"His tissue is inside Maya."
Robert shook his head.
"That's what Voss told me, but now I'm not sure."
Emily stared.
"What do you mean?"
"When he had me at the storage facility, he kept saying everyone misunderstood the donor."
"What donor?"
"He said Lucas was only the template."
Emily's skin prickled.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
"He kidnapped you and talked about this?"
Robert nodded.
"He wanted Maya's location."
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because he broke two of my fingers asking."
Emily glanced at his bandaged hand.
She hadn't noticed.
Robert continued.
"He said Maya was the only successful convergence."
"What is convergence?"
"I asked."
"What did he say?"
Robert swallowed.
"He said, 'When the dead stop being singular.'"
Emily stared at him.
"That's insane."
"Yes."
"But you let an insane man experiment on her."
Robert lowered his head.
Emily stood.
"I want every name. Every place. Every account. Everything you remember."
"I'll give it."
"Not for me."
"I know."
"No, Robert. I don't think you do."
She leaned closer.
"This isn't how you get your family back."
His eyes lifted.
"You don't."
The words devastated him.
Emily felt no satisfaction.
She left.
Outside, Agent Cole was waiting.
"You heard?"
"Yes."
"Can we charge him?"
"We already have enough for several offenses."
"Do it."
Cole studied her.
"There's something else."
Emily almost laughed.
"There always is."
"Subject twenty-one."
"Eli."
"His death certificate is real."
"So?"
"His tissue records aren't."
Emily frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The files say biological material was preserved after his death."
Emily froze.
"Preserved for what?"
Cole showed her a laboratory inventory.
Two names appeared under SOURCE MATERIAL.
LUCAS VOSS.
ELI THORNE.
Emily's heart began pounding.
"Maya has tissue from both?"
"We don't know."
"Pathology said Voss."
"It said familial match to Voss."
Cole enlarged another section.
"Not exact identity."
Emily understood slowly.
"You can't tell which relative."
"Correct."
"But Eli isn't related to Voss."
"According to ordinary family records, no."
Emily stared.
"Ordinary records?"
Cole placed another document beside it.
A DNA analysis.
"During the original investigation, Eli's preserved sample was compared against archival material."
Emily's mouth went dry.
"The result?"
Cole looked at her.
"Eli Thorne was Malcolm Voss's biological grandson."
The hallway disappeared around Emily.
"How?"
"We're investigating."
"Robert isn't related to Voss."
"Not genetically."
Emily's stomach twisted.
"You mean Eli's mother."
Cole nodded.
"Her name was Rachel Bell."
Emily looked up.
"Bell?"
Cole didn't need to say it.
She remembered the missing survivor.
Jonah Bell.
Sixteen years old.
Disappeared three weeks ago.
Emily whispered, "Jonah."
Cole nodded.
"Rachel Bell was also his mother."
Suddenly the project was no longer a scattered group of unrelated victims.
May you like
It was a family tree.
And Maya was standing directly in the middle of it.
