Chapter 11 - The Prisoner Called Elias
Adrian used the butt of his gun to break the observation window.
The gas thickened around them.
Elena climbed through first, followed by Isabella. Adrian and the guards entered last. They sealed the broken opening with a metal cabinet, slowing the gas.
The gray-haired man remained seated.
He wore a hospital gown, and an identification band circled his wrist.
Patient E-17.
Isabella approached slowly.
“Are you Elias?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Catherine used to say your name in her sleep.”
Isabella stopped.
“You knew her?”
“I loved her.”
“Are you my father?”
The man looked toward the cameras in the ceiling.
“We do not have much time.”
Adrian searched the room for another exit.
“There is a service door behind the cabinets.”
Elias nodded.
“Margaret sealed it years ago.”
“Why has she kept you alive?” Isabella asked.
“Because she needed my blood.”
“For what?”
Elias looked at her stomach.
“For the child you carry.”
Adrian crossed the room in two steps.
“What does her baby have to do with you?”
Elias’s gaze settled on him.
“More than Margaret has told either of you.”
The ceiling speaker activated again.
“Do not listen to him,” Margaret said. “Elias has been mentally unstable for decades.”
Elias laughed weakly.
“She said the same about Catherine.”
Adrian found the service door and forced the lock with one of the guard’s tools.
“Talk while we move.”
They entered a narrow laboratory.
Refrigerators lined the walls. Each drawer was marked with dates and initials.
Isabella saw her own initials.
IV.
Beside them were AV, GV, and CV.
Adrian opened one drawer.
Inside were sealed blood samples collected over many years.
His expression hardened.
“She has been collecting blood from all of us.”
Elias leaned against the counter.
“Sebastian Vale did not build his fortune only through shipping. He financed genetic research before laws existed to regulate it.”
Dr. Mercer appeared on a monitor above them.
He was watching from another room.
“Elias,” Mercer said, “you are confused. Return to your bed.”
Elias stared at the screen.
“You killed Catherine.”
Mercer’s face remained calm.
“Catherine’s death was tragic.”
“You held her legs while Margaret lifted her.”
Isabella’s stomach tightened painfully.
She gripped the counter.
Adrian was beside her immediately.
“What is it?”
“A contraction.”
“How strong?”
“It may be stress.”
Elias looked alarmed.
“You need to leave this facility.”
Adrian pointed toward the service door.
“Where does it lead?”
“The east wing.”
Elena studied the blood labels.
“What does GV mean?”
Elias looked at her.
“Gabriel Vale.”
“Daniel.”
“And CV?”
“Catherine.”
Isabella pointed to the final set.
“What does IV-B mean?”
No one answered.
The label appeared on dozens of recent samples.
Mercer’s voice came through the monitor.
“It refers to Isabella Vale’s baby.”
Adrian raised his gun and fired into the screen.
The monitor shattered.
Elias opened a drawer beneath the samples and removed a file.
“Margaret does not only fear losing the inheritance. She believes your baby possesses a rare genetic combination.”
“What combination?”
“Catherine carried a hereditary resistance to the neurological disease that killed Sebastian’s brothers. I carry a different protective marker. You inherited both.”
“And my baby?”
“May be the first child to inherit the complete sequence.”
Adrian looked disgusted.
“She tried to kill a child because of blood markers?”
Elias shook his head.
“She did not want to kill the baby.”
Isabella stared at him.
“She poisoned me.”
“To force premature delivery.”
“Why?”
“So the child could be declared dead.”
The laboratory lights changed from white to red.
An alarm began to sound.
Elias handed the file to Isabella.
“She planned to take your child and raise it here.”
A heavy lock clicked behind them.
At the far end of the room, Margaret stepped through the door.
She held a syringe in one hand.
“You always were too sentimental, Elias.”
Adrian aimed his gun.
“Drop it.”
Margaret smiled at her son.
“You will not shoot me.”
“Try me.”
“You cannot. You still believe I am your mother.”
Adrian’s grip tightened.
Margaret looked at Isabella.
“And she still believes you are her husband.”
Isabella felt another contraction.
This one was stronger.
May you like
Margaret raised the syringe.
“Neither belief will survive what I am about to tell you.”
