Chapter 9 - Her Mother’s Last Message
The answer waited inside Elaine Mercer's genetic records.
Lena wished it didn't.
VMX-17 had been presented as cancer therapy.
But Helixor's real interest had been genetic.
Specifically, a rare mutation affecting cellular repair.
Elaine carried it.
So did Lena.
“What does that mean?” Lena asked.
Dr. Hart reviewed the documents.
“It doesn't mean you're sick.”
“Then what?”
“It means your cells respond unusually to certain compounds.”
“VMX?”
“Possibly.”
Lena's stomach tightened.
“They treated my mother because they wanted information about me?”
“Initially they may not have known about you.”
Adrian stood nearby.
“But once they did?”
Dr. Hart looked grim.
“They would have considered Lena medically valuable.”
Lena laughed.
The sound frightened even her.
“Valuable.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Turn their language against yourself.”
“They destroyed my mother because of something in my DNA.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“They destroyed people because they're monsters.”
Lena looked into his eyes.
“Your family funded them.”
“My family also tried to stop them.”
“After how many people died?”
He had no answer.
She immediately regretted saying it.
Adrian wasn't Gideon.
He wasn't Crane.
He had nearly died because he was investigating the same corruption.
“I'm sorry.”
“You don't owe me an apology.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
He looked toward the records.
“You're allowed to be angry.”
“So are you.”
Their eyes met.
Daniel.
Vincent.
Elaine.
Three dead people between them.
And somehow those deaths had connected their lives long before the East River.
Gabriel entered.
“We found Rebecca.”
Lena stood.
“Where?”
“New Jersey.”
They drove to a small coastal town.
Rebecca Mercer lived under the name Rebecca Hale.
She opened the door before they knocked.
As though she had been waiting.
Lena recognized her immediately.
Older.
Gray in her hair.
Tired eyes.
“Aunt Rebecca.”
Rebecca began crying.
“Lena.”
Lena did not hug her.
“Tell me why.”
Rebecca nodded.
“I will.”
Inside, the house was almost empty.
Packed boxes.
A woman prepared to disappear again.
Rebecca told them everything.
She had been a research coordinator for Helixor.
She recruited Elaine.
At first, she believed the treatment could save her sister.
Then she discovered the manipulated data.
When she tried to withdraw Elaine, Crane threatened Lena.
“Why me?”
“Because your bloodwork showed the mutation.”
Lena felt sick.
“They wanted to study you.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom knew?”
“Eventually.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She knew you'd fight.”
Lena laughed bitterly.
“She was right.”
“Vincent Vale helped us hide you.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“How?”
“He created the scholarship. Kept Lena inside a normal institutional system while burying her genetic data under protected records.”
“So my father knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did Daniel?”
Rebecca looked at Adrian.
“Daniel discovered everything.”
Adrian's face tightened.
“He gave me the microfilm.”
Lena stared.
“The one behind Mom's photograph?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel made that?”
“He copied the records two days before he died.”
Adrian turned away.
Lena could see him fighting emotion.
Rebecca continued.
“Vincent wanted to expose Gideon and Crane. Daniel wanted to do it immediately.”
“And Gideon killed him,” Adrian said.
“Yes.”
Silence.
“What happened to Vincent?” Adrian asked.
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“Crane killed him.”
“How?”
“Medication.”
Adrian's father had taken heart medicine.
Crane altered the dosage.
The heart attack looked natural.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Years of suspicion finally had an answer.
A terrible one.
Lena moved beside him.
Their shoulders touched.
Neither moved away.
“Why did you disappear?” Lena asked.
Rebecca looked ashamed.
“Because I was afraid.”
“You left us.”
“Yes.”
“Mom was dying.”
“I know.”
“I was alone.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know!”
Rebecca began crying.
Lena stood.
“You don't know what it was like.”
“No.”
Rebecca wiped her face.
“I don't.”
That answer stopped Lena.
Rebecca continued.
“I was a coward.”
No excuse.
No defense.
“I thought staying away protected you.”
“You could have called.”
“Yes.”
“You could have helped.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think nobody cared.”
Rebecca's voice broke.
“I will regret that until I die.”
Lena turned away.
Forgiveness wasn't ready.
Maybe someday.
Not today.
Adrian didn't interfere.
Rebecca went to a cabinet.
“There is something Elaine wanted you to have.”
A small recorder.
“Another message?”
“The last one.”
Lena pressed play.
Her mother's voice.
Weak.
“My sweet girl.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“If Rebecca finally gave you this, then either she became brave or you became stubborn enough to find her.”
Lena laughed through tears.
“Probably the second.”
Elaine smiled faintly on the audio.
“I need you to know I never wanted you to spend your life trying to repay the cost of mine.”
Lena covered her mouth.
“You were my daughter before you were my caretaker.”
Tears fell.
“You were supposed to become a nurse because you loved helping people. Not because you couldn't save me.”
Adrian looked away.
“I want you to finish.”
Lena whispered, “Mom.”
“Finish school. Build something. Love somebody. Be angry when you need to be angry. Forgive when you're ready. But live.”
The recording crackled.
Then:
“And if Vincent's son ever finds you, tell him his father loved him more than he knew.”
Adrian looked sharply at the recorder.
Elaine continued:
“Vincent's greatest fear wasn't dying. It was leaving Adrian believing he had chosen the empire over his sons.”
Adrian's face broke.
Only slightly.
But Lena saw.
“He didn't.”
Elaine's voice faded.
“He was trying to save Adrian.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Lena reached for Adrian's hand.
This time he didn't release hers.
Then Rebecca said:
“There is one more thing.”
They looked at her.
“Crane is still running the program.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
Rebecca looked at Lena.
“Gideon.”
“And Gideon is missing,” Adrian said.
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
She looked toward the window.
“He's not missing.”
A black vehicle had stopped outside.
Rebecca whispered:
May you like
“He followed you here.”
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