CHAPTER 10 THE CLOCK INSIDE HIS CHEST
The elevator descended through the hospital.
Adrian stood perfectly still.
Maya stood beside him.
Neither spoke.
The digital numbers above the doors changed.
12.
11.
10.
Adrian felt something beneath his sleeve.
A faint vibration.
He looked down.
The tracking device.
His expression didn't change.
Maya noticed.
“You found it.”
Adrian nodded.
“Did you know?”
“I felt it when we left Elena's room.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted them to think I didn't know.”
Adrian looked at her.
For the first time, he understood something about Maya.
She wasn't fragile.
She wasn't a frightened girl who needed rescuing.
She had survived twenty years inside a world designed to manipulate her.
She had learned how to survive by becoming difficult to control.
“You're smarter than they think.”
Maya smiled faintly.
“So are you.”
The elevator reached the lobby.
The doors opened.
Adrian stepped out.
Maya followed.
Vincent waited beside a black SUV.
He opened the rear door.
“Where's the rest of the team?”
“Five blocks away.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if they're watching us, they'll expect a convoy.”
Adrian nodded.
“Good.”
Vincent looked at Maya.
“You ready?”
She nodded.
“No.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“Honest answer.”
Adrian climbed into the vehicle.
“Let's go.”
The old Moretti Theater had been abandoned for eleven years.
It stood between two warehouses on the Lower East Side.
Broken windows.
Faded posters.
A rusted marquee.
The perfect place for a meeting nobody wanted witnessed.
Adrian looked through the windshield.
“No lights.”
Vincent parked two blocks away.
Maya looked at him.
“We walk?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because cars can be tracked.”
She nodded.
They stepped into the freezing night.
Snow drifted between buildings.
Adrian's heart beat steadily.
For now.
Every few steps, he checked the rooftops.
Nothing.
No movement.
No headlights.
No pedestrians.
Too quiet.
Maya whispered:
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“What if they already have Lily?”
Adrian stopped.
“They don't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they want me angry.”
Maya frowned.
“If they had her, they wouldn't need to lure us.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Exactly.”
A pause.
“They're using the possibility of losing her.”
Maya swallowed.
“Then where is she?”
“Safe.”
He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.
Inside the theater, dust covered the seats.
The stage curtains hung in torn strips.
Adrian walked down the center aisle.
“Maya.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“Stay close.”
She nodded.
A projector suddenly flickered on.
The screen came alive.
A photograph appeared.
Lily.
Sleeping.
Then Sarah.
Then Elena.
Then Anna.
One after another.
Maya stared.
“Why are they showing us this?”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“To remind us that they can reach anyone.”
The screen changed.
A video appeared.
Victor sat in a dark room.
His hands folded.
“Good evening, Adrian.”
Adrian stared.
“Where's Lily?”
Victor smiled.
“Safe.”
“Prove it.”
The screen changed.
Live footage.
Lily sat in a bedroom.
Sarah beside her.
Both alive.
Adrian exhaled.
“Where?”
Victor returned.
“Somewhere you can't reach.”
Adrian stepped closer to the screen.
“What do you want?”
Victor's smile faded.
“I want the trust destroyed.”
Adrian frowned.
“You already said that.”
“I mean completely.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust is a poison.”
Adrian laughed.
“You spent your entire life protecting it.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“I spent my entire life trying to prevent it from being activated.”
“Then why did you create the genetic program?”
Victor's expression changed.
“Because your grandfather created a system that could not be destroyed.”
He leaned forward.
“The trust has a failsafe.”
“What kind?”
“A biological one.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked directly at him.
“The trust activates through the heart.”
Maya stepped closer.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“The genetic marker isn't merely a key.”
He pointed toward Adrian.
“It's a trigger.”
Adrian felt cold.
“What trigger?”
Victor answered:
“When all three bloodline carriers reach the activation age, the trust recognizes their genetic signatures.”
Maya frowned.
“Three carriers.”
“Yes.”
“Me.”
Victor nodded.
“Your father.”
He looked at the camera.
“And Lily.”
Maya's face changed.
“What about Anna?”
Victor laughed.
“Anna is an imitation.”
Anna's voice suddenly came through the speakers.
“I'm standing right here.”
Adrian turned.
Anna had entered the theater.
Gabriel followed.
Victor continued through the screen.
“Anna was created using fragments of the original DNA.”
Anna stared at the screen.
“So I'm useless.”
“No.”
Victor's expression became strangely gentle.
“You're dangerous.”
Anna froze.
“Why?”
“Because you can survive what the others can't.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Victor smiled.
“Gabriel.”
“You've lost.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“He hasn't told you, has he?”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Told me what?”
Gabriel went silent.
Victor smiled.
“Ask him how he knew where Maya was born.”
Adrian turned.
“Gabriel?”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“I found the records.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“When she was born?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew she existed.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Because Evelyn ordered me not to.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You let me believe my daughter was dead.”
“I believed she was.”
“Then why did you keep searching?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Because I never stopped hoping.”
Adrian's anger slowly faded.
Not because he forgave him.
Because he understood.
Everyone had been carrying pieces of the same nightmare.
Nobody had known the whole truth.
Victor interrupted.
“Touching.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“But you're wasting time.”
Adrian looked at the countdown.
04:38:12
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
Victor smiled.
“You'll find out.”
A loud explosion shook the theater.
Maya fell.
Adrian caught her.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Vincent shouted through the earpiece.
“They found us!”
Adrian pulled Maya behind a pillar.
Gabriel returned fire.
Anna crouched beside them.
“Where's Victor?”
“Not here.”
Maya looked toward the screen.
The video had disappeared.
“He wanted us here.”
Adrian nodded.
“For what?”
“To trap us.”
The theater doors burst open.
Men rushed inside.
Adrian fired.
Vincent and his team moved from the side entrance.
The room became chaos.
Maya grabbed Anna.
“Come on!”
They ran toward the backstage area.
Adrian saw them.
“Stay together!”
Maya nodded.
A gunman appeared behind them.
Adrian fired.
The man dropped.
Another came from the balcony.
Vincent took him down.
Then Adrian's heart skipped.
He froze.
The room blurred.
His knees weakened.
Maya turned.
“Dad!”
Adrian grabbed the railing.
“I’m okay.”
“No.”
She ran toward him.
He waved her away.
“Keep moving.”
His heart hammered.
Then stopped.
One second.
Two.
Nothing.
Adrian's eyes widened.
Then—
THUMP.
He gasped.
Maya reached him.
“You're not okay.”
He looked at her.
“I need to get you out.”
“You need a doctor.”
“I need my daughter.”
Maya stared.
“You already have me.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Lily.”
Maya's eyes softened.
“Then let's get both of us home.”
They escaped through the basement.
A tunnel led beneath the theater.
Gabriel closed the steel door behind them.
Vincent checked his weapon.
“Everyone accounted for?”
Maya.
Anna.
Adrian.
Gabriel.
Vincent.
Five people.
But Elena was still in the hospital.
Sarah and Lily were somewhere else.
Adrian looked at Maya.
“Your tracker.”
She removed it.
“What about it?”
Adrian took it.
“We use it.”
Gabriel frowned.
“How?”
“We let them think we're still moving toward the theater.”
Vincent understood.
“You want them to follow the wrong signal.”
“Yes.”
“And us?”
“We go back.”
“Back where?”
Adrian looked at Maya.
“To the hospital.”
Twenty minutes later, the SUV stopped outside the medical center.
Adrian entered through a service entrance.
Vincent's team secured the corridor.
Elena was still unconscious.
Sarah and Lily were gone.
Adrian's blood ran cold.
“Where are they?”
A nurse shook her head.
“They left forty minutes ago.”
“Who authorized it?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian grabbed the nurse's shoulder.
Vincent stepped in.
“Easy.”
Adrian released her.
“Security footage.”
They rushed into the security room.
The cameras showed Sarah carrying Lily through a back corridor.
A man in a medical uniform walked beside them.
Adrian froze.
“Stop.”
The technician paused the video.
Adrian zoomed in.
The man turned.
Adrian recognized him.
Victor.
His father had entered the hospital disguised as a doctor.
He had taken Lily.
And Sarah.
Adrian's face became expressionless.
“When?”
The technician checked.
“Thirty-eight minutes ago.”
Adrian looked at the clock.
Then at Maya.
She whispered:
“He has her.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
Maya looked terrified.
“What are we going to do?”
Adrian reached for his phone.
He called Victor.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Victor answered.
“Hello, son.”
Adrian's voice was calm.
“You made a mistake.”
Victor laughed.
“Did I?”
“You took Lily.”
“Yes.”
“You left Sarah alive.”
“Yes.”
“You left a camera running.”
Silence.
Adrian smiled.
“You wanted me to find the footage.”
Victor didn't answer.
Adrian continued.
“You want me to follow.”
Another silence.
“You want me to activate the trust.”
Victor finally spoke.
“You're learning.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Where?”
“Come alone.”
“No.”
“Then Lily dies.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“You won't kill her.”
Victor laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“I'm not trying to kill Lily.”
A pause.
“I'm trying to make you save her.”
Adrian froze.
“What does that mean?”
Victor's voice dropped.
“The trust opens in four hours.”
Adrian looked at Maya.
Victor continued.
“And when it does, your heart will stop.”
The line went dead.
Nobody spoke.
Maya stared at Adrian.
“What did he mean?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Gabriel did.
“The activation.”
Adrian turned.
“Explain.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“The trust isn't just a financial system.”
“What is it?”
“A biometric network.”
“And?”
“It monitors the bloodline carriers.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“To identify the rightful owner.”
“And when it finds them?”
“It activates.”
Adrian waited.
Gabriel whispered:
“The heart stops.”
Maya stepped backward.
“No.”
Gabriel nodded.
“The system was designed so the wrong person could never control the trust.”
Adrian stared.
“So whoever activates it dies.”
“Unless…”
“Unless what?”
Gabriel looked toward Elena's room.
“The treatment.”
Adrian understood.
“The experimental procedure.”
“Yes.”
Maya shook her head.
“They want Dad to undergo it.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And if it works…”
Adrian finished:
“I become the first person capable of controlling the trust.”
Silence.
Maya stared at him.
“So this whole thing…”
“Was a test.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Victor has been testing me.”
“For years.”
“And now?”
Gabriel looked at the countdown on Adrian's phone.
03:11:42
“Now he wants you to make a choice.”
Adrian stared at the number.
“What choice?”
Gabriel answered:
“Save Lily.”
A pause.
“Or save yourself.”
Adrian walked into Elena's room.
She was awake.
Barely.
Her eyes opened.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“About the trust?”
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“I hoped you'd never find out.”
Adrian sat beside her.
“They took Lily.”
Elena's eyes filled with fear.
“No.”
“They're using her to force me into the procedure.”
“Don't do it.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
She grabbed his hand.
“The procedure could kill you.”
“If I don't do it, Lily could die.”
Elena shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“The procedure doesn't just alter your heart.”
“What else?”
“It changes the genetic response.”
Adrian stared.
“And?”
“It could make you the only person capable of opening the trust.”
“That's what they want.”
“No.”
Elena's voice became urgent.
“They want you to open it so they can destroy it.”
Adrian froze.
“Who?”
“Victor.”
“Why?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because he knows what's inside.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“The names.”
Adrian stared.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“And if the trust opens?”
“Every name becomes public.”
Adrian understood.
The world would change overnight.
Governments.
Banks.
Corporations.
Families.
Everything.
He stood.
“I need to find Lily.”
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Victor isn't the only one controlling this.”
Adrian turned.
“Who else?”
Elena whispered:
“Your daughter.”
Adrian froze.
“Which one?”
Elena didn't answer.
Her heart monitor suddenly began screaming.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The lights went out.
Then the hospital doors locked automatically.
A voice came over the intercom.
“Good evening, Adrian.”
He recognized it.
Maya's voice.
But Maya was standing beside him.
She looked horrified.
The voice continued:
“You have three hours.”
Adrian looked at Maya.
She shook her head.
“That isn't me.”
The intercom crackled.
Then a photograph appeared on every hospital screen.
A young woman.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
The same face as Maya.
But older.
Much older.
Underneath the photograph were four words:
SUBJECT ZERO IS AWAKE.
Adrian stared.
His blood turned cold.
Because the woman in the photograph wasn't Maya.
It wasn't Anna.
It wasn't Lily.
It was another daughter.
One nobody had ever told him about.
May you like
And beneath the image appeared a final message:
SHE HAS BEEN WATCHING YOU SINCE YOU WERE BORN.
