Chapter 8: The Betrayal Inside the Hospital
Nobody breathed.
The door handle turned slowly.
Detective Harris moved to one side.
Eli moved to the other.
Jasmine stood beside me.
Rachel held Olivia's hand.
Luke stared at every person in the room.
Then the door opened.
A hospital orderly walked in carrying a stack of folded blankets.
He stopped.
Looked around.
Then smiled.
“Everything okay?””
Detective Harris pointed his weapon at him.
“Drop the blankets.””
The man's smile disappeared.
“They're just blankets.””
“Put them down.””
He obeyed.
One of the blankets hit the floor.
Something metallic clattered beneath it.
A syringe.
Jasmine gasped.
The orderly turned and ran.
Detective Harris caught him before he reached the corridor.
They struggled.
The orderly slammed into the wall.
“Who sent you?”” Harris demanded.
The man said nothing.
Eli picked up the syringe using a tissue.
“That's not medication.””
Jasmine looked at it.
“What is it?””
“I don't know yet.””
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
“Go.””
I followed him toward the medication room.
Luke came after us.
“No.””
I stopped.
“You stay here.””
“Emily, please.””
“Stay.””
His face crumpled.
For once, he didn't argue.
Daniel pushed open a narrow door behind the medication shelves.
A dark service corridor stretched beyond it.
I looked down at June.
She had stopped crying.
Her eyes were open.
Looking straight at me.
I kissed her forehead.
“I've got you.””
Daniel led us through.
Eli followed.
Rachel and Olivia came behind him.
Detective Harris stayed with Luke and Jasmine.
We had barely gone twenty feet when the hospital alarm began screaming.
Red lights flashed overhead.
Eli looked back.
“They've breached the floor.””
Daniel kept moving.
“They'll shut the elevators.””
“How do you know?””
“Because I used to work with them.””
I stopped.
“With them?””
Daniel turned.
“I wasn't one of them.””
“You knew how they operated.””
“Yes.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
He stared at me.
“What did they want from my mother?””
Daniel sighed.
“She discovered they were collecting genetic material from newborns without consent.””
Rachel whispered, “Why?””
“Research.””
“On what?””
Daniel looked at June.
“Longevity. Disease resistance. Regenerative medicine.””
Olivia's face went white.
“You mean they were experimenting on babies?””
“Not exactly.””
Daniel's voice hardened.
“They were screening them.””
“And the ones who matched?””
“They disappeared from the records.””
My stomach turned.
I looked down at June.
“Like Rachel's baby.””
Daniel nodded.
“And Olivia's.””
Olivia covered her mouth.
Eli suddenly stopped walking.
“Wait.””
We all turned.
He was looking at his phone.
“What?””
He showed me a hospital floor plan.
“There are two exits.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Only one is safe.””
“How do you know?””
“Because the other leads to the loading dock.””
Eli zoomed in.
“And that's where the black car is.””
My heart dropped.
“They're waiting for us.””
Daniel nodded.
“We need another route.””
Then Rachel whispered—
“What about the nursery?””
Jasmine's voice came through the radio clipped to Eli's belt.
“Can you hear me?””
Eli answered.
“Yes.””
“I'm with Detective Harris.””
Her voice was frantic.
“Luke is gone.””
My blood ran cold.
“What?””
“He escaped.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Of course.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Eli looked at me.
“Emily—”
“He wouldn't leave without June.””
Daniel stared at me.
“He didn't.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“What do you mean?””
Daniel looked toward the darkness behind us.
“He left because someone called him.””
“Who?””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Marcus.””
A noise echoed from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Coming toward us.
Daniel pushed me behind him.
“Stay back.””
A figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Luke.
He was running.
“Emily!””
I stepped forward.
“Where were you?””
He stopped.
His face was covered in sweat.
“I found something.””
Eli stared at him.
“You escaped custody.””
“I had to.””
“What did you find?””
Luke looked at June.
“Her original birth file.””
My heart pounded.
“Where?””
Luke held up a small plastic drive.
“Marcus kept it hidden.””
Daniel moved closer.
“What does it say?””
Luke looked at his brother.
“That June was never supposed to be given to anyone.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“Why?””
Luke looked at me.
“Because her birth certificate isn't the real secret.””
He handed the drive to Eli.
“Her DNA is.””
Eli plugged it into his phone.
A file appeared.
He opened it.
Then stopped.
“What?””
He looked at me.
“Emily…”
“Tell me.””
His voice was barely audible.
“June's DNA doesn't just match Daniel.””
He turned the screen.
There was another match.
A living person.
A 99.99% match.
I stared at the name.
*Rachel Bennett.*
Rachel screamed.
“No.””
I looked at her.
She was shaking violently.
“That can't be.””
Eli whispered, “It's a mother-daughter match.””
Rachel looked at June.
Then at me.
Her face collapsed.
“But I gave birth to her.””
I couldn't speak.
Luke stepped forward.
“Emily…”
Rachel screamed at him.
“What did you do?””
Luke looked shattered.
“I didn't know.””
Daniel grabbed him by the collar.
“You knew enough.””
“I swear I didn't.””
Then the service door behind us slammed shut.
A voice came through the speaker overhead.
Marcus.
“Now you understand.””
Everyone froze.
His voice continued.
“June was never Emily's daughter.””
Rachel began sobbing.
“She was mine.””
May you like
Marcus laughed softly.
“And now, finally, everyone knows the truth.””
