Chapter 12 - Rose’s Last Recording
Dad didn’t have the video.
My mother had.
Caroline.
Before dying, she gave Dad several sealed legal materials.
One was a videotape.
Not to be viewed unless someone from Halcyon contacted Rachel directly.
Marcus had just activated the condition.
Dad retrieved it.
Old VHS.
Digitized professionally under attorney supervision.
Rose Shaw appeared onscreen.
Young.
White lab coat.
Terrified.
“My name is Dr. Rose Shaw.”
Evelyn started crying.
Her sister.
Alive again for twenty-seven minutes of tape.
Rose described Halcyon’s research.
Her mutation.
Her blood.
The treatments developed from it.
Then she described something worse.
Children born through the private fertility network had been screened for the same mutation.
Those carrying it were tracked.
Some received experimental treatments.
Some were moved into families connected to Halcyon.
Harold Mercer handled legal paperwork.
Then Rose looked directly into the camera.
“If anything happens to me, Marcus Vale Sr. is responsible.”
Not the current Marcus.
His father.
Founder of Halcyon.
Rose continued.
“My son is alive.”
Evelyn gasped.
Son?
Rose had a son before Sarah.
A child Evelyn never knew existed.
She hid him.
If Halcyon found him, they would test his descendants forever.
Rose gave no name.
Only:
“He is with someone I trust.”
The tape ended.
Evelyn looked devastated.
“Rose had two children.”
Sarah—
Ben’s mother.
And an unnamed son.
Meaning another branch of descendants existed.
Maybe Marcus wasn’t searching only for Ellie.
Then Dad found metadata attached to Caroline’s storage notes.
One name:
Thomas Reed.
I recognized it.
Everyone did.
Thomas Reed was a retired federal judge.
Seventy-six.
Chicago.
Highly respected.
Dad knew him professionally.
We contacted him.
Thomas refused speaking by phone.
He came personally.
When he saw Evelyn, he cried.
Then:
“Rose was my mother.”
Silence.
There.
Rose’s hidden son.
Thomas had lived his entire life under another surname.
Did he have children?
One daughter.
Deceased.
One granddaughter.
Alive.
Who?
Thomas hesitated.
Then looked at me.
“You know her.”
Of course.
Everyone knew everyone in this nightmare.
“Who?”
“Dr. Emily Hart.”
Ellie’s pediatrician.
My stomach dropped.
Emily had treated Ellie since birth.
She knew her medical history.
Her blood.
Everything.
Had she been testing Ellie?
Thomas shook his head.
“Emily doesn’t know.”
“About Rose?”
“No.”
Thomas kept the family secret to protect her.
Then my phone buzzed.
Emily.
I answered.
Her voice was panicked.
“Rachel, where is Ellie?”
“With me.”
“Do not take her to St. Matthew’s.”
“Why?”
“I found something in her chart.”
“What?”
“Someone added a genetic monitoring order under my credentials.”
Marcus.
Or someone inside Halcyon.
Emily continued:
“It’s not only Ellie.”
“What?”
“Every child in my practice with a specific blood marker has been flagged.”
Hundreds of children potentially screened without informed consent.
This was bigger than our family.
Much bigger.
Then Emily whispered:
“Rachel, one of those children disappeared last month.”
My blood went cold.
“What do you mean disappeared?”
“His parents were told he’d been transferred to another hospital.”
“And?”
“There’s no transfer record.”
Dad stood.
“Name?”
Emily answered:
“Caleb Foster. Four years old.”
The room went silent.
May you like
This wasn’t about patents anymore.
A child was missing.
