Chapter 11: The Shaw House
The Shaw house sat forty minutes outside the city.
I arrived with police units hidden half a mile away.
Morales hated the plan.
“If you lose communication, we move in.””
“Understood.””
“And Daniel?””
I looked at him.
“Don’t try to be a hero.””
“I’m trying to be a father.””
I walked alone toward the house.
The building looked abandoned.
Paint peeled from the siding.
One upstairs window glowed.
The front door opened before I touched it.
“Come in, Daniel.””
I recognized the voice now.
Not because I had heard it recently.
Because I had heard it years ago.
At my wedding.
Claire’s real sister.
The memory was faint, but suddenly undeniable.
I stepped inside.
Evelyn stood at the end of the hallway.
Older.
Thin.
Gray streaks through her blonde hair.
A rifle rested against the wall.
Lily sat on a couch beside her.
“Daddy!””
She ran to me.
I dropped to my knees and held her.
“Are you okay?””
“Yes.””
“Where’s Maria?””
“Hospital,” Evelyn said.
“Alive.””
I looked at her.
“You broke into a police safe house.””
“I didn’t.””
“Then how did you get Lily?””
“The officers brought her to me.””
“What?””
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“You still haven’t understood how deep Richard’s network goes.””
Lily whispered, “Daddy, she helped us.””
I checked her arms, face, neck.
No injuries.
“Go into the next room, sweetheart.””
“I don’t want to.””
“I’m staying right here.””
Evelyn opened a door.
Inside was a television and toys.
“Claire prepared that room.””
I stared at her.
“Claire knew about this place?””
“It was hers.””
Lily reluctantly went inside.
I waited until the door closed.
Then I faced Evelyn.
“You have five minutes.””
She nodded.
“Richard recruited me twenty years ago.””
“For Mercer?””
“For his private research.””
“What research?””
“Genetic inheritance.””
I laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe all this was some science experiment?””
“No.””
Evelyn sat.
“It was about money.””
That I believed.
“My father discovered Richard had manipulated company ownership agreements. Richard needed a descendant from both Mercer and Hart bloodlines.””
“Lily.””
“Yes.””
“You volunteered your eggs.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because Richard threatened Claire.””
I stepped closer.
“You said Lily wasn’t created for Richard.””
“She wasn’t.””
“Explain.””
Evelyn looked toward the room where Lily waited.
“I agreed to the procedure because Claire and I made our own plan.””
“What plan?””
“To give you a daughter.””
I stared at her.
“Without telling me.””
“Yes.””
“You call that a plan?””
“I call it a terrible decision made by frightened people.””
Her eyes filled.
“Claire wanted a child. Richard wanted an heir. I wanted Claire alive.””
“So everyone used me.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt more than an excuse.
“And Natalie?””
“Richard’s fixer.””
“She replaced you.””
“After he realized I had turned against him.””
“What happened?””
“Claire discovered the illegal trials. We planned to expose Richard.””
“Then you disappeared.””
“He tried to kill me.””
Evelyn pulled back her sleeve.
Burn scars covered her arm.
“I survived.””
“And Natalie took your identity.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you come back?””
“Because Claire told me not to.””
My anger exploded.
“Claire is dead!””
“I know.””
“You left her alone!””
Evelyn stood.
“You think I don’t live with that?””
“Did you sabotage her car?””
“No.””
“Who did?””
Evelyn looked toward the floor.
“Natalie.””
I remembered Vanessa’s unfinished sentence.
It wasn’t Richard.
“Why?””
“Because Claire had the original ownership agreement.””
“Where is it?””
“Claire hid it before she died.””
“Where?””
Evelyn looked at me.
“With Lily.””
My breath stopped.
“She was a newborn.””
“Exactly.””
“That makes no sense.””
“Claire knew Richard would search houses, offices, banks and storage units.””
Evelyn walked toward a cabinet.
“She chose something nobody would question.””
She removed an old stuffed rabbit.
Identical to Lily’s favorite toy.
My skin prickled.
“Claire bought two.””
Evelyn cut open the seam.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
“What does it open?””
“A deposit box.””
“Where?””
“Not a bank.””
She handed me the key.
“Mercer Biotech.””
I stared at it.
“There are no deposit boxes at Mercer.””
“There is one.””
The front door suddenly opened.
I spun around.
Richard entered.
Alone.
No gun visible.
He smiled.
“Thank you, Evelyn.””
She reached for the rifle.
Richard raised a small remote.
“Don’t.””
Evelyn froze.
“What is that?””
Richard looked toward Lily’s room.
“A precaution.””
My blood went cold.
“You wired the house?””
“No.””
His smile widened.
“I wired something much more valuable.””
He looked directly at me.
“Lily’s medical implant.””
I stared at him.
“She doesn’t have an implant.””
Richard’s smile disappeared.
May you like
“Yes, Daniel.””
“She does.””
