Chapter 13 - The Woman Who Died Twice
Naomi stared at the screen until the investigator lowered it.
“My mother died when I was six.”
Margaret’s face showed no surprise.
Caleb saw it.
“You knew.”
Margaret turned away.
Naomi stepped toward her.
“You knew she was alive.”
“I suspected.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin?”
“I did not arrange her death.”
“But you knew Rebecca had her.”
Margaret looked at Naomi.
“Your mother was part of the program.”
“As a nurse.”
“As a participant.”
Naomi’s breath caught.
Cole spoke through the video call.
“Naomi, your mother was not only a staff member. She was one of the first women subjected to the embryo-transfer trials.”
Naomi shook her head.
“No.”
“Rebecca used her identity records to create several false patient histories.”
“Why?”
“To hide unsuccessful births and unauthorized genetic transfers.”
Caleb looked at the frozen video image.
The woman behind Lena had Naomi’s eyes but appeared far older than the mother Naomi remembered.
“Why show us her face?” he asked.
“Because Rebecca wants Naomi to come,” Cole said.
The screen changed.
A text-free video feed resumed.
Lena lifted her head.
Her wrists were restrained, but her voice remained calm.
“Caleb, don’t bring the sample.”
The woman behind her struck the side of Lena’s chair, not Lena herself.
One twin began crying.
Lena twisted toward the bassinets.
“Don’t touch them.”
A second figure entered the frame.
Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
Or Rebecca Voss.
She looked exactly as Caleb remembered from childhood charity galas—silver-blonde hair, composed posture, expensive suit beneath a white medical coat.
She faced the camera.
“Bring C-32 and the original drive to the Carter Women’s Clinic. Come without military personnel, or the infants will be transferred somewhere you will never find.”
The feed ended.
Cole immediately ordered his team to prepare.
Margaret shook her head.
“She will see them.”
“We can approach underground,” Cole said.
“The tunnels were sealed.”
“Not all of them.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Daniel showed me plans before the boat explosion.”
Caleb’s frustration erupted.
“All of you knew pieces of this while Lena paid the price.”
No one answered.
He picked up the blood sample labeled C-32.
Naomi touched his arm.
“That could be the only surviving proof of what they did to you.”
“My children are proof I exist.”
“If we give Rebecca the sample, she may destroy it.”
“If we don’t, she may hurt them.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“She won’t hurt the babies.”
Caleb turned toward her.
“You sound certain.”
“Rebecca needs them alive.”
“And Lena?”
Margaret’s eyes lowered.
The answer hollowed Caleb’s chest.
Lena was expendable.
They traveled in two vehicles without military markings. Cole remained connected through an encrypted earpiece. Naomi carried the old B-19 key. Margaret sat beside Caleb in silence.
The abandoned Carter Women’s Clinic stood behind rusted gates and overgrown trees. Its brick walls were stained by decades of rain. Several windows had been boarded.
Margaret directed them toward a delivery entrance beneath the rear wing.
Caleb stopped before opening the door.
“Tell me one thing truthfully.”
Margaret looked at him.
“When you convinced me to leave Lena, did you know the fire wasn’t her fault?”
Her eyes filled with moisture.
She did not cry.
“Yes.”
The single word destroyed whatever remained between them.
Caleb stepped from the vehicle.
Margaret followed.
Inside, the clinic smelled of mold and antiseptic.
They descended a narrow stairway to the basement. Naomi inserted the key into a steel door marked B-19.
It opened.
The corridor beyond was brightly lit.
Modern.
Active.
Monitors hummed behind glass walls. Refrigeration units lined one side. Medical carts stood ready as though the facility had never closed.
Cole whispered through Caleb’s earpiece.
“We’re seeing heat signatures below you.”
“How many?”
“Eleven.”
Margaret froze.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
She stared through the glass wall.
“Rebecca never had more than four people.”
A door opened at the end of the corridor.
Lena stepped out holding Emma in one arm and Ethan in the other.
She was no longer restrained.
Caleb’s breath stopped.
“Lena.”
She looked directly at him.
Her expression held no relief.
Only warning.
“Don’t come closer.”
May you like
Behind her, armed men emerged from both sides of the corridor.
Then Lena said, “Caleb, your mother didn’t betray us alone.”
