Chapter 5 - The Two Babies
5
Matteo tore the photograph from the wall.
Liana stood behind him, gripping Gabriel.
Both infants in the picture appeared healthy.
Gabriel was younger in it.
Perhaps seven months.
Nico looked approximately the same age.
They had been photographed together before the supposed surgery.
Before the empty coffin.
Before Gabriel appeared inside Matteo’s life.
“Why would they need both?” Liana asked.
Matteo did not answer.
He looked toward Alessandro.
His uncle seemed genuinely stunned.
“I don’t know.”
Marco tried opening the locked medical room.
“Electronic system.”
Matteo shoved past him and struck the glass with a metal chair.
Once.
Twice.
On the third impact, it fractured.
The fourth shattered it.
Inside, the room contained no child.
But it contained evidence.
Boxes of formula.
Diapers.
Medication.
Several were dated only days earlier.
Someone had been keeping a baby here recently.
Matteo found a small blue sweater.
He lifted it.
Liana saw his hands shaking.
“You know it?”
“Sofia bought this.”
His voice broke slightly.
“She packed it in the hospital bag.”
Liana looked away, allowing him a moment of privacy.
Matteo pressed the fabric to his face.
Then lowered it.
“He was here.”
Marco called from a desk.
“Boss.”
A computer remained logged in.
Most files were encrypted.
One folder was open.
SUBJECT 14 - TRANSFER PREP.
Matteo leaned over Marco.
“Open it.”
The first document contained medical observations.
Nicolas Varric.
Age: 9 months.
Status: viable.
Location: altered.
Phase II pairing: Subject G-7714.
Liana recognized the code immediately.
“Gabriel.”
Matteo scrolled.
Compatibility index: 99.7%.
Procedure viability dependent on maternal line.
Liana stared.
“Maternal line?”
Marco opened another page.
Three names appeared.
Gabriel Graves.
Nicolas Varric.
Liana Graves.
Matteo looked at her.
“Why are you listed?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Marco opened a genetic profile.
Liana’s birth records.
Her blood.
Her family history.
Everything.
“They’ve been tracking me.”
Caroline’s warning echoed in her mind.
Families.
Bloodlines.
Markers.
Matteo pointed at another field.
PATERNAL SOURCE: E.G.
Evan Graves.
Liana felt sick.
“He knew.”
“Maybe.”
“No. He came back asking about blood tests.”
Her breathing accelerated.
“He knew exactly what Gabriel was.”
Matteo looked toward Marco.
“Find Evan.”
“Already trying.”
“Try harder.”
Alessandro moved closer to the computer.
“There should be a protocol.”
“What?”
“The old research projects used protocol summaries.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You remember a lot for someone who quit watching.”
Alessandro ignored the accusation and searched.
Finally he found it.
PROJECT CONTINUITY - PHASE II.
The document was incomplete.
But one paragraph remained readable.
The study concerned a rare inherited cellular mutation found in two unrelated bloodlines.
Varric.
Graves.
When combined in compatible infant subjects, researchers believed certain stem cell therapies could potentially correct a degenerative immune condition.
Liana frowned.
“What condition?”
Alessandro went pale.
Matteo noticed.
“You know.”
His uncle sat down.
“Matteo.”
“What condition?”
Alessandro looked at him.
“The one your father had.”
Silence.
“My father had cardiomyopathy.”
“That was the public diagnosis.”
“What was the real one?”
“A hereditary immune degeneration.”
Matteo stared.
“Do I have it?”
“No.”
“You sound sure.”
“We tested you.”
“Without telling me?”
“Yes.”
Matteo’s anger returned.
Alessandro continued.
“You’re a carrier, not symptomatic.”
“And Nico?”
“Could inherit it.”
Liana looked toward Gabriel.
“And my child?”
Alessandro studied the screen.
“Apparently his genetic profile makes him unusually compatible for treatment research.”
Liana’s face twisted.
“They stole my baby because his blood might help Matteo’s son?”
“No.”
A voice came through a speaker overhead.
Everyone froze.
Dr. Elias Vale.
Matteo looked toward the ceiling.
“Vale.”
“Good evening, Matteo.”
Marco searched for the speaker system.
Vale continued calmly.
“You always were difficult to keep away from locked doors.”
“Where is my son?”
“Safe.”
“Bring him to me.”
“I wish it were that simple.”
“You have ten seconds before I start destroying this facility.”
Vale laughed softly.
“You already destroyed the useful part.”
Matteo grabbed a surveillance camera.
“Show yourself.”
“No.”
Liana stepped forward.
“Where is Gabriel’s father?”
Silence.
Then Vale said:
“Hello, Liana.”
Her skin crawled.
“You knew I was coming to the estate.”
“Yes.”
“You put me there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel needed you.”
She looked at her son.
“You stole him.”
“I saved him.”
“You put him in another family!”
“I prevented his death.”
“You told me he was dead!”
“Because Evan demanded it.”
Liana went cold.
Matteo stared at the speaker.
“Where is Evan?”
Vale paused.
“Closer than you think.”
A door unlocked down the corridor.
Marco raised his weapon.
Matteo moved first.
Liana followed despite his order to stay.
They reached a laboratory.
A man sat tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Thin.
Bearded.
Liana stopped.
“Evan.”
Her former partner lifted his head.
When he saw her, he began crying.
“Liana.”
She did not move toward him.
“You knew.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You knew.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“You came back asking for Gabriel’s blood.”
“I was trying to find out if they had identified him.”
“You knew they were looking for him?”
Evan closed his eyes.
“My father was part of the research.”
Liana felt the room tilt.
“What?”
“He worked with Matteo’s father.”
Alessandro whispered, “Daniel Graves.”
Evan looked at him.
“You remember.”
Alessandro nodded slowly.
Liana stared between them.
“My son was targeted because of Evan’s family?”
Evan looked at her.
“And yours.”
“My family has nothing to do with this.”
“You never knew your mother.”
Liana froze.
Her mother had died when Liana was three.
At least that was what her father had always told her.
Evan continued.
“Your biological mother was a research subject.”
“No.”
“Her name wasn’t Hannah Graves.”
“Stop.”
“Liana—”
“Stop.”
Vale’s voice came through the room.
“He’s telling the truth.”
Liana looked toward the camera.
“My mother’s name was Elise Porter.”
“No.”
“She participated in the original Continuity trial.”
Matteo’s face tightened.
“What happened to her?”
Vale answered.
“She survived longer than anyone.”
Liana whispered, “Survived what?”
“The disease.”
Her heart stopped.
Vale continued.
“You carry the same protective mutation Gabriel carries.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“Then why do you need my baby?”
“Because Gabriel carries both your protective mutation and Evan’s regenerative marker.”
“And Nico?”
“Nico carries the Varric mutation we needed to correct.”
Matteo’s face turned murderous.
“You experimented on my son.”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“I told you. Safe.”
“Where?”
There was another pause.
Then Vale said:
“I didn’t take Nico.”
Matteo froze.
“What?”
“I moved Gabriel into your household because Sofia’s death made the original arrangement impossible.”
“What original arrangement?”
“Sofia agreed to protect Gabriel.”
Matteo stared.
“My wife knew?”
“She discovered the project and offered another solution.”
Liana could barely process it.
Vale continued.
“She wanted both boys hidden from the foundation.”
“Then why was Gabriel placed with me without explanation?”
“Because Sofia died before she could tell you.”
“Who killed her?”
Vale fell silent.
Matteo stepped toward the camera.
“Who killed Sofia?”
“Ask your family.”
Matteo looked at Alessandro.
His uncle’s face became white.
Vale continued.
“But if you want your son, you should move quickly.”
“Why?”
“Because the foundation knows you found this facility.”
The lights shut off.
Emergency illumination activated.
On a wall monitor, a live video suddenly appeared.
A baby slept inside a crib.
Dark hair.
Blue blanket.
Matteo stepped toward the screen.
“Nico.”
The baby rolled slightly.
Alive.
Liana covered her mouth.
A clock appeared beneath the image.
02:58:43.
Counting down.
Matteo shouted, “What happens when that reaches zero?”
Vale’s voice answered through the darkness.
“Someone moves him again.”
“Where is he?”
“Find Sofia’s ledger.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Where?”
Vale’s final answer came as the system began shutting down.
“She hid it inside the only thing you refused to open after her death.”
May you like
Matteo knew instantly.
Her coffin.
