Chapter 28 - The Woman in the Family Photograph
We raced back toward the nursery.
The door wouldn't open.
Richard tried the control panel.
Nothing.
Dad hit the metal with his shoulder.
“Stand back.”
The door gave slightly.
Again.
It opened.
The nursery was empty.
Elena was gone.
I screamed.
“Mom!”
No answer.
Dad ran into the hallway.
“Find her!”
Richard moved left.
Leah right.
I followed the sound of footsteps.
At the end of the corridor, a door opened.
Diane stood there.
Older.
Calmer.
Holding a pistol.
Behind her was my mother.
Diane had one hand around her throat.
“Don't move.”
Dad raised his weapon.
“Diane.”
She smiled.
“General.”
“You're finished.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“She's finished.”
My mother stared at me.
“Camila, don't come closer.”
Diane laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
“You've done enough.”
“I haven't even started.”
I looked at Diane.
“You hurt me when I was a child.”
“Yes.”
“You gave me the scar.”
“Yes.”
“You erased my memories.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Carter.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated my marriage.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I manipulated your husband.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Ethan came to Carter willingly.”
Ethan appeared behind me.
“That isn't true.”
Diane looked at him.
“You don't remember.”
Ethan went pale.
“What did you do?”
“Your father signed the first agreement.”
Ethan stared.
“My father?”
Diane nodded.
“He needed money.”
“What agreement?”
“Custody.”
I looked at Ethan.
“He agreed to monitor me.”
“I didn't know what it meant.”
Diane laughed.
“You never do.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“I loved her.”
“And you still do.”
She looked at me.
“That was the problem.”
My voice shook.
“You made us fight.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because attachment was measurable only when threatened.”
I shook my head.
“You're sick.”
“No.”
Diane looked at Leah.
“She learned faster than you.”
Leah stepped closer.
“You're the reason I lost my name.”
Diane's expression softened.
“I gave you a chance to live.”
“You sold me.”
“I protected you from Carter.”
“You were Carter.”
“Not at the end.”
Leah hesitated.
“What do you mean?”
Diane lowered the gun.
For the first time, I saw fear in her eyes.
“Daniel was never the true director.”
Dad looked at her.
“Then who was?”
Diane looked at me.
She whispered:
“Elena.”
My mother closed her eyes.
I turned.
“Mom?”
She shook her head.
“Not by choice.”
“What happened?”
Diane continued.
“Carter Ridge was built by a private consortium.”
“Who?”
“Military contractors. Psychologists. Genetic researchers. Intelligence officers.”
Dad's face tightened.
“But one person funded the final phase.”
“Who?”
Diane smiled.
“Your grandfather.”
Silence.
My grandfather.
Dead for twenty years.
I laughed because the alternative was screaming.
“He was gone before I was born.”
“He wasn't.”
Dad looked horrified.
“What are you saying?”
“Your father disappeared because Carter needed him.”
Dad shook his head.
“I buried him.”
“You buried an empty coffin.”
My mother's voice trembled.
“No.”
Diane nodded.
“Your father built the original behavioral model.”
Dad stared at her.
“Why?”
“To control dissent inside military families.”
I felt dizzy.
“So my family was chosen because of him.”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
“You were the only child to resist.”
Diane looked at me.
“That's why they needed the scar.”
“What did the scar do?”
She lowered her gun.
“It wasn't only an identifier.”
I touched my shoulder.
“It was a receiver.”
A chill moved through me.
“A receiver for what?”
“A trigger.”
My mother whispered, “Diane.”
Diane looked at her.
“You should tell her.”
Mom stepped forward.
“There was a time when I believed I was saving Camila.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I used the receiver to send an inhibitory signal.”
I stared.
“You put the opposite of the programming inside me.”
Mom nodded.
“To stop them from controlling you.”
Leah looked at me.
“And that's why she can't be controlled.”
Dad looked toward Diane.
“Then what is Daniel doing?”
Diane's face went pale.
“Activating the original signal.”
My phone vibrated.
A message.
N-01 located.
A second.
C-14 synchronized.
A third.
COUNTER-ANCHOR DETECTED.
Leah looked at the screen.
“What does that mean?”
Diane whispered:
“It means the three of you are connected.”
“Me, Leah, and Noah.”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
Diane looked at my son.
“The network begins.”
The lights in the building flickered.
Then every electronic device in the hallway turned on.
Phones.
Monitors.
Security cameras.
All displaying the same image.
A man standing in front of a window.
Old.
Thin.
Silver hair.
My father's father.
Alive.
Dad dropped his weapon.
“No.”
The man looked directly into the camera.
“Michael.”
Dad whispered:
“Father.”
I stared at the screen.
May you like
My grandfather smiled.
“My family has come home.”
