Chapter 4
Chapter 4 – The Woman in the Photograph
I didn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the file.
AUDREY WHITMORE.
Not Audrey Bennett.
Not Audrey Collins.
Whitmore.
Someone had already decided she belonged to me...
Long before we had ever met.
That thought terrified me more than anything my mother had done.
At six the next morning, Detective Harris called.
"We found the building."
"What building?"
"The office your wife described."
"The private clinic."
I frowned.
"I thought it burned down."
"It did."
He paused.
"But the fire wasn't at the headquarters."
"It was at one of their laboratories."
"There were seven locations."
An hour later...
Audrey, Dr. Collins and I stood outside a quiet medical building on the outskirts of Manhattan.
The sign had been removed years ago.
Only four rusted screws remained.
Detective Harris nodded toward the entrance.
"The property has been abandoned for almost three years."
"So why are we here?"
He held up a keycard.
"Because someone used this door yesterday."
Inside...
Everything had been stripped.
Computers.
Furniture.
Medical equipment.
Gone.
Almost as if someone had expected investigators to arrive.
For twenty minutes, the search found nothing.
Then one young officer noticed fresh footprints in the dust.
"They lead downstairs."
The basement contained a single steel door.
Electronic lock.
No power.
One officer forced it open.
The room beyond was surprisingly untouched.
Shelves.
Freezers.
Thousands of patient files.
Dr. Collins slowly turned in a circle.
"My God..."
Detective Harris looked confused.
"What?"
"This isn't a clinic."
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"There are no treatment rooms."
"No waiting area."
"No pharmacy."
"So what is it?"
She swallowed.
"It's a research facility."
Every shelf contained the same type of folder.
DNA profiles.
Pregnancy records.
Family histories.
Psychological evaluations.
Not medical care.
Selection.
One cabinet bore a handwritten label.
W Program
Another read:
Approved Families
My pulse quickened.
"What kind of program is this?"
No one answered.
Because no one knew.
Then Audrey stopped walking.
She was staring at one particular shelf.
"Daniel..."
Her voice had become barely audible.
I hurried over.
"What is it?"
She pointed.
There, between hundreds of folders...
Was one labeled:
AUDREY ELIZABETH BENNETT
My wife's maiden name.
She had never been a patient there.
Yet someone had created an entire file about her.
Detective Harris carefully opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Elementary school.
Middle school.
High school graduation.
College orientation.
Every stage of Audrey's life.
Someone had followed her since she was six years old.
I felt sick.
Dr. Collins whispered,
"This can't be legal."
Detective Harris answered quietly,
"It's not."
Then he reached the final page.
Everyone leaned closer.
A typed report.
Subject meets all primary genetic criteria.
High cognitive potential.
Excellent family medical history.
Suitable maternal candidate.
Suitable.
Not woman.
Not person.
Candidate.
Audrey burst into tears.
"I wasn't chosen..."
She shook her head.
"I was bred."
No one spoke.
Finally I looked at Detective Harris.
"Tell me this isn't real."
He couldn't.
Across the room, another officer called out.
"I found the father's files."
Father's.
Plural.
There were hundreds.
Each man ranked.
Scored.
Evaluated.
Income.
Education.
Athletic ability.
Medical history.
Psychological stability.
I searched desperately.
Then found my own name.
DANIEL WHITMORE
Score: 98.7
Status:
Preferred Match
I stared in disbelief.
"What..."
Dr. Collins read over my shoulder.
"They selected you."
"What?"
"They didn't care who you loved."
"They intended for the two of you to have a child."
Audrey grabbed my hand so tightly it hurt.
"You mean..."
Dr. Collins nodded slowly.
"Meeting each other may never have been an accident."
My entire relationship replayed in my mind.
The charity gala.
The chance introduction.
The delayed elevator.
The spilled champagne.
The phone call that reunited us after we'd lost contact.
Every coincidence...
Suddenly felt planned.
I whispered,
"No..."
Detective Harris suddenly received another call.
His expression hardened.
"Repeat that."
Silence.
Then—
"Lock the building down."
He ended the call.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The facial recognition search came back."
"The man your wife identified..."
"The doctor."
He placed a tablet on the table.
The screen displayed an old passport photo.
Audrey's face turned white.
"It's him."
Detective Harris nodded.
"His real name isn't Dr. Alan Pierce."
"So who is he?"
The detective took a slow breath.
"Dr. Victor Hale."
"He disappeared fifteen years ago."
"After serving as chief genetic researcher..."
He looked directly at us.
"...for a government-funded human genetics project."
Before anyone could respond—
Every light in the building went out.
Darkness.
Absolute darkness.
Someone screamed upstairs.
Then—
Emergency generators failed.
The entire facility became silent.
Detective Harris reached for his flashlight.
Nothing.
Dead.
Every battery had somehow been drained.
Then...
A calm male voice echoed through the darkness.
"Please remain where you are."
"You've entered private property."
The voice wasn't coming from the hallway.
It came through hidden speakers.
Another voice followed.
Female.
Cold.
Controlled.
"I warned Victoria she was becoming emotional."
"She failed."
"But failure is expected."
There was a brief pause.
Then the woman continued.
"Phase Two begins immediately."
A metallic click echoed behind us.
The steel door slammed shut.
Locked.
Audrey clutched my arm.
"Daniel..."
I held her close.
"It's okay."
But even as I said it...
I knew I was lying.
Because for the first time...
It wasn't my mother hunting us.
It was the people she had been working for all along.
And judging by the calmness in that woman's voice...
May you like
They had never expected us to leave the building alive.
End of Chapter 4
