CHAPTER 30 — THE WOMAN TRINITY REMEMBERED
Claire stepped backward.
“I am not her grandmother.”
Trinity-D reached toward her.
“Grandma Claire.”
Emily looked at the toddler, then at Claire.
“How does she know you?”
Claire’s lips trembled.
“I visited her once.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“You visited the safe house every month.”
Claire looked at him with anger.
“You promised not to tell anyone.”
Emily moved closer.
“Tell me what?”
Claire glanced at the children.
“I was responsible for Trinity-D after Laura disappeared.”
“You helped raise her.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she call you Grandma?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Because Helena told her I was Nathan’s mother.”
Silence spread through the cemetery.
Charles looked as though he had been struck.
“That is absurd.”
Claire looked at him.
“Is it?”
Emily stared at Claire.
“Are you Nathan and Nicholas’s mother?”
“The woman listed on their birth certificates was unable to carry children.”
Charles shook his head.
“No.”
“You knew she was not their biological mother.”
“I was told the surrogate died.”
Claire’s voice hardened.
“You were told what Helena needed you to believe.”
Charles took one step toward her.
“You carried the twins?”
Claire did not answer immediately.
Her silence was enough.
Emily looked at Charles.
“You did not know who gave birth to your own sons.”
“The arrangement was anonymous.”
“Nothing in this family was anonymous.”
Nathan’s voice remained connected through the phone.
“Claire knows which twin survived the explosion.”
Emily lifted the phone.
“Can you hear us?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Then show yourself.”
“I cannot until Claire tells you the truth.”
Emily faced Claire.
“Which twin survived?”
“Both survived initially.”
“And later?”
Claire looked toward the fog.
“Nathan discovered Project Mirror. He planned to expose Helena.”
“What happened?”
“He was placed inside the memory room.”
Emily’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Was he killed?”
“I helped one man escape.”
“Which man?”
“He told me he was Nathan.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
Emily understood the pain in her answer.
“You still do not know.”
“No.”
Charles looked toward the phone.
“The voice speaking to us could be Nicholas.”
The caller answered.
“It could.”
Emily felt anger rising.
“You expect me to trust someone who refuses to identify himself?”
“No. I expect you to protect the children.”
The guardian timer continued.
02:31:04.
Grant received an alert.
Several vehicles were approaching the cemetery.
Helena had found them.
Emily handed Trinity-D to Vanessa.
“All three children leave through the eastern gate.”
“There are four children,” Jonathan said.
Emily looked at him.
“What?”
Jonathan pointed toward the original Nathan death file.
“The Trinity program produced four embryos, but Trinity-D was not the fourth child.”
“You said she was the original heir.”
“She was the first child placed into the registry.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Jonathan hesitated.
The approaching vehicles stopped outside the cemetery.
Doors opened.
Grant ordered everyone toward the vault tunnel.
Emily grabbed Jonathan’s arm.
“How many children exist?”
“The fourth embryo was divided before implantation.”
Claire stared at him.
“Identical embryos.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Trinity-D has a twin.”
Emily looked at the toddler.
“Where is the other child?”
“I never knew.”
A shot struck the cemetery gate.
Metal bent inward.
Grant returned fire and ordered Emily underground.
Nathan’s voice came through the phone again.
“I know where the twin is.”
“Tell me.”
“Bring Claire to the northern harbor.”
“Why Claire?”
“Because the child is registered under her name.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Emily stared at her.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You must have signed something.”
“I signed hundreds of documents while working for Helena.”
The gate began opening.
Helena entered through the fog, surrounded by board security officers.
She wore no expression of panic.
Only certainty.
“Give me Trinity-D,” she called.
Emily stood between Helena and the children.
“You are no longer her guardian.”
Helena smiled.
“The network record is not the only thing that determines guardianship.”
She held up a sealed birth certificate.
“The child has a living parent.”
Emily looked at Jonathan.
“You said the paternal identity was hidden.”
“It was.”
Helena opened the certificate.
“The father is here.”
Everyone looked at Charles.
Then Adrian.
Then Silas.
Helena turned toward the cemetery entrance.
A man emerged from behind the Bennett memorial.
Nathan’s face.
He was the same man who had left the phone in the fog.
The caller was still connected.
Emily looked at the man standing before her while Nathan’s voice continued speaking through the phone in her hand.
Two men.
The same face.
The same voice.
The man in the cemetery looked at Trinity-D.
The toddler reached for him.
“Daddy.”
Helena smiled.
“This is Nicholas Bennett.”
Emily lifted the phone.
“And who is speaking to me?”
The caller was silent.
Then a camera activated on the phone screen.
A man sat inside a dark room.
He had Nathan’s face, but his hair was longer and gray appeared near his temples.
Beside him was a young child who looked exactly like Trinity-D.
Her twin.
The man looked directly into the camera.
“My name is Nathan Bennett.”
He rested one hand on the child’s shoulder.
“And Helena has been searching for the wrong first heir.”
The screen moved closer to the second toddler.
A Bennett birthmark rested beneath the child’s collarbone.
But beneath it was another mark.
A small black symbol shaped like a crown.
Claire saw it and screamed.
Charles dropped to his knees.
Emily looked at him.
“What does that symbol mean?”
Charles stared at the child on the screen.
His voice was barely audible.
“It means the child does not belong to the Bennett trust.”
Helena’s smile disappeared.
Emily looked back at the phone.
“Then who does she belong to?”
Nathan lifted a file toward the camera.
On the cover were two words:
WHITMORE AUTHORITY.
Before he could explain, the call disconnected.
The cemetery lights went out.
When they returned, Trinity-D was gone.
So was Claire.
On the ground lay the secret wedding ring, broken into two pieces.
Emily’s phone vibrated.
A final message appeared from an unknown number:
YOU HAVE THREE HOURS TO DECIDE WHICH FAMILY SURVIVES.
Beneath the message was a live map.
One signal moved toward the northern harbor.
The second moved toward Bennett headquarters.
A third signal had appeared inside Emily’s own vehicle.
Emily slowly turned toward the parked car.
From inside came the sound of a child crying.
Not an infant.
A toddler.
And then a small voice called through the darkness.
May you like
“Mommy, don’t let Nathan find me.”
TO BE CONTINUED
