CHAPTER 26 THE WRONG DAUGHTER
DNA testing confirmed that Subject Seven was connected to the Shaw bloodline.
But she was not Claire’s child.
The doctor placed the report on the table.
“She is a close biological relative.”
“How close?” Nathan asked.
“Her mother is likely the daughter of one of Evelyn’s children.”
Claire looked at Gabriel.
He stepped back.
“I have no daughter.”
Nathan turned toward Vanessa.
“And Gideon?”
“I don’t know,” Vanessa said.
Evelyn sat beside the window, holding Subject Seven.
The baby slept peacefully against her chest.
Claire watched them from across the room.
“You recognized Veronica’s name.”
Evelyn nodded.
“My father had another daughter before he married my mother.”
“Veronica?”
“She was raised somewhere else. My father refused to speak about her.”
“Did Cole know?”
“Cole knew everything.”
Gabriel took the strip of film.
“Veronica would be too old to be the mother of this child.”
“But she could be the grandmother,” Nathan said.
Claire approached Evelyn.
“Was Veronica working with Cole when we were born?”
“I saw her at St. Orla.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because until tonight, I believed I had imagined it.”
Claire’s patience broke.
“Everyone keeps remembering the truth only after my daughter disappears.”
Evelyn looked down.
“You are right.”
Gabriel examined the remaining names on the film.
Several had addresses.
One woman lived in Boston.
Another had died in a house fire.
A third was listed as missing.
The fourth name belonged to Vera.
Vanessa stared at it.
“My sister is a Shaw descendant?”
“Or the records were designed to make her appear to be one,” Nathan said.
The doctor returned with another result.
Subject Seven had traces of an experimental sedative in her blood.
A chemical tag had been added to the formula.
BW-4.
Nathan recognized the initials.
“Blackwood.”
The baby had not been abandoned randomly.
She had been placed where they would find her.
She was carrying something.
A scan revealed a tiny metal capsule hidden beneath the skin of her upper arm.
The doctor removed it.
Inside was a memory chip.
Nathan connected it to a secure laptop.
A single video file opened.
Cole Whitmore appeared on the screen.
He sat inside a dark room.
A newspaper beside him carried a date from only three weeks earlier.
Cole looked directly into the camera.
“If this recording has been opened, then the continuity system has failed.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
His father continued.
“Claire’s child must not be delivered to the Shaw trustees.”
Claire moved closer to the screen.
Cole smiled.
“Nathan, Margaret has lied to you about many things.”
Nathan’s hands tightened.
“But her greatest lie was allowing you to believe you were my son.”
The screen turned black.
A final line appeared.
BRING SUBJECT SEVEN TO THE BLACKWOOD MAUSOLEUM.
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Below it was a deadline.
They had less than six hours.
