CHAPTER 10 — THE DNA FILE
"I told you..."
"...they picked us."
Noah's words echoed through the tunnel.
Nathan stared at the DNA report in Officer Collins' hands, certain he had misheard.
"Run it again."
Collins looked at the forensic examiner.
"We already did."
"How many times?"
"Three."
The examiner swallowed.
"The results were identical every time."
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
"My father was present at Daniel's birth."
"He held him."
"He announced his name."
"There has to be a mistake."
The examiner quietly slid another page across the portable evidence table.
"There wasn't only one DNA report."
Nathan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"This report was prepared eight years ago."
He lifted a second envelope.
"And this one..."
"...was prepared yesterday."
Nathan's pulse quickened.
"Yesterday?"
"Someone reopened the investigation before tonight."
Officer Collins looked up sharply.
"Who authorized it?"
The examiner answered with a single name.
"Charles Harrington."
Silence.
Nathan slowly looked at him.
"My father has been dead for twelve years."
The examiner nodded.
"I know."
"Yet someone used his biometric authorization."
Back at the mansion...
Crime scene investigators continued searching Charles Harrington's private study.
Hidden behind an antique bookcase, they discovered a narrow vault.
Inside were dozens of leather binders.
Each carried the same gold emblem.
A tree.
Its roots wrapped around four circles.
Beneath it were four words.
Legacy Through Selection.
Detective Harris opened the first binder.
His face hardened.
"They weren't charity records."
"What are they?"
"Family files."
One page after another listed wealthy families from across the country.
Each entry contained photographs of newborn babies.
Medical histories.
Inheritance values.
Genetic evaluations.
Officer Harris whispered,
"My God..."
"This wasn't one family."
"It was a program."
Meanwhile...
Nathan and Noah sat together inside a quiet consultation room at the hospital.
Noah had finally stopped crying.
He looked exhausted.
Nathan handed him a bottle of water.
"You don't have to tell me everything tonight."
Noah looked at him for a long moment.
"They'll keep coming."
Nathan frowned.
"Who?"
"The people Grandpa worked with."
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"My father is dead."
Noah nodded.
"I know."
"But the Board isn't."
Nathan felt another chill.
"What board?"
Noah leaned closer.
"They never used names."
"They used numbers."
"I only remember one."
Nathan waited.
"Number One."
Officer Collins entered carrying another evidence bag.
"Nathan..."
She looked toward Noah.
"I need to ask him one question."
Nathan nodded.
Collins crouched until she was eye level with the boy.
"Noah..."
"Do you recognize this?"
She removed an old silver ring from the evidence bag.
The same ring seen in the hospital photograph.
Noah's face immediately lost color.
"He wore that."
"Who?"
"The man everyone called Number One."
Nathan looked at Collins.
"Not my father?"
Noah slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He worked for him."
The room became deathly quiet.
If Charles Harrington wasn't the leader...
then someone else had been pulling the strings all along.
At that moment...
Nathan's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Who is this?"
A calm female voice replied.
"If Noah is with you..."
"...leave the hospital."
Nathan stiffened.
"Who are you?"
"You have less than five minutes."
The line went dead.
Officer Collins had already traced the signal.
"It came from inside the hospital."
Every officer in the room reached for a radio.
Before anyone could move—
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the floor.
Emergency alarms began screaming.
Hospital staff shouted in confusion.
Backup generators failed to start.
Officer Collins pulled out a flashlight.
"Stay together!"
Nathan reached for Noah.
The chair beside him...
was empty.
"Noah?"
No answer.
"NOAH!"
His voice echoed through the black hallway.
A small hand suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
Nathan turned.
It was Noah.
The boy pressed a finger to his lips.
"Don't talk."
Nathan frowned.
"What is it?"
Noah whispered,
"They always turn off the lights first."
Then—
a single flashlight beam appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Not from the police.
Someone else.
One beam became two.
Then four.
Dark silhouettes advanced silently through the hallway.
None of them wore hospital uniforms.
None wore police badges.
Each of them wore black gloves.
And on the right hand of every stranger...
a silver ring reflected the emergency lights.
Officer Collins raised her weapon.
"Police! Stop where you are!"
The figures didn't stop.
The one in front calmly removed his ring...
held it up where Nathan could see it...
and spoke only one sentence.
"Charles Harrington failed."
A slow smile crossed the stranger's face.
"We won't."
Then every flashlight went out at once.
May you like
The hallway plunged back into darkness.
And the hunt for Noah began again.
