Chapter 11 - The Man Above Danielle
Moretti Tower rose above downtown like a black blade.
Luka stared at it from across the street.
“My father died in Sicily.”
Dad shook his head.
“You attended a closed coffin funeral.”
Luka looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“Yes.”
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite sentence.”
I understood that anger.
The federal team entered through the underground garage.
Dad guided us toward an elevator hidden behind a mechanical room.
It descended six floors below the official basement.
When the doors opened, I smelled disinfectant.
The laboratory looked brand new.
Not abandoned.
Not hidden beneath dust.
Operating.
Glass rooms.
Refrigerators.
Computer stations.
Hundreds of sample containers.
And at the center of the main room stood an elderly man in a charcoal suit.
Vittorio Moretti.
Luka stopped walking.
His father smiled.
“Son.”
Luka didn’t move.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“So are many useful people.”
Danielle stood beside him.
My mother sat in a chair near the wall.
Sophie was in her arms.
I almost ran forward.
Vittorio lifted one hand.
Two armed guards stepped between us.
Luka’s voice became low.
“Move them.”
Vittorio ignored him.
He looked at me.
“Claire Bennett.”
“My daughter.”
“She is unharmed.”
“Give her to me.”
“She is extraordinary.”
“She is a baby.”
“She is the first naturally viable result of thirty years of work.”
I wanted to tear his face apart.
“You stole genetic material.”
“We preserved it.”
“You violated me.”
“We advanced science.”
Dad stepped forward.
“You’re still telling yourself that?”
Vittorio smiled.
“Daniel.”
“You lost.”
“No.”
Vittorio looked toward Sophie.
“I succeeded.”
Luka suddenly moved.
One guard raised his weapon.
Dad shouted.
Agents stormed from the corridor.
Everything exploded at once.
Shouting.
Glass breaking.
People dropping behind tables.
I ran toward Mom.
Danielle grabbed Sophie first.
“Stop!”
She backed toward a secure door, holding my daughter against her chest.
Sophie started crying.
Something inside me snapped.
“Give me my baby.”
Danielle’s face twisted.
“You don’t deserve her.”
“What?”
“My father spent his life building M-17. Your father destroyed him. Luka destroyed the company. And you?”
She laughed bitterly.
“You did nothing except get pregnant.”
“That’s exactly the point!”
She froze.
“Sophie isn’t your project.”
I moved closer.
“She isn’t a cure.”
Another step.
“She isn’t a patent.”
Danielle’s eyes filled with rage.
“She is the future.”
“No.”
I looked at my crying daughter.
“She’s my little girl.”
Danielle hesitated.
That one second was enough.
Mom slammed a metal tray against Danielle’s arm.
Sophie slipped.
I lunged forward.
Caught her.
I fell hard onto the floor with Sophie against my chest.
Luka tackled Danielle.
Federal agents restrained Vittorio.
For several seconds, all I heard was Sophie crying.
I held her.
Kissed her hair.
“I’ve got you.”
Then Vittorio started laughing.
Everyone looked at him.
He nodded toward the laboratory computers.
“You believe this ends because you found one facility?”
Dad’s face hardened.
“What did you do?”
Vittorio smiled.
“The M-17 files were sold three days ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“To whom?” Luka demanded.
Vittorio looked at me.
Then Sophie.
May you like
“To Ryan Carter.”
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