Chapter 7 - THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL
The explosion threw David and me across the room. My ears rang with a piercing, high-pitched squeal, and the air filled with acrid white smoke that burned my throat and blinded my eyes.
"Get down!" David roared, coughing violently as he fired a blind shot toward the shattered doorway.
Heavy combat boots thudded against the floorboards. Masked operatives in black tactical gear swarmed through the breach, moving with terrifying, military-precision efficiency. Before David could rack another shell into the hunting rifle, three tasers discharged simultaneously.
Arcs of blue electricity slammed into David’s chest. He let out a strangled gasp, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed heavily onto the floor, paralyzed and unconscious.
"David!" I screamed, crawling toward him, but a heavy combat boot pinned my shoulder to the floor.
Director Julian Vance stepped through the smoke, brushing a speck of ash from the lapel of his tailored suit. He looked down at me with an expression of cold, clinical detachment, like a scientist inspecting a lab rat.
"Fascinating evening, isn't it, Mrs. Hayes?" Julian smiled smoothly. "Family reunions are always so messy. So emotional."
Clara emerged from the root cellar trapdoor, her hands raised in surrender, her face twisted with pure venom. "Let the children go, Julian! They have nothing to do with your corporate syndicate! Take me! Arrest me! Kill me, you bastard!"
Julian turned his gaze slowly toward Clara, a triumphant gleam in his slate-gray eyes. "Kill you, Clara? Why would I kill my most valuable biological asset? Do you have any idea how many elite clients are bidding millions for the next generation of your genetic line? Project Genesis was never just an experiment. It was a harvest."
He walked over to the open root cellar, peering down into the darkness where Margaret and the three little girls were huddled in terror.
"Bring them up," Julian commanded two operatives.
"No! Stay away from them!" I screamed, thrashing against the boot holding me down, but the pain was blinding.
Two operatives reached down into the shaft and hauled Margaret out, followed by Lily, Chloe, and Mia, who were screaming in absolute terror, crying for their mommy and daddy.
Clara lunged forward like a wild animal, scratching and biting at Julian’s face, managing to tear his cheek open before three operatives tackled her to the floor, pinning her arms behind her back with brutal force.
"You monstrous piece of trash!" Clara spat, blood dripping from her lip. "You won't get away with this! The authorities in Geneva already have my depositions!"
Julian wiped the drop of blood from his cheek, laughing softly. "The authorities, my dear Clara, are on our payroll. Apex International doesn't just build families; we buy governments. Now..."
He turned to an operative holding a sleek digital tablet. "...prepare the transport helicopters. We are taking all of them to our offshore facility in international waters. Once we arrive, we'll wipe the children's memories, reassign their legal identities to our primary corporate donors, and reset Clara's program status."
He looked down at me, his smile sickeningly warm.
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"Thank you for being such wonderful adoptive parents, Mrs. Hayes. Your service to Apex International is officially terminated."
As the operatives grabbed my daughters and dragged them toward the shattered doorway into the freezing night, a blinding flash of red and blue light suddenly illuminated the snowy pine trees outside.
