CHAPTER 6 – The Real Enemy Was Never Daniel
Daniel sat inside an interrogation room, handcuffed.
Detectives believed the case was nearly solved.
But Daniel suddenly laughed.
A slow...
cold...
terrifying laugh.
"You people think I'm the monster?"
He looked directly at Detective Harris.
"You've arrested the wrong man."
The detective slammed the table.
"Your fingerprints were on the poisoned vitamins."
Daniel smiled.
"I delivered them."
"I didn't make them."
Silence.
Then Daniel leaned forward.
"I was being blackmailed."
Back at the hospital, Adrian gathered Emma, Eleanor, and the FBI agents who had just arrived.
He placed an old photograph on the table.
In it stood Adrian...
Daniel...
and Dr. Victor Hayes.
All smiling together at the opening of a genetics research laboratory.
Emma couldn't believe it.
"You knew each other?"
Adrian nodded.
"Years ago."
"Victor was brilliant."
"But he became obsessed with human DNA."
"He believed the wealthy should be able to create 'perfect children.'"
When Adrian refused to fund the illegal experiments, Victor stole years of research and vanished without a trace.
No one had seen him since.
Until now.
The FBI agent interrupted.
"We've located one of Victor's abandoned laboratories."
Inside, investigators found dozens of fake identities...
medical records...
and surveillance photos.
Covering an entire wall...
were hundreds of pictures of Noah.
From the day he was born.
His first birthday.
His first day at school.
Even photos taken outside the hospital just weeks ago.
Victor had been watching Noah his entire life.
But the most horrifying discovery was waiting inside a locked steel cabinet.
A folder labeled:
PROJECT HEIR.
Emma opened it with trembling hands.
The first sentence made everyone's blood freeze.
"Subject N-01 (Noah) is the only successful child produced from the prototype genetic program."
Adrian's heart nearly stopped.
Noah hadn't become a target by accident.
He had been the experiment...
from the very beginning.
And somewhere, hidden in the shadows, Dr. Victor Hayes smiled as he watched the hospital through a live security camera.
He whispered to himself,
May you like
"Phase Two begins tonight."
To be continued...
