CHAPTER 5: The Fifth Child Was Already Dead
Daniel hadn't slept in forty-eight hours.
Five names.
Five birth records.
Five children scattered across America.
Each one connected to Project Genesis.
Each one carrying his DNA.
Detective Ryan Collins stood beside a massive digital map covered with red pins.
"We finally traced the first child."
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"Where?"
"A small town in Montana."
They boarded a private jet immediately.
The entire flight, Daniel couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious phone call.
"You've only found two..."
"There are seven."
If the caller was telling the truth...
Someone else already knew where every child was.
When Daniel's convoy arrived at the quiet farmhouse, police tape surrounded the property.
His heart sank.
"No..."
Detective Collins stepped forward slowly.
"We're too late."
Inside the house, family photographs still hung on the walls.
A birthday cake sat untouched on the dining table.
Candles.
Balloons.
A gift wrapped in blue paper.
Everything looked frozen in time.
Except...
The bedroom upstairs.
A teenage boy lay peacefully on the floor.
No signs of violence.
No struggle.
Just one strange symbol burned into the wooden floor beside him.
A black circle.
With seven small stars surrounding it.
Daniel fell to his knees.
"Who was he?"
Collins opened the file.
"His name was Noah Carter."
"Seventeen years old."
"Honor student."
"Captain of his school's football team."
"He died less than six hours ago."
Daniel stared at the boy's face.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
The same blue eyes.
The same jawline.
The same scar above the left eyebrow that Daniel himself had carried since childhood.
His son.
He had found his son...
Only after someone else had silenced him forever.
Then Collins noticed something clenched tightly in Noah's hand.
A silver key.
Attached to it was a tiny paper tag.
Daniel unfolded it with trembling fingers.
Only one sentence was written.
"Protect Lily before the seventh moon."
"What does that mean?" Daniel whispered.
Before anyone could answer—
One of the FBI agents rushed into the room.
"Sir!"
"What is it?"
"You need to see this."
Outside, every television news channel suddenly switched to breaking news.
A famous billionaire philanthropist had just announced the launch of a revolutionary genetic foundation.
The CEO smiled confidently at hundreds of reporters.
Daniel's blood froze.
He recognized the woman instantly.
Dr. Evelyn Mercer.
His mother's closest friend.
The woman everyone believed had died twenty years earlier.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then, with a smile no one else understood, she said,
"The future belongs to the children we created."
Daniel's phone vibrated.
Another unknown number.
He answered without speaking.
The same calm female voice whispered,
"You found the first one."
A pause.
Then—
"Can you save the other four before I do?"
The line went dead.
At that exact moment, Daniel received an emergency alert from mansion security.
LILY ASHFORD IS MISSING.
His world collapsed.
The hunt for his children was over.
Now...
The race to save them had begun.
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END OF CHAPTER 5...
To Be Continued...
