CHAPTER 5 — "I NEVER WANTED TO BURY OUR DAUGHTER."
The gunshot echoed through the abandoned warehouse long after the old janitor collapsed.
Emily caught him before he hit the floor.
Warm blood soaked through her hospital gown.
"No... no, stay with me!"
The old man struggled to breathe. His trembling hand closed around Emily's wrist with surprising strength.
"The key..." he whispered.
"...don't let them..."
His eyes drifted toward Quincy.
"...become... number... thirty-seven..."
Then his grip loosened.
The silver key slipped into Emily's palm.
He was gone.
For a heartbeat, nobody moved.
Even Daniel stared at the dead man with horror, as if he hadn't expected the bullet to kill him.
Emily slowly looked up.
"You shot him."
Daniel's face twisted.
"I didn't have a choice."
"No?"
Her voice shook with fury.
"You had a choice when they stole our daughter."
"You had a choice when they lied to me."
"You had a choice every single second after that."
Margaret stepped forward, her Bible still tucked beneath one arm.
"You speak like a mother blinded by emotion."
Emily laughed.
A cold, broken laugh that echoed through the warehouse.
"No."
"I'm speaking like a mother who just watched an innocent man die."
Margaret's expression never changed.
"He knew too much."
Emily stared at her.
"How many babies?"
Margaret answered without blinking.
"Thirty-six."
Silence crashed over the room.
Quincy covered his mouth.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Emily felt as though every bone in her body had turned to ice.
"Thirty-six children..."
Margaret nodded.
"All given better lives."
"You murdered families."
"We saved children."
"You kidnapped them!"
"We protected them."
Emily screamed,
"You threw my daughter beside a dumpster!"
Margaret finally lost her composure.
"Because she wasn't supposed to survive!"
The words exploded into the silence.
Everyone froze.
Margaret realized what she had said.
Emily stepped closer.
"What do you mean?"
Margaret looked toward Daniel.
He lowered his head.
Finally...
He whispered,
"Faith wasn't supposed to be born."
Emily felt the air disappear from her lungs.
"What?"
Daniel's voice cracked.
"The ultrasound..."
"The blood tests..."
"They knew before she was born."
"Knew what?"
He looked directly into her eyes for the first time that night.
"They knew she carried your mother's blood."
Emily frowned.
"My mother's blood?"
Daniel nodded slowly.
"My grandmother believes your family carries something..."
"A legacy."
"A prophecy."
Emily almost laughed.
"You expect me to believe this?"
"I don't."
Daniel answered quietly.
"But she does."
He pointed toward Evelyn Carter, who had silently entered the warehouse without anyone noticing.
The ninety-two-year-old woman looked impossibly calm.
Her silver eyes settled on Emily.
"You look exactly like your mother."
Emily's heart skipped.
"You knew her?"
Evelyn smiled.
"I raised her."
Emily's world tilted.
"My mother wasn't adopted."
"No."
"She escaped."
Twenty-three years earlier...
A young woman had run barefoot through these same tunnels.
Bleeding.
Carrying a newborn girl.
She almost reached the road.
Almost.
Margaret caught her.
The baby disappeared.
The mother vanished.
The hospital reported postpartum psychosis.
Case closed.
Emily whispered,
"...that was my mother."
Evelyn nodded.
"She refused to obey."
"So you killed her?"
"No."
"We made everyone believe she died."
Emily stared.
"What did you do?"
Evelyn smiled without warmth.
"We locked her away."
Quincy suddenly shouted,
"Dad!"
Everyone turned.
The little boy stood beside an old electrical control panel.
Behind him...
Hidden beneath decades of dust...
was a tiny fingerprint scanner.
The silver key fit perfectly into the lock below it.
Emily's pulse exploded.
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The janitor hadn't been protecting a room.
He'd been protecting a secret.
