CHAPTER 11: PROJECT ORPHAN
Grant stared at the screen until his knees nearly gave way.
“You’re lying,” he said.
No one had spoken.
The record remained in front of us.
BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: HELENA VALE.
Samuel lowered his gun slightly.
“That cannot be correct.”
Rebecca used the distraction.
She drove her elbow into his chest and twisted away.
Mercer crossed the room in two steps, disarmed Samuel and forced him to the floor.
The remote trigger slid across the marble.
I picked it up.
Grant continued looking at the file.
“Mara.”
I could not answer.
My mother had allowed me to mourn her for eleven years.
Elias had hidden her survival.
My father had used me as a biometric key.
Now the archive claimed Grant Holloway—the man who had struck me in front of an entire museum—was my biological brother.
Mercer searched Samuel while Rebecca accessed the server.
“Project Orphan appears to contain several thousand records,” she said. “Some children were abducted. Others were secretly exchanged after birth.”
“For what purpose?” I asked.
“Control.”
Samuel spoke from the floor.
“A powerful person will do almost anything to protect a child.”
Mercer forced his arm higher.
“You knew about this.”
“I knew children were relocated.”
“You mean stolen.”
“Most were placed in wealthy homes.”
“That does not make it less monstrous.”
Samuel looked at Grant.
“Your transfer prevented Gideon from killing you.”
Grant moved toward him.
Mercer stepped between them.
“Why would Gideon kill a baby?” Grant asked.
“Because Helena became pregnant while working with Evelyn.”
The words made no sense.
My mother had been married to Arthur when I was born.
Grant was several years younger than me.
Samuel continued.
“Helena infiltrated Holloway Capital. Gideon discovered she was pregnant but believed the child belonged to one of his enemies.”
“Who is Grant’s father?” I demanded.
Samuel looked toward the vault entrance.
A voice answered from the darkness.
“I am.”
Arthur Vale stepped into the laboratory.
He was no longer restrained.
Jonathan Cross followed him with two armed security officers.
Mercer raised his weapon.
“Arthur Vale, get on the floor.”
Arthur ignored him.
He looked only at Grant.
“You are my son.”
Grant shook his head.
“No.”
“Helena became pregnant shortly before her staged accident. Gideon learned the truth and threatened to kill both of you.”
My father’s expression remained controlled, but his voice weakened.
“Evelyn helped us hide the pregnancy. When you were born, the records were altered. You were placed inside the Holloway household because Gideon had just lost his own infant son.”
Mercer stared at him.
“Grant replaced a dead Holloway child.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother accepted him?”
“Evelyn believed raising Grant would keep Helena alive.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“Everyone sacrificed something except you.”
Arthur’s eyes hardened.
“I sacrificed my marriage.”
“You buried your wife and abandoned your son.”
“To protect the entire family.”
“No,” I said. “To protect your empire.”
Arthur turned toward me.
“Without Vale Holdings, Meridian would have controlled half the government.”
“You helped build Meridian.”
“I entered it to destroy it.”
My mother’s recording had said otherwise.
“You protected it for twenty-three years.”
“I contained it.”
“You made money from it.”
“That money funded the investigation.”
Rebecca looked up from the server.
“Transaction files confirm Vale Holdings received more than eight billion dollars through Meridian-linked acquisitions.”
Arthur did not deny it.
Grant stared at him.
“You knew who I was while Gideon raised me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him teach me to hurt people.”
“I planned to remove you when it was safe.”
“When was that going to be?”
Arthur had no answer.
The building shook.
Dust poured from the damaged ceiling.
Rebecca checked the structural monitor.
“We have movement in the escape tunnel.”
A camera activated.
Gideon Holloway was leading armed men back toward the museum.
He had not fled.
He had gone for reinforcements.
At least twelve men moved behind him.
Some wore private security uniforms.
Others wore local police tactical equipment.
Senator Pierce walked among them.
The politician had escaped the main gallery during the explosion.
“Compromised officers,” Mercer said.
Rebecca began copying the archive.
“Extraction will take twelve minutes.”
“We don’t have twelve minutes,” I said.
Arthur stepped toward the vault controls.
“The museum has a private broadcast system.”
“What does that help?”
“We do not need to finish downloading the archive.”
He entered a code.
“We only need to make sure the entire world sees it.”
Screens across the museum activated.
Live transmission channels connected to every press camera outside.
Arthur looked at me.
“Once you start this, no one can stop it.”
I placed my hand on the control.
“Good.”
Before I could press it, the laboratory lights went dark.
Gunfire cracked through the tunnel.
Mercer pulled us behind the vault wall.
Samuel disappeared into the shadows.
Rebecca shouted from the server.
“They cut the external broadcast line!”
Emergency lights flickered on.
Gideon stood at the far end of the laboratory.
May you like
Senator Pierce was beside him.
And Pierce held my mother at gunpoint.
