Chapter 7 - WHAT HAPPENED TO THOMAS
The document was a medical record.
My medical record.
But the name of the patient wasn't me.
It was Thomas.
The date was thirty-four years earlier.
I remembered that year.
I remembered being pregnant.
I remembered giving birth.
I remembered holding my son for the first time.
But there was something I didn't remember.
A test.
A test I had supposedly agreed to.
“What is this?” I asked.
Detective Reed scanned the page.
“It appears Thomas was enrolled in a neonatal research program.”
“I never enrolled him.”
“Then someone forged your signature.”
I stared at the paper.
The signature looked like mine.
Almost perfect.
But I knew it wasn't.
Because there was one detail wrong.
“My middle name.”
“What?”
“My middle name is Elaine.”
The document said Elena.
A small mistake.
But enough to prove the signature was forged.
“Who conducted the study?”
Detective Reed looked at the bottom.
“Dr. Vanessa Hale.”
My knees weakened.
The same woman.
Thirty-four years ago.
Still there today.
Still connected to my family.
I whispered:
“Why?”
Detective Reed continued reading.
Then his expression darkened.
“The study involved genetic tracking.”
“Genetic tracking?”
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
He looked at Thomas.
“Family medical patterns.”
Thomas went pale.
“Why would they track our family?”
“I don't know yet.”
Then Ellie spoke.
“Maybe because of Mason.”
We all looked at her.
She took a shaky breath.
“They told me Mason's blood was important.”
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“What did they do with it?”
“They collected samples.”
“Who?”
“The woman.”
“Vanessa?”
Ellie nodded.
“She said Mason had something rare.”
Thomas stared at her.
“You never told me that.”
“You never asked!”
“I asked you what they were doing!”
“And you kept sending them whatever they wanted!”
Thomas looked away.
Their argument was suddenly meaningless to me.
There was only one thought in my mind.
“What is rare about my grandson's blood?”
Detective Reed made a call.
Minutes later, a forensic specialist arrived.
He reviewed the records.
Then he looked at me.
“Mrs. Russell, have you ever had an unusual blood type?”
“No.”
“What about Thomas?”
“I don't know.”
He looked toward Thomas.
Thomas shook his head.
“I've never been told anything unusual.”
The specialist pointed to the report.
“This isn't about blood type.”
“What then?”
“It's a genetic marker.”
“What kind?”
He hesitated.
“There's a mutation.”
My heart sank.
“Is Mason sick?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“It may actually be protective.”
“Protective against what?”
The specialist looked at Detective Reed.
“Certain forms of cellular damage.”
I didn't understand.
But Thomas did.
His face had gone white.
“That's why they wanted him.”
“What?”
Thomas stared at the floor.
“Because my father had it.”
I froze.
My husband.
Thomas's father.
He had died twelve years earlier.
Cancer.
A brutal cancer that spread through his body faster than doctors could stop it.
“Your father had this mutation?”
Thomas nodded.
“He was part of a study.”
I stared at him.
“What study?”
He didn't answer.
“Thomas!”
He closed his eyes.
“The same one.”
My heart shattered.
The research hadn't started with Mason.
It had started with my husband.
Then moved to Thomas.
And now Mason.
Three generations.
I stepped toward my son.
“What did they want from you?”
“Samples.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought Dad volunteered.”
“And?”
“He didn't.”
Silence.
“What do you mean?”
Thomas looked at me.
“I found out after he died.”
My voice became a whisper.
“What did you find?”
“A file.”
“What was inside?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“Doctors.”
“Which doctors?”
He looked directly at me.
“Vanessa Hale.”
I couldn't breathe.
The woman had been studying my family for decades.
But there was one question I couldn't stop asking.
“Why Mason?”
Thomas whispered:
“Because Mason was the first one born with the strongest version.”
That night, we discovered something even worse.
The hospital's security system showed that someone had attempted to access Mason's room.
At 3:17 a.m.
The person wore hospital scrubs.
A mask.
A surgical cap.
But the cameras captured one detail.
A distinctive silver bracelet.
Ellie recognized it immediately.
May you like
She whispered:
“That belongs to Vanessa.”
