Chapter 6 - Blood, Science, and Hope
By afternoon, the brownstone no longer felt like a home.
It felt like a command center.
Two private security officers guarded the front entrance. Marcus had turned the basement office into an evidence room. Dr. Helen Cross occupied the dining room with medical journals, archived research papers, and a laptop connected to three databases. Richard Kline sat in a locked guest room under guard while Adrian’s attorney negotiated with police about the unregistered firearm.
The children stayed upstairs with Mrs. Alvarez.
Except Eli.
He refused to leave Adrian’s side.
Helen placed a yellowed research article on the library table.
“Laurent Medical Research was studying an inherited mutation associated with unusually high levels of a nerve-growth protein.”
Adrian read the abstract. “In English.”
Helen folded her hands. “Some people may naturally produce compounds that help damaged nerve tissue repair faster than normal.”
“Some people?”
“A very small group. The research was never conclusive.”
“And Claire had this?”
“She was part of a screening cohort.”
Adrian stared at the document. “My sister-in-law?”
“Yes.”
“Did Eleanor know?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Because most of the research was sealed after the lab closed.”
Eli shifted beside him. “What does that mean for Hope?”
Helen looked toward the ceiling as if she could see the baby upstairs.
“It means nothing yet.”
Adrian frowned.
“She’s seven months old,” Helen continued. “We do not test a child like a laboratory sample because something unusual happened.”
Eli visibly relaxed.
Adrian nodded. “Agreed.”
Helen looked surprised.
“I’m not a monster.”
“No. You’re just used to treating uncertainty as a hostile takeover.”
Adrian almost smiled.
She turned back to the papers.
“If Hope inherited the same mutation and produces unusually high concentrations of certain proteins in saliva or skin secretions, physical contact could theoretically have some biological effect.”
“Theoretically?”
“Very theoretically.”
“My leg moved.”
“I know.”
“Twice.”
“I know.”
“Three times, actually.”
Helen looked at him.
Adrian tried to move his right foot.
The toe shifted.
Eli gasped.
Helen leaned closer.
Adrian moved it again.
Pain shot up his calf.
He almost welcomed it.
Helen whispered, “That should not be happening this fast.”
Adrian looked at Hope’s empty place in the room.
“Then maybe we stop talking about impossible.”
Marcus entered carrying a sealed envelope.
“Found something.”
He set it down.
“Richard’s car had a hidden compartment. Inside was this.”
Adrian opened the envelope.
A photograph slid onto the table.
Sarah.
She was standing beside Richard Kline outside a motel. In her arms was newborn Hope.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Seven months earlier.
Beneath it were four words.
CONFIRMED SECOND-GENERATION CARRIER.
Eli’s face went white.
“What does that mean?”
Helen reached for the photo but stopped before touching it.
“It means someone tested her.”
“She was a baby.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
No answer.
Eli’s anger exploded.
“She was a baby!”
Adrian grabbed his wrist before he could sweep the table clean.
“Eli.”
“They did something to her.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Look at the picture!”
Adrian held his gaze.
“We will find out.”
Eli’s eyes filled with tears.
“You keep saying that.”
Adrian understood the accusation.
Adults promised.
Children waited.
Adults failed.
He released the boy’s wrist.
“Then stop believing my words. Watch what I do.”
Marcus laid out another document.
“Richard transferred money through three shell companies to a private biotech firm called Neuravax.”
Helen went still.
“You know it?” Adrian asked.
“I know of it. They’ve been trying to develop nerve-regeneration therapy for spinal injuries.”
Adrian stared at her.
“Like mine.”
“Yes.”
A dark possibility formed.
Richard had known about Adrian’s paralysis.
He had known Sarah was a carrier.
He had known Hope inherited the marker.
Adrian felt something colder than rage.
He felt calculation.
“Richard wasn’t hiding Hope because she was dangerous,” Adrian said.
Marcus nodded slowly.
“He was hiding her because she was valuable.”
Eli gripped the edge of the desk.
“No.”
Adrian’s mind raced.
“What if Sarah contacted me because she knew he was using her?”
Helen’s face tightened.
“Or because she knew Hope could help you.”
Adrian looked at her.
The idea felt unbearable.
Eleanor’s niece had been dying in poverty while Adrian lived behind private gates, and somewhere inside that tragedy she may have believed her infant daughter could save him.
He turned toward the window.
For years, he had told himself he was alone because everyone he loved was gone.
But maybe some of them had simply been kept away.
A sudden crash sounded upstairs.
Eli bolted from the room.
They followed.
At the top of the stairs, Mrs. Alvarez stood frozen outside the nursery.
The window was open.
Curtains moved in the cold air.
Mia stood beside the crib, screaming.
Hope was gone.
On the floor lay a single white business card.
Adrian picked it up.
No name.
No logo.
Only a handwritten message.
BRING THE RESEARCH FILES TO PIER 19.
COME ALONE.
Adrian’s right leg moved beneath him.
Not a twitch this time.
A step.
His body lifted partially from the wheelchair before Marcus caught him.
Adrian stared at the empty crib.
Then at the card.
For the first time in two years, he wanted to stand not for himself, not for pride, not for recovery.
May you like
He wanted to stand because someone had taken a child who belonged under his protection.
==============================================================================
