Chapter 4 - THE FAMILY THEY CHOSEValois didn't answer immediately.
That silence told Lucie more than any confession could have.
She had grown up believing her family was ordinary. Her father repaired agricultural equipment. Her mother worked as a school secretary. Julien was the clever older brother who could take apart a radio and rebuild it before dinner.
Their childhood had been filled with small, unremarkable happiness.
Sunday lunches.
Summer trips.
Arguments over who had forgotten to feed the dog.
Nothing about their lives suggested that a government research program had been watching them.
"Tell me the truth," Lucie said.
Valois lowered himself into a chair.
"I met your mother when I was twenty-six. I was assigned to investigate financial irregularities at a private medical clinic."
"What clinic?"
"Saint Agnes Medical Center."
Lucie recognized the name.
It had closed when she was six.
Valois continued.
"Your mother worked there before she became a school secretary. She discovered that patient records were being transferred to an outside organization without consent."
"Helix Meridian?"
"The company existed under another name back then."
Lucie looked at the photograph.
"Why was she holding a baby?"
Valois hesitated.
"Because she'd just discovered something about the clinic's research."
"What?"
"Children were being enrolled in long-term medical observation without their families being properly informed."
Lucie felt sick.
"Was I one of them?"
Valois nodded.
"So was Julien."
The room seemed to tilt.
Mara watched silently.
Lucie pressed her hands against the desk.
"Why us?"
"Your family carried a rare inherited biological marker. The researchers believed studying it could improve certain medical identification techniques."
"And they kept studying us?"
"Your mother withdrew both of you from the program when she learned the truth."
Lucie remembered her mother becoming nervous whenever strangers asked questions about the family.
She remembered the sudden move to another town.
The changed telephone number.
The way her father always checked the locks before bed.
She had thought he was simply cautious.
Now she understood.
Her parents had been afraid.
"Did my mother know you?"
"Yes."
"Did she trust you?"
Valois's expression crumpled.
"Once."
The computer beeped.
Another message from Julien.
HE'S TELLING YOU THE FIRST PART. ASK ABOUT THE FIRE.
Lucie stared at the screen.
"What fire?"
Valois shut his eyes.
"Lucie—"
"What fire?"
"The clinic burned down six months after your mother reported the illegal research."
Lucie remembered hearing about a fire when she was a child.
Three people had died.
The official investigation blamed faulty wiring.
"Was it an accident?"
Valois shook his head.
"No."
Lucie felt a terrible certainty settle inside her.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"And you did nothing?"
"I tried to prove it."
"Did you?"
Valois looked at the floor.
"No."
The computer displayed another message.
ASK HIM WHO ORDERED THE DOORS LOCKED.
Lucie looked up.
Valois had gone completely still.
"Who ordered the doors locked?"
He whispered, "I didn't know anyone was inside."
Lucie stepped backward.
Her hands trembled.
"What did you do?"
"I was told to secure the building until investigators arrived."
"Who told you?"
"A senior official."
"Name."
Valois said nothing.
Lucie raised the gun.
"Name!"
He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"Director Antoine Bellamy."
Mara made a faint sound.
Lucie turned.
"You know him?"
Mara nodded.
"He's the man who owns Helix Meridian through a network of private companies."
Valois stared at her.
"That's impossible. Bellamy died fifteen years ago."
Mara gave a bitter smile.
"That's what his death certificate says."
The computer screen flickered.
A live video feed appeared.
A gray-haired man stood inside a luxurious office.
Behind him hung a portrait of the French president.
The man smiled directly into the camera.
"Hello, Lucie."
Valois rose so suddenly that his chair fell backward.
"Bellamy?"
The man ignored him.
"I've waited a very long time to meet you."
Lucie tightened her grip on the gun.
"Where is my brother?"
Bellamy smiled.
"Alive. For now."
Then he leaned toward the camera.
May you like
"YOUR MOTHER SPENT TWENTY-NINE YEARS KEEPING YOU AWAY FROM ME. IT'S TIME YOU LEARNED WHY."
End of Chapter 4 — Cliffhanger: Antoine Bellamy, officially dead for fifteen years, is alive and has been waiting for Lucie.
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