Chapter 5 - The Family Daniel Tried to Bury
I slammed my hand against Marcus’s desk and said:
“Run it again.”
Marcus turned his monitor toward me.
Adrian Cross’s photograph appeared beside an old sealed court record.
Someone had drawn a black line across Daniel Voss’s original birth certificate.
Underneath it was another surname:
CROSS.
Daniel Voss had spent his entire life hiding who his father was.
“Explain.”
Marcus leaned back.
“Adrian Cross fathered Daniel when he was twenty-two. Daniel’s mother later married Charles Voss, who adopted him.”
“So Daniel knew?”
“We don’t know.”
“He asked my mother for Cross’s name.”
“Then maybe he didn’t.”
I paced.
The implications were horrifying.
If Adrian’s donor material had been used to conceive Maya, Adrian was Maya’s biological father.
If that same genetic material somehow resulted in Rose—
I couldn’t finish the thought.
“We need to know exactly what happened to Maya medically.”
“We’re obtaining records.”
“Vale has them.”
“We’re bringing Vale in.”
“Good.”
Marcus watched me.
“You’re not going near Daniel.”
“I know.”
“You said that before.”
“And I still know.”
He slid a printed transcript toward me.
“Maya’s recovered video.”
I read.
Lena, if you’re watching this, something happened to me.
My eyes blurred.
I kept going.
Daniel lied about the clinic. He told me Rose wasn’t his child, but I never cheated on him. I thought I was losing my mind until Vale showed me the procedure record.
I stopped.
Marcus waited.
I continued.
The embryo transfer happened while I was sedated. I didn’t consent. Daniel says he didn’t know whose genetic material was used. I don’t believe him anymore.
My hands shook.
Then:
Mom’s old clinic records helped me identify Adrian Cross. He is connected to Daniel. I still don’t understand how. There are financial transfers under 417. Find those and you’ll understand why they did this.
The video ended there.
“Financial transfers,” I said.
Marcus nodded.
“We’re working them.”
“This is what I do.”
“You’re still recused.”
“Then let me look without touching the case.”
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
He sighed.
“Sit.”
He turned the monitor.
“Observe.”
That was enough.
Account 417 contained seventeen years of transfers.
Medical clinics.
Research companies.
Private trusts.
And one nonprofit.
THE CROSS FOUNDATION.
“There.”
Marcus clicked.
Cross Foundation had paid Voss Biomedical $2.4 million nine months before Maya became pregnant.
Another $800,000 after her pregnancy was confirmed.
My stomach turned.
“They paid Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“For Maya?”
“Possibly.”
Then we found the memo.
CF-LEGACY CONTINUATION.
“What does that mean?” Marcus asked.
“I don’t know.”
But someone did.
Vale.
His interview began an hour later.
I watched from behind the glass.
Marcus conducted it.
Vale looked exhausted.
When Marcus showed him the payment memo, he closed his eyes.
“You knew,” Marcus said.
Vale nodded.
“Tell me.”
“The Cross program was built around a donor with unusually desirable genetic screening results.”
“Adrian Cross?”
“Yes.”
“For decades?”
“His samples were preserved.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
“Whose?”
“Investors. Families. Clinics.”
“Daniel?”
Vale hesitated.
“Daniel discovered the program after acquiring the old clinic.”
“And Maya?”
“He discovered her mother had used Cross.”
“So he knew Maya was biologically related to him.”
“Yes.”
“Before marrying her?”
“No.”
My breath caught.
Vale continued.
“He found out after they were married.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“When?”
“Approximately two years ago.”
“Why didn’t he tell Maya?”
“I don’t know.”
“But he arranged the procedure.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vale looked sick.
“Cross demanded it.”
“Adrian Cross is alive?”
Vale nodded.
My skin went cold.
He was seventy-six.
A billionaire medical investor who had disappeared from public life years earlier.
Marcus asked, “Why would Cross want Maya pregnant?”
“Legacy.”
“What does that mean?”
“Cross believed his genetics were exceptional. He funded research designed to preserve his bloodline.”
The words were monstrous precisely because Vale spoke them clinically.
“Rose was part of that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“An embryo created from preserved Cross genetic material and Maya’s egg.”
I left the observation room.
I couldn’t listen anymore.
Maya had been violated by people who treated her body like property.
Daniel had allowed it.
Maybe arranged it.
Whether he pushed her or not, he was responsible.
My phone rang.
Celeste.
“Lena.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Where are you?”
“I need protection.”
“Tell me where.”
“I’m outside the federal building.”
I looked through the lobby windows.
A blonde woman stood across the street.
Red coat.
Celeste.
I went down with two agents.
She crossed toward us.
Then a black SUV turned the corner.
Celeste saw it.
Her face changed.
“Lena!”
The SUV accelerated.
Agents moved.
Celeste ran.
The vehicle missed her by inches and struck a parked car.
Doors opened.
Two men ran.
One agent pursued.
I pulled Celeste behind a concrete barrier.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What do they want?”
She was shaking violently.
“I took something from Daniel.”
“What?”
“A second phone.”
“Where?”
She opened her purse.
Nothing.
Her face collapsed.
“It was here.”
“Who had access?”
“Nobody.”
“Hotel staff?”
She froze.
Then reached inside the lining.
Her fingers found a tear.
The phone had slipped beneath it.
She pulled it out.
“Passcode?”
“Rose.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Daniel used Rose as the passcode.”
We unlocked it.
Messages.
Dozens.
Most encrypted.
One thread wasn’t.
A.C.
Daniel:
Maya knows.
A.C.:
Then contain her.
Daniel:
She’s my wife.
A.C.:
She is an asset.
Daniel:
She’s pregnant.
A.C.:
Exactly.
Then the final exchange.
Night Maya died.
Daniel:
She won’t come voluntarily.
A.C.:
Bring her anyway.
Daniel:
And if she refuses?
There was no written response.
Only an audio file.
I played it.
An elderly male voice.
Calm.
Cold.
“Then make certain she cannot speak.”
Celeste covered her mouth.
Marcus entered behind us.
“We have enough for conspiracy warrants.”
“Not homicide.”
“Not yet.”
My phone vibrated.
My mother.
I answered.
“Mom?”
No response.
Then a man spoke.
Old.
Measured.
“Hello, Lena.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Adrian.”
He chuckled softly.
“So Rebecca finally told you.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I have no interest in hurting Rebecca.”
“Then put her on.”
“No.”
I looked at Marcus.
He was already signaling for a trace.
“What do you want?”
“The drive Maya left.”
“You’re too late.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Federal agents have copies.”
“That is unfortunate.”
“Your program is finished.”
A pause.
Then:
“You still think this is about a program.”
“What is it about?”
“You.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Maya was never supposed to become involved.”
“Then why did you use her?”
“I didn’t choose Maya.”
“Who did?”
Silence.
Then Adrian said:
“Daniel.”
The call ended.
Marcus looked at the trace.
“Got him.”
“Where?”
His face changed.
“Lena.”
“Where?”
He turned the screen toward me.
The signal had come from my mother’s house.
But officers were already there.
One of them called Marcus.
He answered.
Listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“What?”
“Your mother isn’t there.”
I stood.
“She left voluntarily twenty minutes ago.”
“With who?”
May you like
Marcus looked at me.
“Daniel.”
