Chapter 9 - The Account Nobody Knew Existed
“He has Emma.”
Amelia’s words hung in the archive room.
I stared at her.
Then at Julian.
Then at the photograph of the older man sitting behind the desk.
Julian’s father.
Alive.
My hands began to shake.
“Where is she?”
Amelia didn't answer.
“Where is my daughter?”
“He wants you to come to him.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“He has Emma.”
I stepped toward her.
“Where?”
Amelia's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
I almost screamed.
Everyone kept saying the same words.
I don't know.
For twenty years, those words had stolen my life.
I turned toward Julian.
“You're taking me to him.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
I pointed at the photograph.
“Your father has my daughter.”
Julian shook his head.
“He wants you to believe that.”
Amelia interrupted.
“He does have her.”
Julian looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because he called me.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Julian went still.
“You spoke to him?”
“He told me to bring Clarissa.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“He wants R-17.”
I looked down at the file.
“My daughter.”
Amelia nodded.
“But that's not all he wants.”
“What else?”
She looked at Julian.
“He wants the account.”
Julian's expression changed.
“What account?”
Amelia smiled bitterly.
“The one your mother hid.”
Julian stared at her.
“You don't know about that.”
“I know enough.”
I stepped between them.
“What account?”
Neither answered.
I slammed my hand against the metal cabinet.
“Tell me.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Evelyn had a private account.”
“How private?”
“No bank statements.”
“No online records.”
“No employees knew about it.”
“Then how do you know?”
“My father told me.”
“When?”
“Before he disappeared.”
“What was in it?”
Julian hesitated.
“Money.”
“How much?”
He looked at me.
“Enough to buy an entire hospital.”
I stared at him.
“Why would Evelyn have that much money?”
“It wasn't hers.”
“Whose?”
“My father's.”
“Then why did she control it?”
“Because she stole it.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“She moved the money out of his accounts.”
“Why?”
“To finance the children's escape.”
My heart stopped.
“Children?”
Julian nodded.
“Other children.”
I looked at Amelia.
“How many?”
“Seven.”
I felt sick.
“Seven babies?”
“Seven children Evelyn managed to remove from the program.”
“And where are they?”
“Alive.”
I stared at her.
“Where?”
“Different states. Different families.”
“Does my father-in-law know?”
Julian shook his head.
“He thinks they're dead.”
I looked at the photograph of the old man.
“Then why does he want the account?”
“Because he knows it still exists.”
“And Evelyn gave me the key.”
“Yes.”
I looked down at the tiny silver key.
The entire time, I had thought it opened a room.
Maybe it opened something much bigger.
“What does R-17 have to do with the account?”
Julian didn't answer.
Amelia did.
“R-17 is the password.”
I stared.
“The password?”
“To access the money.”
My mind raced.
“Why would Evelyn use my daughter as a password?”
“Because she knew no one else would understand.”
Julian stepped toward me.
“She never intended you to use the money.”
“Then what did she intend?”
“To buy freedom.”
“For whom?”
“For all of us.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Julian took a deep breath.
“My father wasn't just experimenting on babies.”
“What else?”
“He was using the money to buy influence.”
“Politicians?”
“Doctors. Lawyers. Judges. Police.”
My stomach turned.
“And you?”
“I tried to break away.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he threatened you.”
Again.
That word.
Threatened.
I was beginning to hate it.
“Your father can't control me anymore.”
Julian looked at the photograph.
“He can.”
“No.”
“He knows where you live.”
“He knows everything about me.”
“Yes.”
“Then let him come.”
Julian shook his head.
“He doesn't want to come.”
“What does he want?”
“You.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn transferred the account to you.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
“Six months before she died.”
I looked at the letter in my hand.
“No.”
“She changed the beneficiary.”
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew Julian would be watched.”
I looked at my husband.
“You knew about this?”
“I suspected.”
“How much?”
“Not enough.”
I laughed.
“You're telling me my dead mother-in-law secretly made me the owner of millions of dollars?”
“Not just millions.”
“How much?”
Julian hesitated.
“Four hundred and eighty million.”
I stared at him.
The number didn't feel real.
Four hundred and eighty million dollars.
I had spent years clipping coupons.
I had worried about mortgage payments.
I had watched Julian spend money like it was meaningless.
And all along, Evelyn had controlled a fortune.
“Where is it?”
Julian pointed at the silver key.
“Behind that key.”
I looked at it.
“What does that mean?”
“It opens the account.”
“How?”
“There is a bank vault.”
“Where?”
“Under the old Blackridge chapel.”
I stared at him.
“We're standing in Blackridge.”
“Yes.”
“And the vault is here?”
“Below us.”
I looked down.
“Then let's go.”
Julian shook his head.
“We can't.”
“Why?”
“The vault only opens with two keys.”
I looked at mine.
“Where is the other?”
“Evelyn gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
Julian's eyes moved toward Amelia.
She looked away.
I stepped toward her.
“You have it.”
Amelia shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who does?”
She was silent.
I grabbed her hand.
“Please.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My sister.”
My heart stopped.
“Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need to find her.”
Amelia nodded.
“That is why he took her.”
I stared at the photograph of Julian's father.
“He doesn't want the money.”
“No.”
“He wants Emma because she has the second key.”
“Yes.”
“And he wants me because I have the first.”
“Yes.”
I understood.
The old man didn't need to kill us.
He needed us together.
Alive.
Long enough to open the vault.
Then he could take everything.
I looked at Julian.
“How do we find Emma?”
He pulled out his phone.
“I have one person who can help.”
“Who?”
He typed a number.
A man answered immediately.
Julian said one sentence.
“She's back.”
The man on the other end went silent.
Then:
“Where?”
“Blackridge.”
Another pause.
“Then you need to leave.”
Julian looked at me.
“Too late.”
The archive lights flickered.
A distant alarm began ringing.
Amelia froze.
“What is that?”
Julian looked toward the ceiling.
“Security.”
“Whose?”
“My father's.”
I grabbed the file.
“What do we do?”
“Run.”
We rushed through the archive.
Julian locked the steel door behind us.
The tunnel lights came on one by one.
Red.
Emergency lights.
Someone had activated the security system.
We ran toward the stairs.
Halfway there, Amelia stopped.
“What?”
She pointed at the wall.
A small red light was blinking.
Julian swore.
“Camera.”
“Who is watching?”
He didn't answer.
The camera moved.
It followed us.
I looked directly into the lens.
“If you're watching me, listen.”
Julian grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I pulled away.
“You took my daughter.”
My voice echoed through the tunnel.
“You've already taken twenty years from me.”
The camera remained still.
Then the speaker above us crackled.
A man's voice came through.
Old.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Clarissa.”
I froze.
Julian went pale.
The voice continued.
“You sound exactly like your mother.”
I looked up.
“Where is Emma?”
A quiet laugh.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Ask your husband why he never told you about the bank account.”
I looked at Julian.
He closed his eyes.
“Why?”
The voice answered.
“Because the money was never meant to belong to Evelyn.”
I felt cold.
“Whose was it?”
Silence.
Then the man said:
“Yours.”
The speaker went dead.
I stared at Julian.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
“Julian.”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
He looked at me.
“I swear.”
Amelia stepped closer.
“There's something you haven't told her.”
Julian's eyes hardened.
“Don't.”
“You have to.”
“Amelia.”
“You promised.”
I looked between them.
“What promise?”
Amelia took a breath.
“Julian promised me he would tell you before we reached the vault.”
I stared at my husband.
“Tell me what?”
He looked away.
“Your father-in-law didn't create the account.”
“Then who did?”
Julian's voice broke.
“Your father.”
I stopped breathing.
“My father?”
“You were never supposed to know this.”
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“How did he have four hundred and eighty million dollars?”
Julian looked at me.
“Because he wasn't the man you thought he was.”
I felt dizzy.
“What are you saying?”
“He worked with my father.”
“No.”
“They built the program together.”
“No.”
“He wasn't your victim.”
My heart shattered.
“My father helped them?”
Julian nodded.
“He was one of the founders.”
I backed away.
“Then why did Evelyn hate him?”
“Because she discovered what he had done.”
I couldn't speak.
Everything I knew about my life was collapsing.
My parents.
My husband.
My mother-in-law.
My daughters.
None of them were who I believed.
Then the old speaker crackled again.
The man's voice returned.
“Clarissa.”
I looked up.
“Your mother lied about your father.”
I swallowed.
“What did she lie about?”
A pause.
Then:
“He didn't die when you were twelve.”
My entire body went cold.
“What?”
Julian stared at me.
The voice continued.
“Your father has been alive for twenty years.”
The tunnel fell silent.
May you like
Then a metal door at the end of the passage began to open.
And behind it stood a man I had not seen since I was a child...
