Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Sold Three Newborn Lives
Elena Markov entered Roman’s study wearing a white coat, red lipstick, and the calm smile of someone arriving for dinner rather than walking into a guarded fortress.
She was beautiful.
Not warm.
Not soft.
Beautiful in the way a knife could be beautiful.
Roman stood behind his desk.
Donovan remained near the door.
I stayed beside the fireplace while two guards watched Elena’s every movement.
“You look disappointed,” Elena said to Roman. “Were you expecting a ghost?”
“I was expecting a coward.”
Her smile widened.
“Still dramatic.”
Roman did not offer her a seat.
“Why are you here?”
“To correct a mistake.”
Her eyes shifted toward me.
“So this is Pamela Hayes.”
I felt her gaze examine me as though I were an object in a catalog.
“You tried to kill me,” I said.
Elena tilted her head.
“I was told you would not survive.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No. It is an explanation.”
Roman stepped around the desk.
“You have thirty seconds to tell me where Mrs. Carver fits into this.”
Elena removed her gloves one finger at a time.
“Margaret Carver worked for Project Helix. She monitored the children after placement.”
“She was spying on them?” I asked.
“She was collecting developmental data.”
“They are babies.”
“They were an investment.”
Roman struck the desk with his palm.
The sound cracked through the room.
“They are my children.”
Elena looked amused.
“Yes. That was the point.”
Roman moved toward her, but I stepped between them.
“Let her talk.”
His eyes met mine.
I could see how badly he wanted to ignore me.
He did not.
Elena noticed.
“How sweet,” she said. “The experiment is becoming a family.”
I turned toward her.
“Why Roman?”
“Power. Health. Intelligence. A suitable genetic line.”
“And me?”
“High fertility. Strong family medical history. No significant hereditary disorders.”
“You reduced us to files.”
“Everyone is a file to someone.”
I wanted to slap her.
Instead, I kept my voice steady.
“Who funded Helix?”
“Private clients.”
“Names.”
She smiled.
“You think I walked into this house without protection?”
Roman picked up his phone.
“You walked into my house because you believe the people protecting you are stronger than I am.”
Elena’s smile faded slightly.
Roman pressed a button.
A screen on the wall lit up, displaying bank accounts, addresses, and photographs.
Elena’s face changed.
“Those are private.”
“They were private,” Donovan said.
Roman scrolled through the files.
“Six properties. Four passports. Accounts in Zurich, Cyprus, and Singapore.”
Elena stood.
Roman’s guards immediately raised their weapons.
He looked almost bored.
“If I do not receive the names behind Helix, everything you own disappears before sunrise.”
“You would destroy millions just to threaten me?”
“No,” Roman said. “I would destroy you to protect them.”
She studied him for a long moment.
Then she sat back down.
“Project Helix began as a legitimate fertility study. Wealthy families funded genetic screening. Then Dr. Shaw realized the donor database could be used differently.”
“He stole samples,” I said.
“Selected them.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“And Daniel Hayes?”
Elena crossed one leg over the other.
“Daniel discovered the program while transporting laboratory materials. Instead of reporting it, he asked to participate.”
My chest tightened.
“No.”
“He and Pamela could not afford treatment. Shaw offered a solution.”
“You are lying.”
Elena looked directly at me.
“Daniel chose Roman’s profile.”
The room tilted.
“He saw hundreds of files,” she continued. “Athletes, professors, military officers. But he chose the most powerful man in Chicago.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Roman’s voice turned cold.
“Explain.”
“Daniel believed that if anything went wrong, your name would protect the children.”
“He intended to keep them?” I asked.
“At first.”
The words gave me a fraction of hope.
Elena destroyed it immediately.
“Then the clients increased their offer.”
I pressed one hand against my stomach.
“How much?”
“Three million dollars.”
Donovan placed Daniel’s necklace on the desk.
Elena glanced at it.
Roman noticed.
“You know this.”
“Of course.”
“Where did Mrs. Carver get it?”
Elena said nothing.
Roman leaned toward her.
“Daniel did not die in an accident, did he?”
For the first time, Elena looked uncomfortable.
“He changed his mind.”
My knees weakened.
“He tried to stop them?”
“He threatened to expose Helix before the delivery.”
“And you killed him.”
“I did not drive the truck that struck his car.”
“But you ordered it.”
Elena’s silence was enough.
I moved before anyone could stop me.
My palm struck her face.
The sound echoed through the study.
Elena turned slowly back toward me, a red mark forming on her cheek.
“You should be dead,” she said.
Roman stepped beside me.
“She is not.”
Elena’s gaze moved between us.
“That will complicate things.”
“No,” Roman said. “It simplifies them.”
Donovan’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression darkened.
“Shaw escaped the airport team.”
“How?” Roman demanded.
“He never entered the terminal. His driver changed vehicles beneath the parking structure.”
Elena smiled again.
Roman looked at her.
“You warned him.”
“I told you I came protected.”
A loud alarm sounded throughout the house.
One of the guards touched his earpiece.
“Security breach at the east gate.”
Donovan drew his gun.
“How many?”
“Two vehicles. Possible explosives.”
Roman turned to me.
“Go to the nursery.”
“I’m not leaving without—”
“Pamela.”
His voice was sharp, but his hand closed gently around mine.
“Go to our children.”
Our children.
I nodded.
Donovan called two guards to escort me.
Before I reached the door, Elena spoke.
“The nursery is exactly where they expect you to go.”
Roman spun toward her.
“What did you do?”
She smiled.
“Nothing.”
Then the lights failed.
Gunfire erupted outside.
I ran.
The guards flanked me through the hallway. Smoke rolled from the east wing. Somewhere below us, glass shattered.
I reached the nursery and threw open the door.
The cribs were empty.
My scream tore through the house.
Roman appeared seconds later.
He saw the empty beds and stopped breathing.
“No.”
A tablet on the dresser lit up.
Dr. Shaw’s face appeared on the screen.
He stood inside a dark room with Leo, Adrian, and Sofia strapped into car seats behind him.
“Mr. Voss,” he said. “Ms. Hayes.”
I grabbed the dresser to remain upright.
Roman’s voice became deadly calm.
“Where are they?”
“Safe, for now.”
Sofia cried in the background.
“Mom!”
I reached toward the screen.
“Do not touch them.”
Shaw smiled.
“They were never yours to keep.”
Roman stepped closer to the camera.
“You have made a fatal mistake.”
“No. Elena did. She believed she could negotiate with you.”
A gunshot sounded downstairs.
Shaw’s smile widened.
“The Chicago River freight terminal. Come alone with Pamela and the Helix files.”
“What files?” I asked.
“The ones Elena brought into this house.”
Roman looked toward the study.
Shaw continued.
“If I see Donovan, police, or any of your men, the children disappear permanently.”
The screen went black.
I turned to Roman.
“We have to go.”
“It is a trap.”
“I know.”
“He will kill us.”
“Not before he gets the files.”
“And afterward?”
I looked at the empty cribs.
“Afterward, we make sure he chooses us over them.”
Roman stared at me.
Then he reached beneath the dresser and removed a small pistol.
I shook my head.
“He said no weapons.”
Roman checked the magazine.
“He lied about our children dying.”
May you like
He placed the pistol inside his jacket.
“I am done obeying Dr. Shaw.”
