Chapter 17 - The Cousin I BuriedAdrian had been gone for three years.
I had believed he was serving his sentence.
Apparently, I had been wrong.
He had escaped from federal custody using a medical transfer.
Someone inside had helped him.
And now he was coming for Keo.
We found his first message at the Hope Ship.
A single envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Me.
Linda.
Keo.
Taken from across the street.
The photograph was recent.
On the back:
You should have left the past buried.
Keo looked at it.
"Is that him?"
"Yes."
"Why does he want me?"
I didn't answer.
Because I wasn't sure.
Then another photograph arrived.
Emma.
Then Jacob.
Then Eleanor.
Three targets.
Three warnings.
Victor traced the source.
"He's using an old communications network."
"What network?"
"My father's."
I stared.
"That's impossible."
"Apparently not."
We went to the old Gallo estate.
The house had been empty for years.
My father's study remained untouched.
I opened the bookshelf.
Nothing.
Then Keo walked in.
He looked around.
"Mr. Gallo."
"Yes?"
"Your spaceship."
"What?"
He pointed at the bookshelf.
"There."
A tiny carving.
A blue spaceship.
I pressed it.
The bookshelf moved.
Behind it was a hidden room.
I stared.
My father had built an entire underground archive.
Boxes.
Files.
Photographs.
Medical records.
And one large metal cabinet.
Inside were seven folders.
K-01 through K-07.
I opened K-07.
Keo's name.
Birth records.
Treatment records.
Genetic studies.
Then something else.
A letter.
For me.
I opened it.
My father's handwriting.
If you are reading this, the research survived me.
I continued.
Do not trust Adrian.
I looked at Victor.
Then read the next line.
He believes the seventh child can save the others.
I stopped.
"What others?"
Victor opened another folder.
K-08.
Emma.
K-09.
Jacob.
There were more.
Twenty-three subjects.
Twenty-three children.
The same number from the original hospital scandal.
My father had known.
He had been building a network to protect them.
Then he died.
And someone took control.
I turned to Keo.
"You were never the end of the research."
"What was I?"
I swallowed.
"The beginning."
Suddenly, the lights went out.
A voice came from the darkness.
"Exactly."
Adrian stepped into the room.
He was holding a gun.
May you like
He smiled.
"Hello, cousin."
