Chapter 8 - The Mothers Beneath Cascadia Four
Cascadia Four appeared abandoned from the road.
The upper hospital had closed after a landslide damaged part of the property. Windows were boarded. Moss covered the concrete entrance. Evergreen branches scraped against the roof in the wind.
Below ground, generators still operated.
Federal agents entered through a service tunnel.
Gideon remained with Detective Ortiz near the command vehicle until Ethan discovered a second entrance through old drainage plans.
They reached the laboratory before the main team.
Inside, rows of empty medical beds lined a long chamber.
Children’s drawings covered one wall.
On another, screens displayed genetic profiles linked to Northstar families.
Gideon found Toby’s pajamas beside a metal examination table.
His vision narrowed.
Then a woman’s voice came from the adjoining room.
“He is alive.”
Amelia stepped into the doorway holding the archive drive.
Beside her stood Rachel Cole.
Rachel was thin, pale, and supported herself with a cane. Her dark blonde hair matched Emma’s. Scars covered the inside of both arms.
Gideon moved toward Amelia.
“Where is Toby?”
“Daniel took him deeper into the facility.”
“You brought the archive.”
“It was the only thing he would trade for Rachel and Toby.”
“You left Maya again.”
Amelia flinched.
“I could not risk Daniel tracking the police.”
“You decided alone.”
“There was no time.”
“There is always an excuse.”
Rachel interrupted.
“She saved my life.”
For eight months, Amelia had worked inside the network under a false identity. She found Rachel at Cascadia Four and helped her escape a locked medical ward.
They began gathering evidence against Northstar’s remaining leadership.
Rachel knew the genetic program from inside.
Toby had been created using an embryo derived from tissue taken without her consent during years of captivity.
Daniel wanted the child because his immune cells could support an experimental treatment for powerful investors.
Amelia returned to Seattle when she learned Isla was punishing Maya to obtain the archive key.
She planned to reveal herself only after securing Toby and Rachel.
Then Toby was abducted early.
“Who took him from the house?” Gideon asked.
Rachel answered.
“My daughter.”
“Emma?”
“No.”
Everyone became still.
Rachel had given birth to twins.
Daniel raised Emma publicly.
The second girl, Lily, was kept inside Northstar’s medical network.
Lily was now ten.
She had been trained to follow Daniel’s instructions and told Rachel abandoned her.
The small figure who entered the protected house in paramedic clothing had been assisted by an adult but may have carried Toby out through a service passage.
“She is a child,” Rachel said. “Daniel uses her.”
“Where is she?”
“With Toby.”
They followed sounds through the lower corridor.
A baby cried beyond a reinforced door.
Gideon forced it open.
Toby sat inside a glass medical enclosure.
A girl crouched beside him.
She resembled Emma but looked thinner, with closely cut hair and a blue hospital uniform.
Lily held one hand over Toby’s blanket protectively.
When Gideon approached, she stood in front of him.
“You can’t take him.”
“I am his father.”
“Dr. Cole said fathers lie.”
“He lied to you.”
“No.”
Rachel entered.
Lily stared at her.
Her face showed no recognition.
Rachel whispered her name.
The girl backed away.
“You are dead.”
“No.”
“Dr. Cole said you hurt babies.”
Rachel began crying.
“He told you that so you would obey.”
Lily looked toward Toby.
“He said the baby’s blood will save people.”
“It will hurt him.”
“He said pain makes people useful.”
Gideon felt rage rise through him.
Before anyone could move closer, Daniel’s voice came through the overhead speaker.
“Lily, activate the lock.”
The girl reached toward a red switch.
Rachel shouted.
Lily stopped.
The ceiling vents opened.
A white vapor entered the chamber.
Amelia covered her mouth.
“Sedative gas.”
Gideon rushed toward the enclosure.
The doors locked automatically.
Toby began coughing.
Lily looked from the red switch to Rachel.
For the first time, doubt entered her face.
Then Daniel spoke again.
“Good girls follow instructions.”
Lily slowly withdrew her hand from the controls.
“No.”
She lifted Toby from the enclosure and carried him toward Gideon.
An alarm began screaming.
Daniel appeared behind the observation glass with a gun pressed against Emma’s neck.
Emma had been taken from protective custody through another compromised officer.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
May you like
“Choose which daughter I keep.”
Continue to the next part: Rachel must choose between her twin daughters while Gideon realizes Daniel has armed the entire facility to collapse.
