Chapter 61 Marked in red
Rafael
The call came at four in the morning. I jerked awake, reaching for my phone on the nightstand. Flora stirred beside me but did not wake.
"Hello?" I answered groggily.
"Rafael, it's Marco. We have a problem."
I sat up immediately. "What kind of problem?"
"Dr. Chen escaped."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "What? How is that possible? He was in maximum security."
"Inside help," Marco said grimly. "Two guards are dead. Chen's lawyer is missing. You need to get Flora somewhere safe. Now."
I was already out of bed, pulling on clothes. "Where would he go?"
"We found something in his cell. A list. Names and addresses."
"Whose names?" I asked.
"Yours. Flora's. Catherine's. Vittorio's. Everyone involved in exposing the conspiracy. And Rafael, Flora's name is circled in red. Multiple times."
My blood turned to ice. "I'm getting her out of here right now. Where do we go?"
"Vittorio has a safe house in the mountains. Two hours north. I'm texting you the address. Take only what you need and leave immediately."
"What about you and Catherine?"
"We're all going to ground," Marco said. "But Chen wants Flora most. She's the living proof of what he did. If he can eliminate her."
"That's not happening," I said sharply. I hung up and turned to find Flora sitting up in bed, her eyes wide with fear.
"I heard," she said quietly. "He escaped."
"We need to leave," I said, pulling a bag from the closet. "Now. Pack only essentials."
She did not argue. She just moved, throwing clothes into a bag with shaking hands. I checked my gun, grabbed extra ammunition from the safe.
"Rafael," Flora said, her voice trembling. "What if he finds us?"
"He won't," I promised.
We were ready in eight minutes. My phone buzzed with the address from Marco. "Let's go," I said, taking Flora's hand.
We made it to the underground parking garage without incident. My car was where I had left it. I was reaching for the door handle when Flora grabbed my arm.
"Wait," she whispered. "Look." She pointed under the car. There, barely visible, was a small blinking red light. A tracker.
"He knows where we are," Flora breathed. "He's been watching us."
My mind raced. "We need another car. Now." I pulled her toward the building's other exit. We were halfway across the garage when I heard it. The elevator dinging. Someone was coming.
I pulled Flora behind a concrete pillar, pressing my finger to my lips. She nodded, her face pale. The elevator doors opened. Footsteps echoed across the concrete.
"Check every car," a voice commanded. A voice I recognized. Dr. Chen. He was here. In my building.
Flora's hand clutched mine so tightly it hurt.
"They can't have gone far," Chen continued. "The tracker shows movement up until twenty minutes ago."
"Maybe they ditched the car," another voice suggested.
"Then we search on foot," Chen said. "I want Flora Marino found. She's the only witness who can truly hurt me."
Genetic mistake. He called her a genetic mistake. Rage burned through me, but Flora's safety came first. I pulled her toward the stairwell, moving as silently as possible.
We were almost there when my phone buzzed. The sound echoed in the quiet garage.
"There!" someone shouted.
"Run!" I yelled.
We burst through the stairwell door and started climbing. Up, not down. They would expect us to go down. Behind us, I heard the door slam open. Footsteps thundering on the stairs.
"Keep going," I urged Flora. We climbed floor after floor, my lungs burning. At the fifteenth floor, I pulled her into the hallway.
"What are you doing?" she panted.
"They expect us to keep going up," I said. "We're going to double back."
I led her to the emergency exit on the other side of the building. Another stairwell. We descended quietly, listening. At the fifth floor, we stopped. I peered through the small window. The hallway was empty.
"Okay," I whispered. "We're going to Mrs. Patterson's apartment. She's away. I have her spare key."
We slipped inside. It smelled like lavender. I locked the door behind us. I pulled out my phone to call for backup, but before I could dial, it buzzed with an incoming call. Unknown number.
I answered cautiously. "Hello?"
"Rafael Valserro," Dr. Chen's voice came through. "I know you're close."
I did not respond.
"Give me Flora," Chen continued. "I'll let you live. New identity, new life, money to start over anywhere."
"Go to hell," I said.
Chen laughed. "She's damaged goods. A genetic experiment that never should have been allowed to live. She'll never be truly human."
"She's more human than you'll ever be," I spat.
"Is she?" Chen asked. "Tell me, Rafael, when you look at her, do you see Flora? Or do you see Eva? Do you love her, or are you trying to fix your past mistakes?"
The words hit too close to home. Doubts I had buried deep started to surface.
"I can help you," Chen said softly. "I can make you forget her. You could be free."
"I don't want your help."
"Then you'll die a fool," Chen said. "But first, you'll watch her die slowly while I make you understand exactly what she is."
The line went dead. I stared at the phone, my hands shaking.
"Rafael?" Flora's voice was small. "What did he say?"
Before I could answer, the apartment's power cut out. Complete darkness. And in the darkness, I heard it. The sound of the apartment door's lock being picked.
Someone was coming in.
I raised my gun, pulling Flora behind me. But before I could see who it was, something small and metal rolled across the floor. A canister.
"Gas!" I shouted, but it was too late. White smoke erupted from the canister, filling the room in seconds. Flora coughed beside me, choking. I tried to hold my breath, tried to pull her toward the window, but my vision was already blurring.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was a figure in a gas mask stepping through the smoke.
And then nothing.