Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN BENEATH ST. AGNES
The old St. Agnes station had been abandoned for nearly thirty years.
Its entrance was hidden behind a row of boarded storefronts.
Daniel forced open the rusted gate.
Mara followed.
Luca walked beside her.
He looked exhausted, but he refused to slow down.
The underground station smelled of damp concrete and rust.
Their footsteps echoed.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
Mara's heart sank.
Then she heard a voice.
“Mara.”
She turned.
A woman stepped from the darkness.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray streaks in her brown hair.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Mara dropped her flashlight.
“Mom?”
Her mother began crying.
Mara ran.
They collided in an embrace.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Mara buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
“You're alive.”
“I am.”
“You let me mourn you.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you abandoned me.”
“I know.”
Mara pulled away.
“Why?”
Her mother looked at Luca.
Then Daniel.
“Because your life depended on it.”
Luca stepped forward.
“My father.”
Her mother nodded.
“Your father wasn't the only one.”
She pulled a small envelope from her coat.
Inside were documents.
Names.
Bank transfers.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Mara scanned them.
Then stopped.
Dr. Samuel Mercer.
Luca's mother.
And a third name.
Evelyn Varelli.
Luca's mother.
“She helped Mercer,” Mara whispered.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed the Varelli family had to remain powerful.”
Luca looked sick.
“My mother loved me.”
“She did.”
“Then why?”
“Because she believed your father was becoming dangerous.”
Mara looked confused.
“That's not what Mercer said.”
“Mercer lies.”
Her mother sat down.
“Your father created Project Veil. He used controlled chemical exposure to weaken people who threatened the family.”
“And Mercer?”
“He developed it.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“My mother knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she stop them?”
“She tried.”
The room went quiet.
“She helped me escape,” Mara's mother continued. “But your father discovered what she had done.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened Luca.”
Luca's face changed.
“He threatened me?”
“He told your mother that if she betrayed him again, you would disappear.”
Luca looked away.
His entire understanding of his childhood seemed to shift.
“She protected me.”
“Yes.”
“And Mercer?”
“Mercer wanted the project for himself.”
Mara frowned.
“For himself?”
Her mother nodded.
“Your father wanted control. Mercer wanted money and influence. He began selling the treatment to wealthy families.”
Luca whispered:
“That's why he was still operating.”
“Yes.”
“Then why poison me?”
“Because you discovered your father's financial records.”
Mara looked at Luca.
“What records?”
Luca remembered.
“Six months ago, I found payments to shell companies.”
His mother nodded.
“You were getting close.”
“So Mercer decided to make me sick.”
“He needed you weak enough to sign control over your company.”
Mara's eyes widened.
“He planned to take the Varelli empire.”
“Yes.”
Luca sat down.
“How many people are involved?”
His mother looked at him.
“Enough that you cannot trust everyone around you.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Who?”
She stared at him.
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked offended.
“You think I'm involved?”
“I think Mercer knows how to create doubt.”
Mara noticed something.
Her mother's hands were shaking.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“You're sick.”
Her mother looked away.
“It's nothing.”
Mara grabbed her wrist.
Her pulse was weak.
“Mom.”
Her mother finally admitted:
“I was exposed too.”
Mara's heart broke.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because if Mercer knew I was dying, he'd stop looking for me.”
Luca stood.
“Then we need to get you to a hospital.”
“No.”
“You need treatment.”
“I've survived this long.”
“But not forever.”
Her mother looked at him.
“Your symptoms are reversible.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
“If we remove the exposure, the body can recover.”
“Why didn't Mercer tell me?”
“Because he needed you to believe you were dying.”
Mara stared at her.
“Can you prove it?”
Her mother nodded.
“I kept the antidote research.”
Daniel looked toward the tunnel.
“Then we need to move.”
“What?”
“Someone followed us.”
Mara heard it too.
Footsteps.
Multiple.
Her mother grabbed her hand.
“There's another exit.”
They ran.
Behind them, flashlights appeared in the tunnel.
A man's voice echoed.
“Find them!”
Mara looked back.
Mercer.
He had found them.
They reached a steel door.
Daniel forced it open.
They climbed into an alley.
Police cars waited at the end.
Mara froze.
Her mother whispered:
“Those aren't police.”
The vehicles had no official markings.
Men in tactical clothing stepped out.
Luca grabbed Mara.
“Run.”
Gunfire erupted.
Daniel returned fire.
Mara and her mother ran into the darkness.
May you like
And behind them, someone shouted:
“Take Luca alive!”
