Chapter 9 - What Elizabeth Built
“That’s a lie.”
My father shouted before I could speak.
Halden laughed through the speakers.
“Jonathan still protecting ghosts.”
I looked at my father.
“What does he mean?”
“Nothing.”
Halden answered.
“Elizabeth Vale created the first Orpheus database.”
The ballroom erupted again.
My father shook his head.
“No.”
“She created a child-protection database.”
Halden responded calmly.
“And we repurposed it.”
My father looked at me.
“Your mother built software to identify children at risk.”
“Abuse.”
“Trafficking.”
“Homelessness.”
“Medical neglect.”
“She wanted prosecutors and social workers to find children before predators did.”
Halden continued.
“But every list of vulnerable children is also a shopping list in the wrong hands.”
The horror of it settled over the room.
Elizabeth had created a system meant to protect children.
Someone had transformed it into a system for selecting them.
My father looked up.
“You corrupted her work.”
“I improved its profitability.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Even Damian’s father looked disgusted.
I stepped toward the center of the ballroom.
“Why are you here?”
“To finish a twenty-three-year mistake.”
My father reached for me.
I moved away.
“What mistake?”
Halden answered.
“You.”
The room went silent.
My father shouted.
“You will never touch her.”
Halden ignored him.
“Evelyn, your existence threatens several fortunes.”
“Several political careers.”
“Two defense companies.”
“A major bank.”
“And one family whose name you have not yet heard.”
I looked at the eighteen suspects.
“Which family?”
“No.”
A pause.
“That answer must be earned.”
The screens flickered.
Damian appeared.
He was tied to a chair somewhere inside the estate.
His face was bruised.
Blood ran from his nose.
Arthur shouted.
“Damian.”
Damian struggled.
“Dad.”
I stared at the screen.
“Where is he?”
Halden spoke.
“Safe for the moment.”
“You assaulted him?”
“He assaulted you.”
“That doesn’t give you permission.”
Halden laughed softly.
“You still believe permission matters.”
I clenched my fists.
“What do you want?”
“A trade.”
My father stepped forward.
“No.”
Halden continued.
“Evelyn comes alone to the underground archive.”
Arthur looked confused.
“There is no underground archive.”
My father went still.
I saw it.
“Yes, there is.”
Jonathan looked at me.
“Evelyn.”
“You knew.”
“I knew part of the old foundation remained beneath the east wing.”
“You never told me.”
“I had no reason.”
Halden interrupted.
“You had every reason.”
Then the speakers played a recording.
My mother’s voice.
Elizabeth.
I had not heard it in nine years.
I almost collapsed.
“If anything happens to me, Jonathan, take Evelyn away.”
“Do not trust Victor.”
“Do not trust Arthur.”
“And if she ever learns what she is, tell her the truth before they do.”
The recording ended.
My eyes burned.
I looked at my father.
“She told you.”
He whispered,
“Yes.”
“And you still lied to me.”
“I was trying to give you a life.”
“You gave me someone else’s life.”
His face broke.
“That life was yours.”
Before I could answer, another voice came through the speakers.
Rebecca.
Breathing hard.
“Evelyn, don’t go downstairs.”
Then a sharp impact.
Silence.
Halden returned.
“You have twenty-seven minutes.”
The screens displayed a map.
A red route led beneath the east wing.
At the bottom waited one label.
ORPHEUS ORIGINAL ARCHIVE.
My father grabbed my arm.
“You’re not going.”
I looked at the map.
Then at him.
“Yes.”
May you like
I removed his hand.
“I am.”
