She Begged a Homeless Man to Marry Her
Chapter 4
Amelia went pale.
Eva was standing right beside them, safe for the moment, which meant the video had been recorded earlier. It was not proof of kidnapping. It was a reminder.
Jonas was always watching.
Raymond understood the game immediately. Jonas wanted them frightened, unsteady, and desperate. Fear made people make mistakes.
"He knows we're moving," Raymond said.
Amelia nodded. "He probably let us."
"Then we stop hiding."
That night they drove to the old chapel on the edge of the city, the one Raymond had seen in his memory. It had once belonged to Amelia's family foundation. Now it was closed and forgotten, exactly the kind of place a man would choose to bury evidence.
Under the altar, hidden beneath a stone panel, they found the hatch.
Below it was a narrow staircase and a steel door with a biometric scanner.
Raymond placed his hand on it first.
Access denied.
He cursed under his breath.
Amelia stepped forward. "You said two-key access."
Raymond nodded. "Try."
She touched the scanner.
A soft chime sounded.
Then a voice from the speaker said, "Dual authorization required. Speak the phrase."
Raymond froze.
A phrase.
He had buried it with the memory of the life Jonas stole from him.
Amelia looked at him, waiting.
Nothing came.
Then footsteps echoed above them.
Too many.
Jonas's voice drifted down from the chapel floor. "You always did make things harder than they had to be."
Raymond pushed Amelia and Eva behind him just as Jonas appeared at the top of the stairs with armed men.
Jonas smiled as if this were an ordinary business meeting.
"You see?" he said. "I knew bringing back the ring box would work. Memory is a cruel little animal. Show it the right bait, and it crawls home."
Amelia stepped forward despite Raymond's attempt to stop her.
"Let Eva go."
Jonas looked almost amused. "Eva was never the target. You were."
His gaze shifted to Raymond.
"You built Helix. You signed the first human trials. You only turned against it when you found out who the first subject was."
Raymond's blood ran cold.
"Who?" he asked.
Jonas smiled wider.
"You were, Raymond."
And then he raised a gun and pointed it at Amelia.
