The Retrieval

'I'm sorry, Mrs. Hawthorne. He put a hold on the account.'

Elena stood in the lobby of the Hawthorne family clinic, the pristine white walls spinning around her. She was covered in soot, her ankle throbbing, her mind racing to catch up with the bombshell the receptionist had just dropped. She had come here straight from the estate, hoping to secure the one thing that still mattered. The one thing Julian couldn't steal.

Or so she thought.

"What do you mean, a hold?" Elena asked, her voice dangerously calm.

"I mean," the receptionist said, typing nervously, "that Mr. Hawthorne—Mr. Julian Hawthorne—has placed a temporary freeze on all genetic material associated with the Hawthorne Trust."

"I am the executor of the Trust," Elena said, slamming Silas's motion onto the counter. "I have emergency custody. I have a court order."

The receptionist looked at the paper. She looked at Elena.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But until the system updates... or until Mr. Hawthorne releases the hold... my hands are tied."

"Call him," Elena said.

"Mr. Hawthorne?"

"No," Elena said. "Call the police. Tell them there's a hostage situation."

"Ma'am, please lower your voice."

"I'm not lowering my voice," Elena said. "I'm raising the stakes."

She walked past the desk.

"Hey! You can't go back there!"

Elena ignored her. She pushed through the double doors into the secure wing. She knew the way. She had been here a dozen times, hoping, praying, crying.

She reached the cryo-storage room. It was locked. Bio-metric scanner.

She didn't have Marcus's hand. She didn't have Seraphina's eye.

But she had the maintenance code. The one the janitor used. *1234*.

She punched it in.

*Red.*

Julian had changed it.

"Damn him," she whispered.

She looked through the reinforced glass. The tanks were there. Stainless steel silos holding the future.

And standing next to them was a man.

Not a doctor. Not a tech.

A courier.

He was wearing a uniform with a logo Elena recognized. *SecureTrans*. The same company that moved the art. The same company that moved the money.

He was loading a small, portable tank onto a dolly.

He was stealing them.

Elena pounded on the glass. "Stop! That's my property!"

The courier looked up. He didn't look scared. He looked annoyed.

He pulled a radio from his belt. "Control. We have a breach."

Elena looked around for a weapon. A fire extinguisher. A chair. Anything.

She saw a fire alarm on the wall.

She pulled it.

*WHOOP. WHOOP. WHOOP.*

Strobe lights flashed. The sprinklers hissed to life, drenching the hallway in seconds.

The door to the storage room clicked. *Emergency Override.*

Elena threw it open.

The courier tried to push past her with the dolly.

"Move," he growled.

Elena didn't move. She grabbed the handle of the dolly.

"You're not taking them," she said.

"Lady, I have a work order."

"I have a dead husband and a loaded gun," Elena lied. She kept her hand in her pocket, gripping the burner phone like a weapon.

The courier hesitated.

"Leave the tank," Elena said.

"I can't. My boss will kill me."

"Your boss is going to prison," Elena said. "Do you want to go with him?"

The courier looked at the tank. He looked at Elena.

He let go of the dolly.

"I was never here," he said.

He ran.

Elena grabbed the dolly. She pulled the tank out of the room, into the wet hallway.

"Mrs. Hawthorne!"

Security guards were running toward her. Three of them.

Elena didn't stop. She pushed the dolly toward the emergency exit.

"Stop right there!"

She reached the door. She kicked it open.

The alley behind the clinic was empty. No cameras. No witnesses.

She pushed the tank out into the snow. It was heavy, awkward.

She needed a car.

She looked down the alley. A delivery van was idling. The driver was inside, eating a sandwich.

Elena ran to the window. She banged on the glass.

"Drive!" she screamed.

The driver looked at her. He looked at the tank. He looked at the guards bursting out of the clinic door.

He unlocked the passenger door.

"Get in," he said.

It was the same driver. The one who had taken her to the city. The one with her diamond ring.

"You again?" he asked, grinning.

"Just drive," Elena said.

They sped away, tires spinning in the slush.

Elena looked back at the tank secured in the back of the van.

It wasn't over.

She had the embryos. But she didn't have the money to keep them frozen. She didn't have the power to keep them safe.

She needed a freezer.

And she knew exactly where to find one.

"Take me to the meatpacking district," she said.