Chapter 11: The Name Behind Project Phoenix
The bookstore fell silent.
Mateo held his breath.
How did the man know exactly where they were hiding?
The silver-eyed stranger stood motionless in the center of the shattered entrance, his polished shoes crunching across broken glass.
He wasn't searching.
He was waiting.
"I know you're here, Mr. Solís," he said calmly.
"There is no reason for anyone else to get hurt."
Sofía buried her face against Mateo's shoulder.
Camila clung tightly to Dalia's neck.
Neither child made a sound.
Arturo slowly leaned toward Mateo and whispered, "There's a back exit through the storage room."
The silver-eyed man smiled.
"I wouldn't recommend that."
Everyone froze.
His voice remained steady.
"There are two people covering the alley."
Dalia's eyes widened.
"He can hear us?"
"No," Arturo whispered.
"He predicted us."
The stranger took another step.
"My name is Adrian Voss."
The name meant nothing to Mateo.
But Dalia suddenly stiffened.
"No..."
Lucía looked at her.
"You know him?"
Dalia nodded slowly.
"I've never met him."
"But everyone at Santa María knew the name."
Mateo frowned.
"Who is he?"
Dalia swallowed.
"The man who financed Project Phoenix."
Voss gave a polite nod.
"I'm pleased someone still remembers."
Mateo felt his anger rise.
"You funded experiments on newborn babies?"
"I funded research."
"You erased children."
"I preserved possibilities."
The words chilled everyone in the room.
Voss spoke as though he were discussing a business investment.
Nothing more.
Mateo stepped out from behind the bookshelf before anyone could stop him.
"You're lying."
Voss looked at him with genuine curiosity.
"About which part?"
"My daughters."
"They're ordinary children."
"They're my family."
A faint smile crossed Voss's face.
"Mr. Solís..."
He slowly opened the black leather folder he was carrying.
Inside were several photographs.
He held up the first one.
It showed Sofía inside the NICU.
The timestamp read:
2:58 A.M.
She had already been pronounced dead.
Yet in the photograph, a heartbeat monitor displayed a steady rhythm.
Mateo stared in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
Voss showed another photograph.
Camila.
Taken only minutes later.
She, too, had been declared dead.
Yet she was breathing.
A third photograph followed.
It showed both twins sleeping peacefully in neighboring incubators.
Standing beside them...
Was Adrian Voss.
"You were there," Mateo whispered.
"Yes."
"You watched everything."
"I did."
"Why?"
Voss closed the folder.
"Because I had spent twenty-two years trying to witness exactly that moment."
Silence settled over the bookstore.
Lucía quietly reached into her backpack and switched on the audio recorder in her phone.
Voss didn't seem to notice.
Or perhaps he didn't care.
"What exactly happened to my daughters?" Mateo demanded.
Voss looked directly at Sofía.
"They survived."
"I know that."
"No."
His silver eyes narrowed.
"They returned."
The room seemed to grow colder.
"They were clinically dead."
"For several minutes."
"And then..."
He paused.
"They came back without intervention."
Mateo shook his head.
"Miracles happen."
"Twice?"
"In the same room?"
"During the same blackout?"
Mateo couldn't answer.
Voss continued.
"Medicine has never explained it."
"Neither has religion."
"So we decided to study it."
Dalia stepped forward.
"You murdered babies."
"No."
"I documented outcomes."
"You erased families."
"I protected knowledge."
His complete lack of remorse sickened Mateo.
Lucía finally spoke.
"Project Phoenix wasn't about saving children."
Voss turned toward her.
"No."
"It was about finding them."
A long silence followed.
Then Voss smiled.
"Mr. Ortega trained you well."
Lucía's face went pale.
"You knew Gabriel?"
"We spoke often."
"Until he disappeared."
"He made unfortunate choices."
Mateo clenched his fists.
"You killed him."
Voss sighed.
"I never enjoy losing intelligent people."
He didn't deny it.
The bookstore suddenly felt much smaller.
Voss reached into his jacket.
Mateo instinctively stepped in front of the twins.
Instead of a weapon...
Voss removed a small photograph.
Old.
Worn.
Edges faded with time.
He handed it to Mateo.
It showed three newborn girls lying side by side in identical incubators.
Subject 7.
Subject 9.
Subject 11.
Mateo immediately recognized Sofía.
Next to her was another infant with Camila's unmistakable features.
But the third baby...
She wore the same hospital bracelet.
The same date of birth.
The same time stamp.
Yet the identification card beneath her bassinet contained only one handwritten word.
EVA
Mateo looked up.
"I've never heard that name."
"You weren't supposed to."
Voss folded his hands behind his back.
"The third child survived."
Dalia gasped.
"No..."
"The records called her missing."
"They were wrong."
Lucía stared at the photograph.
"Where is she?"
Voss looked toward the bookstore window.
"She's exactly where she has always been."
Mateo's voice shook.
"What does that mean?"
Before Voss could answer...
A little voice spoke behind him.
Not frightened.
Not confused.
Perfectly calm.
"She's lonely."
Everyone turned.
Sofía had slipped from Mateo's arms.
She was standing in the middle of the bookstore.
Looking directly into Adrian Voss's eyes.
The little girl slowly tilted her head.
Then, in a voice far older than any two-year-old should possess, she quietly said,
"Eva has been waiting for us."
For the first time since entering the bookstore...
Adrian Voss's calm expression disappeared.
He looked genuinely shocked.
Almost afraid.
May you like
Then he whispered a single sentence.
"So... she remembers."
