Chapter 6 - PROJECT EVE
Emma had spent most of her life believing her father’s work saved people.
Dr. Samuel Carter developed treatments for rare neurological diseases.
He refused luxury, avoided public attention, and taught Emma that scientific progress meant nothing without honesty.
The photograph Margaret left behind suggested another story.
Detective Reed brought the image to a forensic technician.
It was genuine.
The date was twenty-one years earlier.
At that time, Samuel Carter had worked with Charles Sterling on a private research program known as Project Eve.
Public records contained no mention of it.
Emma contacted her father’s former attorney, Helen Brooks.
Helen was seventy-two and had retired to Maine.
When Emma mentioned Project Eve, the woman became silent.
“I hoped you would never hear that name,” Helen finally said.
“What was it?”
“A clinical experiment.”
“For what?”
“A prenatal genetic treatment.”
Emma’s hand moved protectively over her belly.
Helen explained that Charles Sterling had funded research intended to prevent inherited neurological conditions before birth.
Samuel initially believed the treatment could save children.
But the early trials produced dangerous complications.
Samuel ordered the project shut down.
Charles refused.
“He had already promised investors a medical revolution,” Helen said.
“What did my father do?”
“He collected the evidence.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Helen said Samuel planned to expose the company.
Before he could do so, a laboratory fire destroyed the Project Eve records.
Three researchers died.
Samuel survived but left the company immediately.
Officially, the fire had been caused by faulty wiring.
“Did my father believe that?” Emma asked.
“No.”
“Who did he blame?”
Helen hesitated.
“Charles Sterling.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Her father died five years later in what police described as a single-car accident.
At the time, Emma never questioned it.
Now every memory felt uncertain.
Detective Reed sat beside the window.
“Why would Margaret show you the photograph?”
“She wanted me to believe my father was involved.”
“Or she wanted you to investigate Project Eve.”
Emma looked at him.
“You think she was helping me?”
“I think Margaret Sterling protects herself first.”
Reed believed Margaret might be afraid of Charles.
By pointing Emma toward the old project, she could expose her husband without directly betraying him.
Rosa returned to the hospital with Emma’s suitcase.
Inside, hidden beneath a false lining, was a thin black notebook.
Emma had never seen it before.
Rosa said Gordon Pike had placed something inside the suitcase before Vivian discovered it.
The notebook contained dates, payment amounts, and initials.
Several pages referred to EVE SUBJECTS.
Next to each subject was a number.
Some numbers were marked DECEASED.
Others were marked SETTLED.
The final entry was different.
SUBJECT 17 — SURVIVED.
CURRENT LOCATION CONFIRMED.
EMMA CARTER STERLING.
Emma read the line twice.
“That can’t be right.”
Detective Reed took the notebook.
“You were born around the time of Project Eve.”
“My mother would have told me.”
“Your mother died when you were an infant.”
Emma felt suddenly cold.
The notebook suggested that she had not merely inherited her father’s connection to Project Eve.
She had been part of it.
A nurse entered and adjusted the fetal monitor.
The baby’s heartbeat remained strong.
Emma stared at the moving line on the screen.
“What if they want my child because of what happened to me?”
Detective Reed did not dismiss the possibility.
He called the hospital security team and doubled the guard outside Emma’s room.
Across the city, police searched Charles Sterling’s hangar.
Behind a locked cabinet, they discovered an old metal case.
Inside were medical vials, faded patient files, and a photograph of seventeen newborn babies.
Sixteen faces had been crossed out.
The final baby wore a bracelet labeled EMMA CARTER.
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Behind the photograph was a recent ultrasound image.
It belonged to Emma’s unborn child.
