At exactly 10 in the morning the Quinns and Lockes gathered at the Harrison Genetics Institute.
Savannah sat stiffly on the examination chair while across the room, Victor Locke stood with his hands in his pockets. He portrayed himself as a concerned and supportive uncle but almost everyone knew his true intentions.
Ansel stood by the door, his eyes tracking every single movement in the room.
Richard walked nervously near the window while Celeste sat quietly in the corner pretending to be scared.
"Alright. We are ready to begin," a nurse said as she entered the room with a tray of sealed tubes and cotton swabs.
"Let’s get this over with," Richard grumbled and took a step forward.
The nurse put on her gloves and walked over to him. She swabbed the inside of his cheek, put the swab inside a tube, and wrote his name on the outside.
"Miss Celeste?" the nurse called.
Celeste stood up and smiled as she sat near the nurse.
"Thank you," she whispered sweetly as the nurse swabbed her cheek.
The nurse wrote Celeste’s name on the tube and smiled when she put the tube back into the tray.
"Miss Savannah?"
The nurse took her sample and put it back in the tray just like the others.
"The samples will be processed immediately," Victor said. "The board expects the results day after tomorrow."
Ansel didn’t say a word during the whole process. He was well aware of the game Victor was playing. He looked at Savannah across the room, gave her a small nod and walked out the door.
Savannah too left alone a few minutes later. She was halfway home in a taxi when her burner phone rang.
"I just booked another laboratory on the other side of the city. It is independent," Ansel said immediately. "I already have a courier waiting. But I need a fresh DNA sample from your father."
"You are running a second DNA test?"
"Yes," Ansel replied. "Anything would do. A hair, a used toothbrush, a razor. Anything. We will do a parallel test and show everyone the real results day after tomorrow night before Victor can even open his forged results."
A spark of hope finally lit in Savannah’s chest.
"I’m almost home," Savannah said. "I’ll get it."
She hung up and entered the mansion. When she stepped inside she was expecting another dramatic scene from Celeste and her parents. But the mansion was deathly quiet.
"Martha?" Savannah said as she saw the head maid dusting a table. "Where is father?"
The maid looked surprised.
"Oh, Miss Savannah. You just missed them. Mr. Quinn took your mother and your brother Cooper to the Serenity Peak temple."
Savannah froze.
"What? The temple? Why?"
"Mr. Quinn was very upset about the... well... incident with Miss Celeste’s broken incense stick yesterday," Martha explained. "He said the family’s luck is failing and he wanted to speak with the monks in private."
"But it’s too far away!!!"
"Yes," Martha replied. "It’ll take them two whole days. They will be back day after tomorrow."
Savannah panicked. Her mind began to race.
It isn’t a coincidence.
Victor had anticipated Ansel’s counter move. He knew they would try to run an independent test so he sent her parents away so that they couldn’t get DNA samples.
Savannah nodded at Martha and went upstairs. She went to her parents’ room and locked the door.
I don’t need them physically. Even a trace of them in enough.
She walked straight towards the bathroom and opened the drawer. The hairbrush was new. There wasn’t a single strand of hair in the bristles. Savannah threw it aside and opened the medicine cabinet.
Her father’s electric razor was gone. In its place was a new pack of disposable razors. She checked the toothbrush holder and found two new and unused toothbrushes there. She looked at the trash can. It was empty.
She dropped to her knees and opened the lower cabinets. There was nothing. Everything was spotless. Even the drain in the sink had been scrubbed raw.
She ran back to the bedroom and checked the pillows to find stray hairs. There was nothing. Bedsheets and pillow covers were new. She checked the laundry basket, bedside drawers. Still nothing.
Every possible source of Richard and Diane’s DNA had been removed with brand new items.
"No...this can’t happen."
She left the room and ran towards Cooper’s room.
Cooper’s DNA would work too.
But his room was also in the same condition as her parents’. Completely spotless.
Savannah collapsed onto the edge of the bed and buried her hands into her hair in defeat.
"What do I do now? How will I get the samples?"
Late that night, Savannah walked around her bedroom again and again, trying to think of a way out. She hadn’t even told Ansel about it. She didn’t have the courage to tell him that they could actually lose after everything they had done.
Her throat turned dry. The water jug in her room was empty. She sighed and walked past Celeste’s room on her way to the kitchen when she heard Celeste talking to someone on her phone.
Savannah stopped and moved closer to her door.
"Yes, exactly as you asked," Celeste said. "I had their rooms cleaned before they even left for the temple, Uncle Victor. I myself watched them take the trash bags straight to the incinerator."
I knew it!
"She is probably tearing her hair out right now," Celeste laughed. "She can’t prove anything now. Whatever she was planning is over."
Victor said something on the other end that made Celeste laugh out loud.
"Goodbye, Uncle," she said and hung up.
Suddenly, the lights in the corridor flickered.
"What is happening?"
She barely had time to think before Celeste’s door handle clicked. Savannah didn’t run or try to hide. She was too exhausted to pretend anymore. She just took a step backward and waited for Celeste to come out.
Celeste stepped out and saw Savannah standing outside. Instead of being afraid, she looked calm and smiled.
"You shouldn’t eavesdrop, Sis," Celeste said softly. "It’s bad manners."