Chapter 10 - THE ABANDONED CLINIC
Noah didn’t go alone.
He wanted to.
Reyes wouldn’t allow it.
So they compromised.
Noah entered the abandoned clinic by himself.
Agents surrounded the building.
Margaret waited in a van.
David remained in custody.
The clinic smelled like bleach and rainwater.
“Noah?”
His mother’s voice came from somewhere ahead.
“Mom!”
“Don’t run.”
Another voice.
Female.
Sarah.
Noah stopped.
She stepped from a dark doorway.
His aunt.
A woman he had never known existed.
“You look like David,” she said.
Noah clenched his fists.
“Where’s my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
Sarah smiled sadly.
“You really are Evelyn’s son.”
She led him into an operating room.
Evelyn sat in a chair.
Not tied.
Not injured.
Noah stared.
“Mom?”
Evelyn stood.
“I’m sorry.”
Noah looked between them.
“What is happening?”
Sarah closed the door.
“Your mother came willingly.”
“You sent me a picture of her tied up!”
“To get you away from federal agents.”
“Why?”
Evelyn touched his arm.
“Because someone inside the investigation is part of the program.”
Noah’s stomach dropped.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Sarah opened a laptop.
Security footage appeared.
Agent Reyes meeting with Dr. Pierce three weeks earlier.
Noah stared.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No,” Sarah said. “This does.”
She played audio.
Pierce’s voice.
“The children are becoming suspicious.”
Then Reyes.
“Keep them calm until Bennett moves the archive.”
Noah felt sick.
“Reyes?”
Evelyn nodded.
“She didn’t come to rescue us.”
“What does she want?”
“The full patient list.”
Sarah closed the laptop.
“With that list, she can erase anyone who survived.”
Noah thought of the agents surrounding the building.
“She knows we’re here.”
Sarah smiled without humor.
“Yes.”
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Evelyn grabbed Noah.
“Down!”
Windows shattered.
Sarah pulled a weapon.
“Noah, back door!”
They ran through a surgical hallway.
A voice came over a loudspeaker.
Agent Reyes.
“Evelyn Bennett, come out peacefully.”
Noah looked at his mother.
“You were right.”
Evelyn pushed him toward Sarah.
“Go.”
“No.”
“Noah.”
“I’m not leaving you again.”
Her face broke.
“You never left me.”
A door exploded inward.
Armed agents entered.
Sarah fired at the ceiling.
Lights shattered.
Darkness.
They ran.
Outside, an SUV screeched to a stop.
The driver’s door opened.
David Bennett leaned across the seat.
“GET IN!”
Noah stared.
“You escaped custody?”
David shouted, “You can yell at me after we survive!”
They climbed inside.
David slammed the accelerator.
Behind them, Reyes walked into the rain.
She raised her phone.
Noah’s phone buzzed.
A message from her.
Your sister is still at the mansion.
May you like
Noah’s blood froze.
Lily.
