Chapter 5 - The Medicine That Stole Their Voices
Kevin sent the milk to a private laboratory that night.
He refused to use anyone connected to Morrison Dynamics.
He refused to contact Dr. Wallace.
He refused to call his mother.
For the first time since Lauren’s death, he remained inside the mansion after midnight.
Annie sat on the floor between the twins’ beds.
Jordan held one of her hands.
Justin held the other.
Kevin stood near the doorway.
He wanted to sit beside them.
He did not know how.
“You can come closer,” Annie said.
Kevin’s expression tightened.
“I was not asking permission.”
“No.”
She looked at the empty space beside Justin.
“But he was.”
Justin quickly closed his eyes.
Kevin crossed the room.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
His son’s body became rigid.
Kevin almost stood again.
Then Justin slowly placed two fingers against Kevin’s sleeve.
Kevin stopped breathing.
“Did Grandma give you the milk?” Kevin asked.
Jordan nodded.
“Mrs. Bell brought it.”
“Did she say what was inside?”
“She said it stopped bad dreams.”
Justin opened his eyes.
“It stopped everything.”
Kevin looked at Annie.
Her anger was quiet.
That made it more powerful.
“The medicine may have blurred their memories,” she said.
Kevin’s phone rang.
The laboratory director spoke without greeting.
“The sample contains clonazepam.”
Kevin looked at his sons.
“How much?”
“Enough to heavily sedate a child.”
A cold pressure built behind Kevin’s ribs.
“Could repeated doses affect memory?”
“Yes.”
“It could also cause confusion, aggression, poor coordination, and emotional instability.”
Kevin closed his eyes.
The nannies had described every one of those symptoms.
“When can you send the report?”
“It is already encrypted and on its way.”
Kevin ended the call.
Jordan was watching him.
“Are we bad?” the child asked.
Kevin’s face changed.
“What?”
“Grandma said we make people leave.”
Justin pulled the blanket over his mouth.
“She said Daddy works because we hurt Mommy.”
Kevin stood so quickly that the bed shook.
Annie caught his wrist.
“Do not leave angry.”
“She told my sons they killed their mother.”
“She wants you angry.”
Kevin looked at her hand.
Annie released him.
“She has controlled this house by keeping everyone afraid and separated.”
Kevin’s voice dropped.
“You think you understand my family after six days?”
“I understand frightened children.”
“They do not lie well.”
“And I understand men who work sixteen hours a day so they never have to hear something painful.”
Kevin stared at her.
“What truth am I refusing to hear?”
Annie looked toward Jordan and Justin.
“They never needed five nannies.”
“They needed their father.”
The words struck with brutal simplicity.
Kevin looked away.
Annie continued.
“You kept hiring strangers because strangers could fail.”
“You could fire them.”
“You could blame them.”
“But if you stayed and the boys still suffered, you would have to face the possibility that money could not fix them.”
Kevin’s voice became sharp.
“You know nothing about what I lost.”
“No.”
Annie’s eyes softened.
“But they lost her too.”
“And then they lost you.”
Kevin could not answer.
His phone vibrated again.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph taken through the bedroom window.
Kevin, Annie, and the twins were visible inside.
May you like
Beneath it was one sentence.
Give me the backup drive, or the next photograph will be taken after the children stop breathing.
