Chapter 6 - THE DEAD BROTHER
“Victor.”
Ethan said the name like a curse.
The speaker crackled.
“Miss me?”
Ethan pulled his gun and shot the speaker.
The room exploded with static.
I stared at him.
“That helped.”
He ignored me.
“Find the control room.”
His men moved.
Dr. Mercer slumped against the wall.
Daniel stayed close to me.
“Who’s Victor?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
I did.
“Your uncle.”
Daniel looked confused.
“The bad one?”
Ethan turned.
“What did Margaret tell you?”
“That Uncle Victor saved me from my dad.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
Daniel continued.
“She said Dad killed Grandma. Then Grandpa. Then Mom.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Is it?”
The question stopped Ethan cold.
Seven-year-old Daniel had spent his entire life being trained to hate him.
And now Ethan had to fight a lifetime of lies in one night.
“We don’t have time,” I said. “Noah is still missing.”
A guard shouted from the hallway.
“Found something!”
We followed him into a surveillance room.
Twenty monitors covered the wall.
Every bedroom.
Every hallway.
Every entrance.
Even Noah’s bathroom.
My stomach turned.
Margaret hadn’t just managed the estate.
She had owned it.
One screen showed the old garage.
A black SUV sat inside.
Another showed Noah.
He was strapped into the back seat.
Unconscious.
Margaret stood beside him.
And with her—
a tall silver-haired man.
Victor.
Alive.
Ethan stepped toward the monitor.
His brother looked older, thinner, but the resemblance was obvious.
Same eyes.
Same posture.
Same dangerous stillness.
Victor looked directly into the camera.
As if he knew Ethan was watching.
Then he smiled.
The feed cut.
“Garage!” Ethan shouted.
We ran.
By the time we arrived, the SUV was gone.
The outer garage door was open.
Ethan’s security chief, Mason, checked the system.
“They used an emergency override.”
“Track the vehicle.”
“Disabled.”
“Street cameras.”
“Working on it.”
I turned to Daniel.
“You said Margaret lies about the hospital.”
He nodded.
“Where else does she go?”
He thought.
“She takes me to a house.”
“What house?”
“Near water.”
“Lake? River?”
“Big water.”
Ethan looked at Mason.
“Coast?”
Daniel nodded.
“There are boats.”
Ethan swore under his breath.
“The marina.”
“What marina?”
“My family owns an old shipyard south of New Haven.”
He called for cars.
Mercer grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.”
I looked down.
His face was gray.
“If Victor has Noah, you can’t just go in shooting.”
Ethan turned.
“Watch me.”
Mercer shook his head.
“You don’t understand. Noah isn’t leverage.”
“What is he?”
Mercer hesitated.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That the compound works.”
My pulse jumped.
“What compound?”
Mercer looked at me.
“The medication wasn’t designed to kill Noah.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“Then what the hell was it designed to do?”
“To create symptoms.”
My stomach dropped.
“Symptoms of neurological disease?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mercer swallowed.
“So Victor could sell the cure.”
Nobody moved.
I stared at the shelves of medicine around us.
“You’re saying he makes healthy children sick…”
Mercer nodded.
“…then sells the treatment?”
“Yes.”
Ethan’s expression became pure murder.
“How many kids?”
Mercer closed his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“Hundreds.”
Daniel started crying.
I pulled him close.
Then Mason shouted from the surveillance console.
“We found the SUV.”
Ethan turned.
“Where?”
Mason looked confused.
“It never left the property.”
The screen changed.
A thermal camera showed the vehicle entering a hidden freight elevator beneath the garage.
The elevator was descending.
Down.
Far below the basement.
And Mercer whispered, “Oh God.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He pointed at the screen.
“That elevator doesn’t go to the shipyard.”
“Then where does it go?”
May you like
His voice barely came out.
“The lab.”
