Mara clamped the IV tubing with both hands.
“Disconnect it.”
The nurse beside her moved instantly.
Sarah stared at the pump.
“What was being delivered?”
“Nothing yet.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Mara checked the line.
“The command changed the rate, but this bag is standard saline.”
“Could something already be in the tubing?”
The nurse drew a sample.
Mara nodded.
“We test everything.”
Detective Chen turned to hospital security.
“Disable remote access to every infusion pump on this floor.”
A technician answered through the radio.
“We can isolate the network.”
“Do it now.”
The pump went dark.
Sarah looked at it with disgust.
“He doesn’t even need to enter the room.”
Mara pulled the machine away.
“No networked equipment stays connected.”
Claire remained on the phone.
Her breathing came shallowly.
Chen returned to her.
“Claire, stay with us.”
“I’m here.”
“Tell me about Emily Bishop.”
“She’s Victor’s daughter.”
“Mother Anne?”
“Yes.”
“Did Anne know?”
“That Victor was Emily’s father?”
“Yes.”
“Did Nathan?”
“Yes.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Another hidden child.”
The pattern had become grotesque.
Claire continued.
“Anne worked with Victor because she believed the research could help trauma patients.”
“Did she know Sarah was an unapproved subject?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“After the third dose.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
“What did she do?”
“She wanted to stop.”
“Victor?”
“He refused.”
“Nathan?”
“He agreed with Anne.”
Sarah looked toward the S-4 records.
“That’s why Nathan wrote discontinue.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Anne?”
Claire hesitated.
“She disappeared the next year.”
“Victor killed her?”
“I found evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Letters.”
“Where?”
“USB?”
“No. Safe-deposit box.”
Sarah frowned.
“How did you get access?”
“Joseph.”
Every road led back to Sarah’s father.
Claire continued.
“Joseph spent years collecting evidence about Margaret, Nathan, Victor, everyone.”
“Why didn’t he come forward?”
“Because he believed he was guilty too.”
Sarah looked at the phone.
“Of what?”
“Daniel.”
“What did he do?”
“He followed Daniel that night.”
“We know.”
“He did more.”
Sarah stopped.
“What?”
“He tried to stop him.”
“How?”
“Joseph confronted him near the clinic road.”
“Why?”
“He thought Daniel was kidnapping you.”
Sarah stared.
“Because Mom told him that?”
“Yes.”
“Did they fight?”
“Yes.”
“Did Joseph hurt him?”
“He punched him.”
“And?”
“Daniel got back on the motorcycle.”
“That’s all?”
“Joseph followed in his car.”
“Then?”
“Daniel crashed.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Did Dad cause it?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Joseph reached the wreck seconds later. He pulled Daniel away from the bike.”
Rebecca gasped.
“He was there when Daniel died?”
“Yes.”
“What did Daniel say?”
Claire became quiet.
“Sarah.”
Sarah gripped my hand.
“What did he say?”
“Your name.”
Sarah’s face folded.
“And Elizabeth.”
Lily began crying.
Claire continued.
“Then he gave Joseph an envelope.”
“The records.”
“Yes.”
“Did Joseph keep them?”
“For years.”
“Where are they?”
“Victor took some. Nathan got some. I copied others.”
Chen asked, “Are they on the USB?”
“Only part.”
“Where is the rest?”
Claire whispered, “With me.”
“Physically?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I hid them in this room.”
That gave police even more reason to reach her.
Chen asked for details.
Shelves.
Old oxygen cylinders.
Rust-colored door.
A faded sign mentioning laboratory storage.
Mara knew the section.
“Sub-basement.”
Security had been searching the primary basement.
There was an older level beneath it.
Closed years ago.
Chen radioed the team.
Officers redirected.
Claire’s voice trembled.
“He’ll hear them.”
“We’ll tell you what to do.”
“Victor monitors cameras.”
“Can you hide?”
“I already am.”
“Where?”
“Cabinet.”
Sarah leaned toward the phone.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you watch me?”
A long pause.
“I hated you at first.”
Sarah absorbed it.
“Why?”
“Because I believed your mother stole me.”
“She did.”
“No.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
Claire continued.
“Margaret participated. But she didn’t initiate it.”
“Who did?”
“Victor.”
Sarah stared.
“Why would Victor steal a baby?”
“Research.”
My skin crawled.
Claire explained.
Before the S-4 experiment.
Before Sarah.
Victor and Nathan had studied early childhood attachment and memory.
Mostly legitimate animal and observational work.
Then Victor became interested in identity formation after disrupted bonding.
“He arranged illegal placements.”
Mara whispered, “Children?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I found evidence of three.”
Sarah’s face changed.
“You were one.”
“Yes.”
“Margaret took you?”
“She agreed to foster me temporarily.”
“Then why tell everyone you were hers?”
“Because Joseph found out the placement was illegal.”
“And?”
“He threatened to report it.”
“So they ran.”
“Margaret made a deal.”
“With Victor?”
“Yes.”
“What deal?”
“She would keep quiet about his research if he helped her erase records proving Claire wasn’t hers.”
Rebecca whispered, “So Mom wasn’t Claire’s biological mother.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Claire started crying.
“Anne.”
Mara stared.
“Anne Bishop?”
“Yes.”
Sarah sat back.
Claire was Emily’s half-sister.
Victor’s daughter?
Maybe.
“Was Victor your father too?” Sarah asked.
“No.”
“Who was?”
“I don’t know.”
“So Anne gave you up?”
“No.”
Claire’s voice broke.
“Victor took me.”
The horror widened.
Anne had not volunteered her infant.
Victor had removed her.
“Why would Anne keep working with him?”
“She didn’t know where I was.”
Sarah whispered, “He held her daughter over her.”
“Yes.”
“And later they had Emily?”
“No.”
Claire corrected her.
“Emily was older than me.”
The room paused.
“Then Emily is Anne’s first daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And Victor’s.”
“Yes.”
“Did Anne know Victor took you?”
“Not for years.”
“When she found out?”
“She tried to expose him.”
“And disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Sarah’s voice hardened.
“Victor killed her.”
“I believe so.”
Chen asked, “Evidence?”
“Anne recorded a meeting.”
“Audio?”
“Video.”
“Where?”
“In the files I hid.”
Sarah looked at me.
Everything had narrowed.
Find Claire.
Find the evidence.
Find Victor.
Then the phone crackled.
Claire stopped talking.
“What?”
She whispered, “Door.”
Chen held up one finger.
Everyone went silent.
Metal scraped faintly through the call.
A door opened.
Footsteps.
Claire’s breathing became barely audible.
Then a man spoke in the distance.
“Claire.”
Victor.
Sarah’s fingers dug into mine.
“Claire,” he called again.
“I know you contacted them.”
Chen was already directing officers.
Two minutes away.
Too long.
Victor continued.
“You always were more resourceful than Joseph gave you credit for.”
Claire stayed silent.
A second set of footsteps entered.
Woman.
Emily.
Her voice was calm.
“She has the files.”
Victor replied.
“Then find her.”
Sarah leaned toward the phone and whispered, “Don’t move.”
Claire did not answer.
Victor’s footsteps crossed the room.
Closer.
Metal cabinet doors opened one by one.
Bang.
Pause.
Bang.
Pause.
Emily said, “Security is coming.”
“They’ll search the wrong entrance.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I designed half these rooms.”
Another cabinet opened.
Claire suppressed a breath.
Victor stopped.
Silence.
Then he spoke softly.
“Found you.”
The call erupted in noise.
Claire screamed.
Sarah shouted her name.
Metal crashed.
Victor cursed.
Then another voice.
Officer.
“Police! Hands where I can see them!”
Gunshots.
One.
Two.
Three.
The phone struck the floor.
Static filled the room.
“Claire!”
Nothing.
Chen ran for the door.
I followed before anyone could stop me.
Security blocked the elevators to civilians.
Chen disappeared down the stairwell.
We waited.
Again.
Always waiting while someone else held Sarah’s life.
Five minutes.
Seven.
Then Chen called.
“Claire is alive.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Lily cried against Rebecca’s shoulder.
“What about Victor?”
“Wounded.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Emily?”
“Gone.”
Of course.
“What happened?”
“Victor had a handgun. Officers returned fire. Leg wound.”
“Claire?”
“Minor injury.”
“Evidence?”
“Recovered.”
Mara exhaled.
Finally.
Something stayed found.
Victor was taken into custody under armed guard.
Claire was moved to emergency care.
The hidden files went directly to police.
Emily Bishop became the active fugitive.
Hospital administration suspended her credentials.
Pharmacy access terminated.
Accounts frozen.
Security photo circulated statewide.
For the first time, the net seemed to close.
Then Aaron called.
He had been examining the infusion-pump command.
“It didn’t originate from Emily’s pharmacy account.”
Mara frowned.
“Whose?”
“Local administrative override.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone inside the hospital IT network.”
“Victor?”
“No. Command occurred while Victor was visible on the fourth-floor camera.”
“Emily?”
“Possible.”
“But?”
Aaron hesitated.
“The credentials belong to Nathan Vale.”
Sarah looked up.
“Nathan was unconscious.”
“Yes.”
“Then stolen credentials again.”
“Probably.”
I hated that word.
Sarah noticed.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Start distrusting Nathan before he can wake up and explain.”
“I’m not.”
“You made the face.”
“What face?”
“The mechanic face.”
Lily almost laughed.
I looked at her.
“Apparently everyone recognizes it.”
Nathan regained consciousness that evening.
No ventilator.
Weak.
Confused.
Detective Chen allowed one question initially.
Sarah asked it herself through video.
“Did you give Victor access to your credentials?”
Nathan stared at her.
Older.
Smaller.
Nothing like the monster memory had constructed.
“No.”
“Did you participate in experimenting on me?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He swallowed.
“At first I believed we were treating trauma.”
“Without consent.”
“Yes.”
“How long until you understood what Victor was doing?”
“Too long.”
“How long?”
“Three doses.”
“And then?”
“I tried to stop it.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
“Did you help hide what happened?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help my mother convince me Lily was dead?”
His face collapsed.
“I knew.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“Yes.”
Sarah breathed through the pain.
“Then whatever you did later, you were part of it.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No protection.
Just yes.
That mattered too.
Nathan looked toward the camera.
“Sarah, Victor didn’t choose you randomly.”
“What?”
“He already knew your brain responded unusually to the compound.”
“From where?”
“Earlier.”
“Earlier than seventeen?”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“You were exposed once as a child.”
Rebecca stood.
“What?”
Sarah stared at him.
“How old?”
“Eight.”
The year Claire disappeared.
The year Joseph left.
“What happened?”
Nathan whispered, “Victor tested an early version during the custody crisis.”
“On me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To see whether he could weaken your memory of Claire being taken.”
Sarah’s face turned white.
“My memory problems didn’t begin with Daniel.”
“No.”
“They began with Claire.”
“Yes.”
Sarah looked at Rebecca.
Her sister was crying.
Sarah barely seemed to see her.
“What did I remember before the drug?”
Nathan took a breath.
“That Claire wasn’t taken by Joseph willingly.”
Sarah stared.
“What does that mean?”
“You saw Margaret and Victor put her in Joseph’s car.”
“Why?”
“They told him Claire needed to leave for her safety.”
“From whom?”
“Anne.”
Sarah’s confusion deepened.
“Her real mother.”
“Yes.”
“So Joseph didn’t steal Claire.”
“No.”
“He was used to move her.”
“Yes.”
“And when he discovered the truth?”
“He refused to return.”
“Because he loved her.”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s eyes closed.
“And because returning her meant giving her back to Victor.”
Sarah sat very still.
Joseph’s choices remained flawed.
But different.
Again.
Nathan continued.
“That is why Joseph spent his life watching Victor.”
“Then why did Dad disappear from me?”
“Because Margaret threatened to accuse him of kidnapping all three girls.”
“Us too?”
“Yes.”
“He left with Claire to protect her.”
“And left me with Margaret.”
Nathan looked ashamed.
“He believed you and Rebecca were safer there.”
Sarah laughed once.
“He was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s monitor alarmed.
The nurse ended the interview.
Before the screen went dark, Nathan said one last thing.
“Find Joseph.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Because Emily isn’t helping Victor.”
“What?”
Nathan struggled for breath.
“She’s trying to kill him.”
The connection ended.
Everyone stared.
If Emily wanted Victor dead, why had she delivered the infusion?
Why had she used Nathan’s credentials?
Why had she been in the basement with Victor?
Nothing fit.
Then Claire’s belongings arrived from emergency care.
Among them was a folded piece of paper.
A note Emily had slipped beneath Claire’s motel door three weeks earlier.
Claire had kept it.
Sarah opened it.
One sentence.
Victor thinks I’m helping him. I’m trying to end what he started.
Below it:
Do not trust Joseph until you know what he did with Subject S-5.
Sarah looked at Mara.
“I was S-4.”
“Yes.”
Lily stared at the note.
“Then who was S-5?”
Aaron searched the recovered research files.
A record appeared.
SUBJECT S-5.
Female.
Age nineteen.
Initials:
R.W.
Every face turned toward Rebecca.
Her mouth opened.
“No.”
Sarah stared at her sister.
“You were in the experiment too.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 19: Rebecca Learned Her Own Memories Had Been Altered, and Subject S-5 Revealed Why She Had Protected the Wrong People for Decades
Three Years After Our Quiet Divorce, Sarah Came Home for One Night and Left Her Wedding Ring Behind
Part 18 of 50
