Chapter 5 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Caleb stared at the monitor.
Six years ago, he had stood beside a grave while a minister spoke about Richard Thompson.
He had watched dirt fall onto the coffin.
He had experienced complicated grief.
Richard had been cruel, demanding, impossible to please.
But he had been Caleb’s father.
Now the dead man waited outside.
Daniel asked, “Do we let him in?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked shocked.
“Caleb.”
“He wants Noah.”
“Exactly.”
“And I want answers.”
Daniel nodded to security.
Richard entered the mansion five minutes later.
He looked older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably alive.
He walked into the sitting room as casually as if returning from vacation.
Caleb stood.
Richard smiled.
“You’ve done well with the place.”
Caleb hit him.
The punch knocked Richard sideways.
Security moved.
Caleb raised one hand.
They stopped.
Richard wiped blood from his lip.
“I suppose I deserved that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“Probably.”
“Why Noah?”
Richard glanced toward Evelyn.
“Margaret’s daughter.”
Her body stiffened.
“You murdered Lily.”
“No.”
“You made her deaf.”
Richard looked almost offended.
“The devices did not permanently damage hearing.”
“She died.”
“That was never intended.”
Evelyn lunged.
Daniel caught her.
Richard straightened his coat.
Caleb wanted to kill him.
But Noah needed truth more than Caleb needed revenge.
“Sit.”
Richard did.
“You have ten minutes.”
His father smiled faintly.
“You still think time belongs to you.”
Caleb slammed his hand onto the table.
“Why my son?”
Richard’s smile vanished.
“Because humanity wastes childhood.”
Caleb stared.
Richard continued.
“The brain during early development possesses extraordinary adaptive capacity. Remove a stimulus, restore it later under controlled conditions, and neural reorganization can be measured.”
“They were children.”
“They were subjects.”
Caleb felt something inside him go quiet.
Richard had not changed.
Perhaps he had never possessed the part of a human being that understood love.
“You used my son.”
“I selected Noah because his environment could be controlled.”
“You selected your grandson because I trusted you.”
Richard looked at him.
“Yes.”
That simple answer hurt most.
“You staged Laura’s death.”
“She staged it herself.”
Caleb froze.
“What?”
“She discovered ATI.”
“You tried to kill her.”
“No. I tried to stop her from destroying twenty years of research.”
“She disappeared.”
“She became unstable.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“Every powerful man calls a woman unstable when she discovers his crimes.”
Richard’s eyes hardened.
“She stole confidential information.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Liar.”
“I haven’t seen Laura in seven years.”
“Voss said the same.”
“Then perhaps we’re both telling the truth.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“Why fake your death?”
“Because Laura’s evidence attracted federal attention.”
“So you disappeared.”
“I protected the work.”
“Children suffered.”
“Some.”
Evelyn whispered, “Lily died.”
Richard glanced toward her.
“Your sister’s death was a complication.”
Evelyn broke free from Daniel.
This time Caleb stopped her.
Not to protect Richard.
To protect Evelyn from what she might do.
Richard remained calm.
“Margaret betrayed the program.”
“She saved children.”
“She corrupted data.”
Caleb looked at his father with disbelief.
“You actually believe that matters more.”
“I believe medical advancement has always demanded sacrifice.”
“Not from children who never consented.”
Richard looked tired.
“Ethics are written after breakthroughs, Caleb. Never before.”
Caleb turned away before he did something irreversible.
“What do you want from Noah?”
“The two devices.”
“You’ll never get them.”
“I already know they were removed.”
“How?”
Richard smiled.
“The devices transmitted upon extraction.”
Caleb remembered the beeping.
“The message.”
“That wasn’t me.”
Caleb turned.
Richard looked serious.
“If someone contacted you immediately, you have a second problem.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Richard leaned forward.
“ATI fractured years ago. Some wanted to continue the program. Others wanted to sell the technology. Laura wanted to expose everything. Margaret wanted to destroy it.”
“And you?”
“I wanted control.”
Caleb almost admired the honesty.
“Who sent the message?”
“Possibly Laura.”
Caleb’s heart jumped.
“Why would she warn me?”
“Because she has spent years trying to dismantle what remains.”
“Where is she?”
“I told you.”
“Then help me find her.”
Richard smiled.
“No.”
Caleb stared.
“Why?”
“Because she wants me dead.”
“She may have excellent reasons.”
“Yes.”
Caleb sat across from him.
“Tell me about subjects seventeen and eighteen.”
Richard’s expression sharpened.
“So Voss explained.”
“Enough.”
“Noah was seventeen. Lily eighteen.”
“Why was Lily’s authentication code hidden inside Noah?”
Richard looked toward Evelyn.
“Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“She discovered the subject registry was distributed across individual devices. Destroying the central database wouldn’t erase everything.”
“So she moved Lily’s data.”
“She duplicated it.”
“To Noah.”
“Yes.”
“Why him?”
“Because Laura helped her.”
Caleb’s chest tightened.
Their wives.
Their mothers.
Two women trying to protect their children.
“What happened after?”
“Margaret disappeared with Lily for several months.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No. I remember them being home.”
“Do you?”
Evelyn opened her mouth.
Stopped.
She had been young.
Memories rearranged easily around explanations adults supplied.
Richard continued.
“Laura helped forge documents for them.”
“Did my mother know?” Caleb asked.
“Your mother was dead by then.”
Caleb nodded.
Richard watched him.
“Laura became dangerous after Lily’s death.”
“To you.”
“To everyone.”
“She gathered evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Enough to destroy you?”
“Enough to destroy the foundation.”
“Good.”
Richard laughed once.
“You think the foundation is evil because of one program. It funds thousands of legitimate treatments.”
“With money built partly on children you abused.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“I came here because the devices are more dangerous than you understand.”
“How?”
“They contain names.”
“What names?”
“Subjects.”
Caleb leaned forward.
“All of them?”
“Fragments. Combined correctly, seventeen and eighteen may unlock the registry.”
“Then we expose it.”
“That will put surviving subjects in danger.”
Caleb hesitated.
“For once, explain.”
“Some subjects are adults now. They do not know they participated. Some have families. Careers. Children.”
“They deserve the truth.”
“Perhaps.”
Richard stared at him.
“But the people who want this technology also want those subjects.”
“Why?”
“Because long-term neurological outcomes are worth billions.”
Evelyn looked sick.
“They’d experiment on them again.”
“Yes.”
Caleb’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A video.
He opened it.
Laura appeared.
Older.
Alive.
Caleb stopped breathing.
She stood in a dim room.
“Caleb,” the recording began. “If you’re seeing this, Richard has reached you.”
Richard immediately stood.
“Turn it off.”
Caleb looked at him.
Fear.
For the first time, his father showed genuine fear.
Laura continued.
“He will tell you releasing the registry endangers the surviving children. For once, he is telling part of the truth.”
Caleb’s eyes burned.
Laura.
Her voice.
Eight years.
“He will not tell you the other part.”
Richard moved toward the phone.
Daniel blocked him.
Laura continued.
“The registry is not only a list of victims. It is a list of everyone who authorized the experiments.”
Caleb looked at Richard.
Laura’s voice sharpened.
“Doctors. Executives. Researchers. Politicians. Investors.”
Richard whispered, “Caleb.”
“And one name will explain why Noah was chosen.”
Caleb stopped.
Laura looked directly into the camera.
“Not Richard.”
Caleb’s breath caught.
His father’s expression collapsed.
The video ended.
A text appeared beneath it.
ASK EVELYN WHO RECOMMENDED HER FOR YOUR HOUSE.
Everyone turned.
Evelyn went pale.
Caleb’s voice barely emerged.
“Who recommended you?”
She stared at him.
“The agency called me.”
“Who requested you?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel was already checking.
Seconds later he looked up.
“The placement request didn’t originate from the agency.”
“From where?”
Daniel slowly turned the screen.
May you like
The request had been submitted under a name that should have been impossible.
Laura Thompson.
