Chapter 11 - The Doctor’s Closed Door
Anna did not show the note immediately.
She folded it and slipped it into her pocket.
Dr. Reed had saved her from the clinic years after failing to save Rebecca. She had provided evidence, shelter and medical care.
But she had also possessed a seventh cup.
She had known about Anna’s mother.
She had access to the Continuity database.
And Aaron’s warning had been specific.
Do not trust Evelyn Reed.
That afternoon, Dr. Reed announced that she had arranged a transfer.
“A federal investigator has agreed to meet us.”
“Who?” Anna asked.
“Agent Lucas Grant. He has been investigating the Vale Foundation for eighteen months.”
“Why haven’t they arrested Sylvia?”
“They lack direct evidence.”
“We have files.”
“Copies. Defense attorneys will challenge the chain of custody.”
“What about my blood results?”
“Useful, but not enough to prove assault or conspiracy.”
Camille laughed bitterly.
“How many stolen children count as enough?”
Dr. Reed did not answer.
The meeting was scheduled at a rural clinic fifty miles north.
Anna recognized the address.
It appeared in one of the microphotographs as Continuity Site B.
She confronted Dr. Reed privately.
“Why are we going to one of their facilities?”
The doctor’s expression remained calm.
“Because Site B was abandoned years ago.”
“Who selected it?”
“Agent Grant.”
“Have you met him?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know he’s federal?”
“He provided credentials.”
“So did Kessler.”
Dr. Reed closed the office door.
“Anna, fear is useful until it makes cooperation impossible.”
“That sounds like something Sylvia would say.”
Pain crossed the doctor’s face.
“I have spent fifteen years trying to repair what happened to your mother.”
“Repair it or hide it?”
Dr. Reed turned away.
Anna removed Aaron’s note.
“He says not to trust you.”
The doctor read it.
“Where did you get this?”
“Under the door.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“You should have told me.”
“Why?”
“Because Aaron may still be working with them.”
“Or he discovered something about you.”
Dr. Reed sat down.
For the first time, she looked old.
“Your mother did not come to me merely for help.”
“What does that mean?”
“She recruited me.”
“For the Continuity Project?”
“To destroy it.”
Anna waited.
Dr. Reed unlocked a drawer and removed an old cassette recorder.
Rebecca’s voice filled the room.
Evelyn, if you are hearing this, Malcolm knows. Sylvia may know too. We were wrong about the seventh formula. It does not reverse the damage. It transfers the symptoms.
Anna stopped the recording.
“What symptoms?”
Dr. Reed’s eyes filled with tears.
“Rebecca was already sick when she came to me. The compounds had damaged her nervous system. We believed the seventh formula could save her.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She improved.”
“Then why did she die?”
“Because someone else became sick.”
“Who?”
Dr. Reed stared toward the bedroom where Camille slept.
“Julian.”
Anna felt the room tilt.
“The formula transferred my mother’s illness to a child?”
“We did not know that would happen.”
“How could a drink transfer an illness?”
“It wasn’t simply a drink. The cup contained a delivery system activated by biological material.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It was experimental gene therapy combined with engineered viral vectors. Crude by modern standards, but effective enough to cause harm.”
“Julian died because you treated my mother?”
“I believed he died.”
“You believed?”
“His body disappeared before an autopsy.”
Anna stepped away.
“You helped create the thing they’re using on me.”
“I helped create the antidote.”
“No. You created another weapon.”
Dr. Reed did not deny it.
A vehicle stopped outside.
Lena looked through the blinds.
“Black SUV.”
Dr. Reed reached for her coat.
“That will be Agent Grant.”
Anna studied the man leaving the vehicle.
Tall. Dark suit. Federal badge.
Then she noticed the silver ring on his right hand.
Three vertical lines inside a circle.
“Close the door,” Anna said.
Dr. Reed hesitated.
“Anna—”
“Shut it.”
Outside, Agent Grant smiled toward the security camera.
May you like
He lifted his phone.
The clinic’s electronic locks clicked open.
