Chapter 10 - THE CLINIC
Emma did not go alone.
She wanted to.
Morales threatened to arrest her for obstruction if she tried.
Caleb threatened something less legal against anyone who encouraged the idea.
The abandoned clinic stood forty miles north of Baltimore.
It had closed nine years earlier after Carter Biomedical consolidated operations.
The exterior looked dead.
Boards covered windows.
Weeds grew through the parking lot.
Anna’s car sat beneath a broken lamp.
Emma watched from an armored police vehicle half a mile away through a live camera feed.
Tactical officers entered at 2:13 a.m.
The first floor was empty.
Second floor empty.
Basement locked.
Officers forced the door.
Inside they found hospital beds.
Old monitors.
File cabinets.
And recent footprints.
Emma leaned toward the screen.
“Someone’s been there.”
Morales nodded.
An officer called out.
“Movement!”
The camera swung.
Emma stopped breathing.
A figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Female.
Barefoot.
Hospital gown.
Dark hair.
“Anna.”
The woman collapsed before officers reached her.
Emma stood.
“That’s her.”
Morales grabbed her arm.
“Stay here.”
“That’s my sister.”
“We don’t know if the site is secure.”
Emma pulled away.
“I am not spending another minute sitting somewhere safe while my family suffers behind locked doors.”
Caleb stepped between her and the exit.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
He was terrified too.
Not controlling.
Terrified.
“If you run in there and there’s a second attacker, what do I do?”
Emma’s anger weakened.
He continued.
“Give them five minutes.”
She hated that he was right.
Four minutes later, Morales received clearance.
Emma ran.
The basement smelled like dust and antiseptic.
Paramedics surrounded the woman.
Emma stopped several feet away.
Anna looked smaller than in the driver’s license photograph.
Bruises covered her arms.
An IV mark showed on one hand.
Her hair was tangled.
But the face was unmistakable.
Emma’s face.
Not identical.
Anna’s nose was slightly narrower.
Her jaw softer.
But no one could deny what they were.
Twins.
Emma knelt.
“Anna?”
No response.
A paramedic looked at her.
“She’s breathing.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
Anna’s eyelids fluttered.
“Anna, my name is Emma.”
The woman’s eyes opened.
Gray-blue.
She stared.
For several seconds, confusion filled her expression.
Then recognition.
“Emma?”
Emma laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
Anna’s hand lifted weakly.
She touched Emma’s cheek.
“You’re real.”
“So are you.”
Anna began crying.
Emma took her hand.
“You’re safe.”
Anna’s fingers tightened suddenly.
“No.”
Emma frowned.
“What?”
Anna’s eyes sharpened with fear.
“No, we’re not.”
Morales moved closer.
“Anna, who brought you here?”
Anna looked around wildly.
“She knows.”
“Vivian?”
Anna shook her head.
“Not Vivian.”
Emma’s stomach dropped.
“Then who?”
Anna struggled to sit.
The paramedic stopped her.
“Easy.”
Anna looked directly at Emma.
“Vivian isn’t in charge.”
Silence filled the basement.
Emma whispered, “Who is?”
Anna opened her mouth.
A loud crack echoed above.
Gunfire.
Officers shouted.
The lights went out.
Caleb grabbed Emma and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
Morales drew her weapon.
Emergency lights flashed red.
A second shot.
Then silence.
Emma held Anna’s hand in darkness.
Footsteps approached from the corridor.
Morales raised her gun.
“Police! Identify yourself!”
A man stumbled into view.
Officer Marcus Dale.
Blood covered his shoulder.
“Don’t shoot.”
Morales stared at him.
“What are you doing here?”
Dale collapsed against the wall.
“They followed us.”
“Who?”
He looked at Emma.
“The people your mother was trying to expose.”
Anna whispered, “No.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Anna’s face had gone white.
“What?”
She stared at Dale.
“That’s him.”
Morales’s gun lifted.
Dale froze.
May you like
Anna pointed.
“He’s the one who took me.”
