Chapter 8 - The Recording From Room 6
Margaret pulled her coat over her nose.
Sarah searched the room for another exit.
The gas formed a white mist near the ceiling.
“Ventilation duct,” Margaret coughed.
The duct was too narrow for either of them.
Sarah grabbed a fire extinguisher and struck the electronic lock. Sparks flew, but the door remained sealed.
Mercer’s voice returned.
“You have entered a restricted medical facility. Remain calm. Security is coming.”
Sarah slammed the extinguisher into the control panel again.
Nothing.
Margaret opened Anna’s box.
“What are you doing?”
“If we’re caught, I’m not leaving without this.”
She pulled out a red notebook.
A security camera rotated toward them.
Sarah threw the extinguisher.
The camera shattered.
The alarm changed pitch.
A metal shutter began descending over the shelves.
Sarah grabbed the Carter-Sloan box and dragged it free before the shutter closed.
Inside she found an old digital recorder.
A label read ROOM 6 DELIVERY.
She pressed play.
Static filled the tiny speaker.
Then a woman screamed.
A doctor called for more blood.
Sarah recognized Daniel’s younger voice.
“Which baby is hers?”
Another man answered.
“It doesn’t matter. Both deliveries are compromised.”
“It matters to me.”
“Rebecca is dead. Sarah may not survive. We proceed according to protocol.”
A baby cried in the background.
Then a second cry joined it.
Sarah’s heart stopped.
Both boys had been alive.
Daniel said, “You told me Sarah’s baby died.”
Victor Mercer answered, “He will, unless we move him.”
“Move him where?”
“To the program.”
Sarah nearly dropped the recorder.
A pounding sound came from the opposite wall.
Margaret pulled a shelf aside.
Behind it was an old service hatch.
Together they forced it open.
The gas thickened.
Sarah pushed the Carter-Sloan documents through first, followed by Anna’s notebook. Margaret crawled into the dark passage.
Sarah followed as the archive door burst open behind them.
Security guards entered wearing masks.
Sarah pulled the hatch closed.
The passage led to a utility tunnel beneath the building. They crawled until Sarah’s knees bled.
At the far end, a ladder rose to a street access cover.
They emerged two blocks away.
Margaret leaned against a brick wall, gasping for air.
Sarah held the recorder.
“My baby was alive.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Daniel knew.”
“He knew something.”
“He helped them.”
Sarah shook her head, not to defend him but because the truth had not yet settled into a shape she could survive.
A car engine roared nearby.
Headlights turned into the alley.
Margaret shouted.
Sarah pulled her behind a dumpster as a black sedan accelerated toward them. It struck the wall where they had been standing.
The driver reversed.
Sarah saw Daniel behind the wheel.
For one terrible moment, husband and wife looked directly at each other through the windshield.
Daniel’s face was filled with panic.
Not rage.
He drove away.
Sarah’s phone rang.
Ethan’s name appeared.
She answered immediately.
“Ethan?”
His voice was weak.
“Mom, Dad came to the hospital.”
“Is he there now?”
“No. He gave Dr. Reeves some papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know. They moved my procedure to tomorrow morning.”
Sarah’s blood turned cold.
“What procedure?”
“The experimental treatment.”
“You are not having that procedure.”
“They said you signed the consent.”
“I didn’t.”
A male voice sounded in Ethan’s room.
Ethan whispered, “Someone’s coming.”
“Lock the door.”
“I can’t. Mom, there’s a man here.”
“Who?”
The line crackled.
May you like
Ethan said, “He looks like me.”
Then the call ended.
