Chapter 4 - The Empty Incubator
Sterling Memorial entered lockdown at 7:04 a.m.
By 7:11, police filled the neonatal floor.
By 7:18, the hospital's public relations office had already prepared a statement claiming an infant had been transferred internally during a documentation error.
Arthur watched Emily read the statement on a supervisor's tablet.
"Documentation error?"
She looked furious.
"Someone stole a premature baby."
Richard Sterling said nothing.
Arthur grabbed him by the arm.
"You're coming with me."
"Where?"
"Security."
Richard resisted.
"That will accomplish nothing."
"Good. Then maybe I'll start breaking things."
Emily stepped closer.
"Arthur, look."
She pointed toward the ceiling.
One security camera faced the incubator.
Its indicator light was dark.
Another camera at the corridor entrance remained active.
Emily asked a technician, "How long was that one offline?"
The technician hesitated.
"Six minutes."
"Why?"
"Maintenance override."
"By who?"
His eyes moved toward Richard.
Arthur noticed.
Richard sighed.
"My administrator credentials were used."
Arthur released him.
"Who has access?"
"Several senior staff."
"Names."
"Not here."
Arthur's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a recording played.
A baby's faint cry.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
A distorted voice said, "Red Haven remembers you."
The call ended.
Emily heard enough to understand.
Richard whispered, "They found us."
Arthur turned.
"Who?"
Richard walked toward the consultation room.
"Lock the door."
Arthur almost refused.
Then he saw genuine fear in Richard's face.
They entered.
Richard spoke quietly.
"Red Haven was not originally a rehabilitation center."
Arthur said, "What was it?"
"A behavioral research program."
Emily stared.
"On wounded soldiers?"
"Initially."
Arthur's voice became dangerous.
"Initially?"
Richard looked ashamed.
"Later, families."
"Children?"
Richard did not answer.
Emily whispered, "Jesus."
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"My father founded the project in the 1980s. He believed trauma responses could be mapped, predicted, inherited and eventually modified."
Arthur looked at the missing baby's medical report.
"Inherited."
"Yes."
"Daniel discovered it."
"Yes."
"And he tried to expose you."
Richard nodded.
Arthur finally understood something that had haunted him for years.
Daniel had not been distracted before the convoy explosion.
He had been terrified.
For days he had been trying to reach someone outside their unit.
Arthur had assumed family problems.
Daniel had once asked Arthur a strange question.
If your father was doing something evil, would you destroy everything he built to stop him?
Arthur had answered without thinking.
Yes.
Richard continued.
"Daniel copied research files before his deployment. When he returned injured, my father believed he could recover the location of the copies through neurological treatment."
Arthur stared at him.
"Torture."
Richard looked away.
"You tortured your own son."
"My father controlled Red Haven."
"And you helped him."
Richard did not deny it.
Arthur stepped closer.
"Why does that child exist?"
Richard's voice cracked.
"My father believed Daniel carried a neurological trait that made him unusually resistant to conditioning."
Emily shook her head.
"This is insane."
"Perhaps. But the research attracted powerful investors."
"What investors?"
Richard looked toward the locked door.
"People who didn't care whether the science was complete."
Arthur said, "Why use Daniel's DNA?"
"To continue the research."
Emily's disgust was visible.
"You created a baby as an experiment."
Richard snapped, "I didn't create her."
"Your trust authorized it."
"I tried to stop it."
Arthur laughed bitterly.
"Seventeen years late."
Richard reached into his jacket and removed a small key.
"Three weeks ago, someone sent me this."
The key had a red enamel tip.
Attached was a metal plate.
ROOM 17.
Richard placed it in Arthur's palm.
"The old Red Haven property was officially demolished eight years ago."
"Officially?"
"One building remains."
Emily asked, "Where?"
Richard hesitated.
Arthur closed his fist around the key.
"Where?"
"Thirty-two miles north."
Arthur turned toward the door.
Emily followed.
Richard caught her arm.
"You can't go."
She pulled free.
"That baby is my patient."
"You'll be killed."
Emily looked at him.
"Then maybe you should tell the police everything."
Richard gave a hollow smile.
"You think the police haven't been part of this before?"
Arthur opened the door.
Hospital security was moving patients away from the corridor.
He looked at Emily.
"You have a car?"
"Yes."
"You're staying here."
"No."
"This isn't your fight."
Emily met his eyes.
"Someone stole a two-pound infant from my NICU."
Arthur realized she was not going to change her mind.
Then Emily's pager buzzed.
A message appeared.
She read it twice.
Her face changed.
Arthur asked, "What?"
Emily turned the screen toward him.
ROOM 17.
May you like
COME ALONE, ARTHUR.
OR THE CHILD DOES NOT SURVIVE THE HOUR.
