Chapter 4 - THE THIRD CALLThe house was immediately declared a major crime scene. Within thirty minutes, tactical units, forensics, and federal investigators swarmed the quiet suburban street.
We took Mark Miller into a mobile command unit parked outside for questioning. DNA samples were rushed to a mobile lab. His fingerprints matched the home's records perfectly.
"Where is Lily?" Mark begged, tears streaming down his bruised face as an EMT bandaged his head. "Please, just let me see my daughter!"
"She's being evaluated by child services in the secondary unit," I told him, sitting across from him. "Mark, you need to tell me the truth. What were you and Sarah working on?"
Mark’s face drained of color. "How do you know about our work?"
"Because normal break-ins don't leave glowing purple residue and identical body doubles behind," I said coldly.
Mark buried his face in his hands. "Sarah and I... we are bio-engineers at Aethelgard Pharmaceuticals. Three weeks ago, our lab had a containment breach. A synthetic neuro-toxin... it doesn't just kill people, Chief. It alters cellular structures. It... it creates synthetic hosts. Clones that mimic human neural patterns."
Suddenly, my personal cell phone began to vibrate in my pocket.
It was a call from the station's main emergency dispatch line.
I answered it. "This is Chief Vance."
A soft, childish voice drifted through the speaker, accompanied by the low ticking of a clock.
"Chief Vance? Mommy and Daddy won't wake up... can you come help me?"
May you like
I looked out the window of the command vehicle toward the quiet two-story house.
The phone call was coming from inside the station—where the original recorded tape was playing... but this call was live.
