Chapter 4 - THE TRACE IN THE BLOODThe room exploded into motion.
"Get out!" Susan screamed, seizing a brass candlestick from the mantel and pointing it at Victor. "Get out of my house before I call the state police myself!"
Victor’s calm mask shattered into a scowl of pure venom. "You're making a catastrophic mistake, Mrs. Thompson. You have no idea what Lisa was involved in."
"I know what you're involved in!" Jack spat, stepping directly into Victor's space and slamming the door halfway shut. "I work in your oncology unit, Sterling! I know about the unregistered trials in Sector 4! If you touch those girls, I’ll go straight to the District Attorney with every shift log I've saved for the last six months!"
Victor stared at Jack for three agonizing seconds. The billionaire slowly pulled back, adjusting his leather gloves.
"You have until noon, Nurse Thompson," Victor whispered, his voice dripping with poison. "Enjoy your Christmas morning. It will be the last one you spend as a free man."
He turned and walked down the steps into the heavy snowfall. The Yukon’s engine roared to life, and the vehicle glided away into the dark.
Jack locked the deadbolt, his hands shaking violently. He turned back to the living room. Susan was slumped on the sofa, clutching her chest, gasping for air.
"Mom!" Jack rushed to her side, pulling a nitroglycerin tablet from her prescription bottle on the side table and placing it under her tongue. "Breathe, Mom. Deep breaths."
"Jack..." Susan wheezed, her hand tightly gripping his forearm. "Look at the girls' wrists... look at them..."
Jack turned to Emma and Olivia. The girls had pulled back their sweater sleeves. On the inside of both their right wrists were identical surgical scars—clean, three-inch incisions that had healed into thin white lines.
And right above Olivia’s scar was a hospital tracking bracelet, faded but legible:
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SUBJECT 04-B — STERLING RESEARCH FACILITY — PROPERTY OF ST HOSP.
Jack’s breath caught in his throat. These weren't just abandoned children. They were test subjects.
