Chapter 5 - THE HIDDEN CLINICBy 8:00 AM on Christmas morning, the snow had stopped, but the sky remained a bruised slate grey.
Jack knew they couldn't stay in the house. Victor Sterling owned the local police chief, half the hospital board, and the probate court judges. Remaining at the Thompson residence was an invitation to a silent raid.
Jack packed a single duffel bag with warm clothes, his mother’s heart medication, and his emergency cash savings. He moved Susan to the backseat of his Subaru, wrapping her in heavy wool blankets, while the twins huddled beside her in the middle seat.
"Where are we going?" Susan asked, her voice frail but resolute.
"To the one place Victor Sterling can't legally search," Jack said, checking his rearview mirror as he pulled out of the driveway. "The old Saint Matthew’s Free Clinic on 5th Street."
The clinic had been shut down five years ago during hospital restructuring, but Jack still held the master keys from his days as a volunteer coordinator. It sat in a forgotten industrial sector, protected by brick walls and boarded-up windows.
Inside, the air was freezing and smelled of antiseptic and dust. Jack turned on the portable space heaters in the back office, setting up a makeshift nest of blankets for his mother and the twins.
Once Susan was resting, Jack pulled Emma aside into the hallway.
"Emma," Jack said gently, kneeling down. "You said your mommy told you about a baby brother. What did she mean?"
Emma reached inside her coat and pulled out a small, waterproof pouch suspended around her neck by a shoelace. "Mommy told me to give this to you if the man in the suit found us. She said you were the only nurse who ever cared about people for free."
Jack opened the pouch. Inside was a thumb drive and a handwritten letter on hospital letterhead.
The handwriting was jagged, frantic, and covered in faint bloodstains.
Dear Jack,
If you are reading this, I am either dead or taken. Victor found us. He didn't just want the research—he wanted the girls. Ten years ago, Victor launched an illegal gene-editing trial aimed at curing hereditary heart failure. He used me as a carrier without my consent when I was admitted to Sector 4 after my relapse.
Emma and Olivia are the only surviving subjects. Their blood contains the synthetic antibody that Victor needs to patent his multi-billion-dollar drug.
He killed my infant son, Leo, when his body rejected the treatment. He will destroy Emma and Olivia too if he gets them back into that lab.
Jack, you were the only person who tried to save me when we were eighteen. Save my daughters. The thumb drive contains the master key to Victor’s server.
I’m so sorry I brought this to your door.
Love always,
May you like
Lisa.
Jack stared at the paper, tears blurring his vision. Lisa hadn't fallen into addiction and chaos by choice 22 years ago—she had been targeted from the start.
