Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Blood
The air vanished from my lungs.
Four weeks pregnant.
The timeline slammed into my chest like a runaway freight train. Four weeks ago was the night in Miami. The night I ran into her at the bar. The night we walked on the beach, gave in to years of unexpressed grief, and spent the night together in my hotel room.
The baby was mine.
"She’s... she’s carrying my child?" I choked out, gripping the stairwell railing to steady myself.
"Yes," Dr. Thorne confirmed, nodding grimly. "And that child is a biological miracle. Somehow, the combination of your DNA and her mutated blood has created a genetic anomaly. The fetus is producing an enzyme that neutralizes the toxic synthetic virus Vance injected into her. In short: your unborn child is the cure to a multi-billion-dollar biological weapon."
Everything suddenly made terrifying sense.
Why Sarah had been so terrified when she saw the red stain on the bed sheet. She knew her body was failing. She thought she was dying right there in front of me. She had fled because she didn't want me to watch her decay, nor did she want me dragged into Vance’s web.
And now, Vance knew about the pregnancy.
"Vance doesn't want to treat her," I said, realization dawning on me like a horrific wave. "He wants to extract the child."
"If they perform an emergency extraction at this stage," Dr. Thorne whispered, "neither Sarah nor the baby will survive the procedure. Vance views Sarah as an expensive lab test. To him, the baby is intellectual property."
"Where are they taking her?" I demanded, gripping the doctor's coat. "Tell me!"
"Vance’s security team is prepping her for transport right now. They’re transferring her to a private medical facility in the Florida Everglades—a research center owned by Vance Biotech. Once she enters that compound, she will never come out alive."
"Not on my watch," I growled.
I didn't waste another second. I bolted up the stairwell, rushing back toward Room 412. But as I rounded the corner of the ICU corridor, I saw two orderlies wheeling a gurney covered in heavy medical blankets toward the private service elevators. Vance was walking alongside them, holding a clipboard, while his armed security guards scanned the hallway.
Sarah was on that gurney, strapped down, an IV drip hooked to her arm. She was conscious, her eyes wide with panic as she caught sight of me down the hall.
"Charles!" she screamed, her voice echoing off the sterile walls. "Charles, run!"
One of the security guards spotted me and immediately reached into his jacket, pulling a concealed firearm.
"Stop right there!" the guard shouted.
"Get her to the van!" Vance barked to the orderlies.
Chaos erupted in the hospital corridor. Patients screamed, nurses ducked behind counters, and alarms began to blare.
I didn't stop. I charged forward, tackling the armed guard into a utility cart full of medical supplies. We crashed to the floor in a heap of metal, glass, and rubbing alcohol. I threw a wild punch that connected directly with his jaw, knocking him dizzy, and snatched his dropped firearm from the floor.
I scrambled up, racking the slide, and pointed the gun at the second guard.
"Step away from the gurney!" I yelled, my hands shaking, adrenalin surging through every vein in my body. "Step away from her right now!"
The second guard froze, raising his hands slowly. But Julian Vance simply turned around, looking at me with cold, amused contempt.
"You're out of your depth, Miller," Vance said smoothly, stepping in front of the gurney. "You’re a construction executive from Chicago. You build houses. You don't know how this world works. Shoot me, and my men will tear you apart before you can pull the trigger a second time."
"Try me," I growled, stepping closer, keeping the sight aligned with his chest.
"Charles, don't!" Sarah cried out from the gurney, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "He’s right! You can't fight them like this!"
"I’m not leaving you again, Sarah!" I yelled back. "Not three years ago, and not today!"
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Suddenly, the elevator doors behind Vance chimed open. Before anyone could react, two flashbang grenades were tossed out into the hallway.
A blinding white explosion ripped through the corridor, followed by a deafening ear-splitting sound that threw me backward against the wall.
