The alarm continued for nearly thirty seconds before the overhead announcement finally came.
“Security alert. All staff remain in their assigned areas.”
Emily covered her ears.
I pulled her against me.
Daniel stood near the door.
“Stay here,” he said.
I looked at him.
“You're not leaving.”
“I need to help them find him.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“You don't get to disappear again.”
His eyes met mine.
“I won't.”
The officer stepped between us.
“Mr. Bennett, you're staying here until we know what's happening.”
Daniel nodded.
For once, he didn't argue.
Dr. Harris checked Emily's monitor.
Her heart rate had risen sharply.
“She's frightened.”
“I know,” I said.
Emily looked at the ceiling.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do hospitals have secret rooms?”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Dad said there was a room under the old clinic.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Emily, when did I tell you that?”
“When we left.”
“Which clinic?”
“The one with the blue doors.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“The Mercer clinic.”
The police officer leaned closer.
“What was in the room?”
Emily shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Did you ever see it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Mercer took me downstairs once.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You weren't there.”
“I was outside.”
“He told me not to tell you.”
The officer wrote something down.
“What did you see?”
Emily's breathing became faster.
“Boxes.”
“What kind?”
“White boxes.”
“Medical boxes?”
“I don't know.”
“What else?”
“A computer.”
“Anything written on it?”
She closed her eyes.
“I saw names.”
The room became quiet.
“How many?”
“A lot.”
“Do you remember any?”
She shook her head.
Then she opened her eyes.
“One.”
“Which one?”
“Anna.”
Daniel looked at the officer.
“That may be enough.”
The officer radioed the information.
Within minutes, security began checking the hospital's service areas.
Dr. Harris stayed with us.
He kept glancing toward the door.
“You knew about Mercer before tonight,” I said.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough to know he was dangerous.”
“Then why did you keep treating Emily?”
“Because I didn't know she was connected to his research until tonight.”
“You saw her name.”
“I saw the pattern.”
“What pattern?”
“Symptoms that appeared after exposure to a specific class of compounds.”
I looked at Emily.
“And you suspected?”
“I suspected someone was recreating the same experiment.”
Daniel spoke.
“That's why you asked about the other children.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I needed confirmation.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“People keep saying that.”
Dr. Harris looked at him.
“Because suspicion isn't evidence.”
“Children don't care about the difference.”
“No.”
The answer was quiet.
And honest.
An hour passed.
The alarm stopped.
The hospital returned to normal.
But Mercer was still missing.
A detective arrived and introduced herself as Detective Laura Reed.
She examined the folder carefully.
“Where did this come from?”
“The hallway,” I said.
“Did Mercer have access to your daughter's records?”
“Yes.”
“Did your ex-husband?”
I looked at Daniel.
“Yes.”
She turned toward him.
“Mr. Bennett, I need you to tell me exactly what happened after you left your family.”
Daniel sat down.
“I found out Mercer was conducting unauthorized testing.”
“How?”
“One of the parents contacted me.”
“Which parent?”
“Anna's mother.”
“Name?”
“Rachel Cole.”
The detective wrote it down.
“What did she tell you?”
“That her daughter had been getting sick after every appointment.”
“And?”
“She asked me whether Emily had similar symptoms.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You never told me that.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“And the police?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the first time I reported it, the case disappeared.”
The detective looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“The complaint was closed.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you have proof?”
Daniel looked at the folder.
“That's what the missing files were supposed to prove.”
The detective opened another document.
“This isn't missing.”
She held up a photocopy.
“It was hidden inside the folder.”
Daniel stared.
I stepped closer.
It was a discharge record.
Anna Cole.
The date was two years earlier.
At the bottom, someone had written:
CAUSE OF DEATH: NATURAL.
I looked at Daniel.
He shook his head.
“It wasn't natural.”
“How do you know?”
“She had the same compound in her blood.”
“Who told you?”
“Dr. Harris.”
The doctor nodded.
“I reviewed the toxicology privately.”
The detective stared at him.
“Why privately?”
“Because the official report had been altered.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Emily whispered, “The bird.”
We all looked at her.
“What bird?” I asked.
“The one on Anna's bracelet.”
She pointed toward the folder.
“It's there.”
I looked down.
A tiny photograph had fallen from the back of the file.
A little yellow bracelet.
A bird charm.
On the back was a handwritten number.
Not a date.
A room number.
“Room 214,” I said.
Dr. Harris immediately shook his head.
“There is no room 214 in this hospital.”
The detective looked at the photograph.
“Maybe not here.”
Daniel stood.
“I know where it is.”
I turned.
“Where?”
“The old Mercer clinic.”
“It's been closed.”
“Officially.”
The detective stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Mercer never abandoned that building.”
He reached into his pocket.
“I have a key.”
I stared at him.
“You've had a key this whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was planning to go back.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
The detective took the key from his hand.
“No one is going anywhere without police.”
Daniel nodded.
Emily suddenly began crying.
“Mom.”
I knelt.
“What?”
“He knows.”
“Who?”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Mercer.”
The detective's radio crackled.
A patrol officer spoke.
“We found a vehicle outside the hospital.”
“What vehicle?”
“Dark sedan.”
“License plate?”
The officer read it.
Daniel's face changed.
“That belongs to Mercer.”
The detective grabbed her coat.
“Where is the vehicle?”
“Gone.”
“Gone?”
“Someone drove it away two minutes ago.”
I looked at Emily.
She was staring at the floor.
Then she whispered:
“He wants the key.”
Daniel slowly looked at his empty hand.
The key was gone.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Missing Key Was Only the Beginning, Because Emily Knew Something About Mercer’s Clinic That None of Us Had Ever Told Her
The Moment My Daughter Stopped Crying, She Looked Past Me and Whispered Something That Made the Emergency Room Go Quiet
Part 6 of 12
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