Chapter 4 - The Pills
Marcus had swallowed the same medication every morning for almost eleven years.
He had never questioned it.
Now Rebecca Sloan placed one of those pills beneath a laboratory scanner.
Her expression changed.
“This isn't what the label says.”
Marcus stared at her.
“What is it?”
“A muscle relaxant.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if someone wanted your legs weaker.”
Marcus felt sick.
Rebecca examined another tablet.
“And this one suppresses nerve signaling.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Could these drugs stop me from walking?”
“Combined with inactivity, inadequate rehabilitation and psychological conditioning?”
She looked at him.
“They could make recovery dramatically harder.”
Marcus stared at the seven bottles lined across the table.
Eleven years.
Thousands of pills.
Every morning.
Every night.
He had poisoned his own recovery because people he trusted told him it was treatment.
“Voss prescribed all of these.”
Rebecca nodded.
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
“Bring him to me.”
Daniel hesitated.
“We need evidence.”
“I have evidence.”
“You have pills.”
“You need the chain that connects them.”
Marcus hated that Daniel was right.
Eli sat silently across the room.
Marcus turned toward him.
“You said your grandfather kept copies.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Eli hesitated.
“Eli.”
“My mother has them.”
Marcus stared at him.
“Where is your mother?”
Eli looked away.
“I haven't seen her in six months.”
Marcus felt another piece fall into place.
“What happened?”
“She went looking for Grandpa.”
“And disappeared?”
Eli nodded.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“What's her name?”
Eli whispered.
“Anna Ward.”
Marcus went completely still.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
Marcus couldn't answer.
Anna Ward.
He knew that name.
Not from medicine.
Not from the accident.
From eleven years ago.
Marcus wheeled toward the window.
His mind raced backward.
Three weeks before his accident.
A woman had requested a private meeting at Hale Biodyne.
Young.
Dark hair.
Terrified.
She claimed someone inside the company was falsifying clinical trial data.
Marcus had agreed to meet her.
But she never arrived.
The next morning, Marcus received an email saying she had withdrawn her allegations.
Three weeks later, Marcus's car went over a bridge.
Marcus slowly turned around.
“Anna Ward worked for Hale Biodyne.”
Eli nodded.
“She was the researcher who tried to warn me.”
“Yes.”
Marcus stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because she didn't withdraw anything.”
Eli reached beneath his hoodie.
He removed an old flash drive hanging from a cord.
“She kept the original email.”
Marcus took it.
His hands shook.
Daniel inserted it into an isolated laptop.
There was one file.
An audio recording.
Marcus clicked play.
A woman's frightened voice filled the room.
“My name is Anna Ward.”
“If you're hearing this, I failed to reach Marcus Hale.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
Anna continued.
“Hale Biodyne's neurological division has been falsifying trial outcomes.”
“Patients are being harmed.”
“Deaths have been concealed.”
“And Richard Hale knows.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“Marcus Hale does not know.”
“He is not part of this.”
“But I believe they're afraid he will find out.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked at Eli.
“Why did you wait eleven years?”
Eli's eyes filled with anger.
“I didn't.”
Marcus frowned.
“My mother tried to reach you six times.”
“She was turned away.”
“She mailed evidence.”
“It disappeared.”
“She contacted your attorneys.”
“They threatened her.”
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
“Which attorneys?”
Eli answered.
“Calvin Price.”
Marcus felt another blow.
Calvin Price had represented Marcus since the accident.
He had negotiated the $48 million insurance settlement.
He had become one of Marcus's closest advisers.
Marcus whispered.
“Calvin knew?”
Eli nodded.
“He knew everything.”
Marcus's phone rang.
Calvin Price.
Everyone stared at the screen.
Marcus answered.
“Calvin.”
“Marcus.”
Calvin sounded unusually tense.
“I heard something disturbing.”
Marcus looked at Eli.
“What did you hear?”
“That you had some kind of incident yesterday.”
Marcus smiled coldly.
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven't told anyone.”
Silence.
Marcus continued.
“So who told you?”
Calvin didn't answer.
Then Marcus heard another voice faintly in the background.
Dr. Adrian Voss.
“Ask him where the boy is.”
Marcus's smile disappeared.
Calvin immediately ended the call.
Daniel stood.
“They're together.”
Marcus looked toward the door.
“Good.”
Daniel frowned.
“Good?”
Marcus placed both hands on the table.
Then he forced himself upright.
His legs shook.
But he remained standing.
“For eleven years, they knew exactly where I was.”
May you like
Marcus took one painful step.
“Now it's my turn.”
