Chapter 6 - The Doctor's Confession
Marcus wanted to hit him.
Instead, he listened.
Voss sat beneath the basement light.
Daniel recorded everything.
“You have ten minutes.”
Marcus's voice was flat.
Voss nodded.
“Your father discovered Project Lazarus.”
Marcus frowned.
“What was it?”
“An experimental nerve-regeneration program.”
“That doesn't sound criminal.”
“The official program wasn't.”
“The hidden trials were.”
Voss explained.
Richard Hale had authorized unauthorized human testing through offshore clinics.
Patients were recruited from vulnerable populations.
Some recovered.
Some suffered catastrophic complications.
Some died.
Marcus's father discovered the deaths.
He planned to expose Richard.
Three days later, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Marcus felt cold.
“My father was murdered?”
“I can't prove it.”
“But Samuel Ward believed so.”
Marcus looked toward Eli.
“And my accident?”
Voss hesitated.
“Samuel warned you.”
“You arranged to meet Anna.”
“You began collecting internal records.”
“Then your brakes failed.”
Marcus's eyes hardened.
“You knew?”
“Afterward.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
Voss laughed bitterly.
“Because Richard owned half the people I could have reported it to.”
“So you joined him?”
“I made a bargain.”
Marcus stared at him.
“What bargain?”
“Richard wanted you declared mentally incompetent.”
“He wanted permanent control of your shares.”
“I convinced him a severely disabled Marcus Hale was less dangerous than a dead Marcus Hale.”
Marcus couldn't believe what he was hearing.
“So you kept me disabled.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You poisoned me!”
“I suppressed your recovery.”
“For eleven years!”
Voss's voice cracked.
“Because every time you showed improvement, Richard asked whether you were becoming a problem again.”
Silence filled the basement.
Marcus whispered.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“I tried once.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
Voss looked ashamed.
“Your physical therapist, Laura Chen, noticed you had stronger motor function than your records indicated.”
“She wanted an independent evaluation.”
Marcus remembered Laura.
She disappeared from his treatment team without explanation.
“What happened to her?”
Voss looked down.
“She died.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“Car accident.”
Eli whispered.
“Like Marcus?”
Voss didn't answer.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where is Samuel Ward?”
Voss looked at him.
“Richard moved him three months ago.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is Anna?”
Voss's expression changed.
“I thought she was dead.”
Eli flinched.
Marcus immediately looked at him.
Voss continued.
“She broke into Hale Biodyne six months ago.”
“She stole something.”
“What?”
“The original Lazarus ledger.”
Marcus frowned.
“What is that?”
“Names.”
“Payments.”
“Patients.”
“Doctors.”
“Politicians.”
“Everything.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“And Richard doesn't have it?”
“No.”
“Then Anna hid it.”
Voss nodded.
“That is why she's still alive.”
Eli suddenly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small brass key.
“My mom gave me this before she disappeared.”
Marcus looked at it.
“What does it open?”
Eli shook his head.
“She said if anything happened to her, I should find Marcus Hale.”
Marcus stared at the key.
Eleven years earlier, Anna Ward had tried to reach him.
Now her son had finally succeeded.
Voss stood.
“You need to leave.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Richard knows I'm here.”
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“How?”
Voss pulled open his shirt collar.
A small incision was visible behind his shoulder.
“Tracker.”
Daniel swore.
Then headlights swept across the basement window.
One vehicle.
Then another.
Then four more.
Marcus looked at Voss.
“You brought them here.”
Voss shook his head desperately.
“No.”
“I brought them to me.”
Marcus stared.
Voss smiled sadly.
“There's a tunnel behind the furnace.”
“Take Eli.”
“Go.”
Marcus didn't move.
“What about you?”
Voss looked toward the stairs.
“For eleven years, I told myself I was protecting you.”
May you like
He pulled the basement door closed.
“Tonight I'll find out if that was ever true.”
