Chapter 5 - The Seventh Floor
Victor and Detective Monroe arrived at Hale Biomedical before dawn.
Lily stayed at the mansion with Ethan and two armed security guards.
Victor hated leaving his son.
But Monroe insisted.
“If Serena wants you distracted, taking everyone to one location gives her exactly that.”
Victor entered the corporate tower through the underground garage.
The seventh floor had once housed pediatric research labs.
Most had been shut down after funding cuts.
Victor’s access card opened the elevator.
Monroe looked at him.
“What did this floor research?”
“Pediatric neurological devices.”
“Your wife was involved?”
“Amelia reviewed ethics compliance.”
The elevator opened.
Dark hallways stretched in both directions.
One light burned at the far end.
They followed it.
A laboratory door stood open.
Inside, a computer monitor glowed.
On the screen was Ethan’s name.
Victor stopped.
Patient E.H.
Age 4.
Subject status: active.
He crossed the room.
“What the hell is this?”
Monroe photographed the screen.
Victor opened the file.
Medical evaluations.
Blood panels.
Behavior notes.
Dosage observations.
All dated within the last year.
His hands shook.
“No one had permission to do this.”
Monroe scrolled.
“Who signed the reports?”
Dr. Adrian Cole.
Victor knew the name.
Serena’s private physician.
And the doctor who had been recommending Ethan’s supplements.
Victor’s stomach turned.
“What did they give him?”
Monroe clicked another file.
Trial compound B-17.
Side effects listed:
Drowsiness.
Confusion.
Memory disruption.
Muscle weakness.
Victor gripped the desk.
Lily had been right.
Serena had not merely frightened Ethan.
She had been dosing him.
Monroe continued.
“Why?”
A folder appeared on the desktop.
TRUST ACTIVATION FAILURE SCENARIOS.
Victor opened it.
The first document contained legal language.
If Ethan Hale was declared medically incapacitated before his fifth birthday, temporary voting authority could be transferred to a court-approved trustee.
Victor stared.
“She didn’t have to kill him.”
Monroe nodded grimly.
“She only had to make him look incapable.”
A floorboard creaked outside.
Monroe drew her weapon.
“Police.”
No answer.
Victor moved behind her.
They entered the hall.
A figure ran toward the emergency stairs.
Monroe chased.
Victor followed.
They caught the man at the landing.
He wore a maintenance uniform.
When Monroe turned him around, Victor recognized him.
Charles Mercer.
The former security chief Amelia had named.
Mercer looked at Victor.
May you like
Then he whispered.
“You should never have opened that room.”
