The next morning, Elena received a package.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Elias Grant stood beside Dr. Voss.
Behind them was the original research facility.
On the back, someone had written:
Ask him why Patient Seventeen disappeared.
Daniel went pale.
“Patient Seventeen.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“She was the first child to show sustained improvement.”
“Who was she?”
Daniel gave us the name.
Anna Mercer.
The woman we had met.
I stared at him.
“She was Patient Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
That explained why Grant had been interested in her.
She was proof the treatment worked.
Elena immediately called Anna.
No answer.
We tried again.
Still nothing.
We drove to the farmhouse.
The door was open.
The house was empty.
A cup sat on the table.
Still warm.
My stomach dropped.
“She was taken,” Colette whispered.
Daniel searched the rooms.
Nothing had been broken.
No blood.
No struggle.
Only one thing was missing.
The file containing Anna's original medical records.
We returned to Elena's office.
A message waited on her computer.
Stop before another patient disappears.
Elena stared at it.
“This is no longer just intimidation.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Where would Grant take her?”
“There was an old treatment facility.”
“Another one?”
“Yes.”
We drove there.
The building stood outside the city.
Its windows were black.
Its doors were chained.
Daniel found a side entrance.
Inside, we discovered recent footprints.
Someone had been there.
Then we heard a voice.
Anna.
She was behind a locked door.
We found her shaken but unharmed.
“Grant didn't take me,” she said.
“Then who did?”
“Someone who wanted me hidden.”
“Why?”
“Because Grant was coming.”
She told us she had discovered a second archive.
The original program had not ended when Mercer Biomedical shut down.
A smaller group had continued studying former patients privately.
They had collected follow-up data.
And the results were even more damaging.
Some patients had continued improving years after treatment.
Others had deteriorated because treatment had been stopped too soon.
Taryn looked devastated.
“So they knew.”
Anna nodded.
“They knew everything.”
We returned to Elena's office with the new evidence.
That afternoon, she confronted Elias Grant through his attorney.
He agreed to meet.
I expected arrogance.
Instead, Grant appeared tired.
He looked at my daughters.
“I remember your files.”
Brielle stiffened.
“You remember us?”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed our treatment results.”
Grant shook his head.
“I buried them.”
“That isn't better.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I won't pretend it was.”
Then he told us the truth.
The research had produced results the company couldn't control.
Grant believed public release would expose patients to unsafe attempts at imitation.
So he ordered the data suppressed.
He claimed Vale later expanded the concealment for financial reasons.
I asked the question that mattered.
“Did you threaten Colette?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
Colette closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because she was going to expose everything.”
“And you let me believe she abandoned us.”
Grant looked away.
“I never expected that consequence.”
I almost laughed.
“You expected to destroy evidence and thought there would be no consequences?”
He had no answer.
Elena stood.
“Then you'll sign the statement.”
Grant looked at her.
“If I do, the entire medical board will come after me.”
“They should.”
He nodded slowly.
“I'll sign.”
But before he could do it, his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked directly at us.
“Vale is gone.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 15: When Vale Disappeared Before Giving His Final Testimony, We Realized Someone Was Still Fighting to Keep the Last Secret Buried
Twelve Years After Their Mother Disappeared, My Daughters Asked Me to Sit Down Before They Told Me Why
Part 14 of 20
