Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
The rush of memories left me so disoriented that I didn’t see the syringe until it was being emptied into my neck. When I came to, I was tied up, and she—Claire—was on the phone, promising someone she’d have everything soon enough, and no, there wouldn’t be any more complications.
I try to shout to Emery to run, that no one confesses everything if they plan on letting their hostages go, but all that comes out is a muffled garble of words. I pull against the zip ties holding my hands behind my back, but there’s no give.
“You’ve got what you asked for,” Emery says to Claire. “The compound, my notes, all of it. Now let him go. He has no short-term memory. In five minutes, he won’t even remember we had this conversation. He won’t be able to tell anyone anything.”
Her face is bright with panic, and with their eyes on my wife, I nod, encouraging her. Yes. Lie. Tell any lie that gets you out of here safely.
“That’s convenient,” Claire tells her. “Though according to Vince, you were very clear to the board that his memory was correcting itself. Isn’t that what you said?”
“I was lying.” Emery’s voice breaks on the last word and her eyes flash quickly to mine. I pull against the ties again, and still, there’s zero give. “Please let him go.”
Claire shakes her head, glancing at me. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Why go to all this trouble? You could have just broken into the secure cryo somehow and taken the compound. Why not just sell it and disappear to spend your bags of money?”
“Because it’s worth a lot on its own, but even more if it works.” Claire glances to me and back to Emery. “I’ll be honest, I thought it would take a lot longer to figure out a plan, but then you were running late for your anniversary dinner and wanted to take the compound out of the lab. I’d heard you mention your husband’s tendency to run when he’s upset, that he usually sticks to the same route, and I figured why not? If you want a job done right, do it yourself. Besides, when would I have this chance again? I mean, you had the compound with you!” Claire leans in with a smile, gun still pointed at Emery. “You and Dr. Rodriguez really should close your office door when you talk. Vince was more than happy to tell me all about it.”
Emery’s eyes widen.
“Don’t look at me like that. Is it my fault you were late? Or is it your fault for disappointing your husband?”
“Fuck you!” I shout through the tape, though it comes out a jumbled mess.
“It is my fault,” Emery says. “But you could have left him out of this, both of you. He could have died.”
“But he didn’t! Or he did, but you brought him back! Just like I thought you would. Isn’t that amazing? Resurrection through science. You were so insistent you could do it, and I knew that if I gave you the opportunity to prove it, you would. Really, you should be thanking me.” She gives Emery a condescending smile. “You’re more like me than you know, Emery.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“Really? Totally disregarding the rules for your own personal gain? Saved my buyer quite a bit of work. I was already going to be paid a lot of money for the compound, but having documentation that it already worked?” She holds up Emery’s notes. “That certainly upped the price. Thanks for that.”
“And Honey?” Emery asks. “Why did you take her?”
“Vince insisted there might be residual traces of the compound in her blood, or biomarker changes he could track to give him an idea of what the formulation of Compound Y might be, but he wasn’t able to detect any. For the record, he was a bit squeamish about certain parts of the plan and even returned the dog home behind my back.” She walks over to where Vince is staring pointedly down at the ground and taps the barrel of the gun against his cheek. He flinches but doesn’t pull away. “But I eventually got him back on board. Didn’t I, Dr. Barker?”
He lifts his head in a terse nod but doesn’t answer.
Pleased, Claire turns back to Emery. “I just wonder what to do with you now.”
“Vince,” Emery pleads, “there’s still time to fix this. Help me. I promise I won’t tell anyone what you did.”
“Well, that’s a lie,” Claire says, laughing. “Let’s say you somehow managed to convince him and he somehow managed to get you out of this—you’re telling me you’d protect the man who plotted to kill your husband?”
“Yes,” she says, voice tight. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Vince looks up at her and their eyes lock. I swear for a second—