Chapter 11 - The Man Behind the Glass
Chaos swallowed the room.
Marcus fired his flashlight toward the sound of the gunshot, but dust and smoke filled the beam. Bell shouted from beside the table. Buddy pulled free from Daniel and chased the scraping sound of Ethan’s chair.
“Ethan!” Laura screamed.
Another light switched on behind a glass observation wall.
A man stood in the adjoining room.
Older.
Thin.
A deep scar crossed the side of his face.
He held Ethan’s chair with one hand and a pistol with the other.
Bell froze.
“You’re dead.”
The man smiled without warmth.
“That was the plan.”
Laura stared through the glass.
Her knees nearly gave way.
“Michael?”
Ethan turned his head.
“Dad?”
Daniel looked from the man to the photograph inside the black box.
It was the same face.
Older now.
Damaged.
But unmistakable.
Michael Parker was alive.
He opened a side door and pulled Ethan inside the observation room. Buddy followed and stood beside the boy.
Laura moved forward, but Michael raised the pistol.
“Stay back.”
Her expression broke.
“We thought you died.”
“I needed you to believe it.”
“For three years?”
Michael’s voice shook.
“For three years, I kept them watching the wrong grave.”
Bell recovered first.
“You can’t escape this time.”
Michael aimed the weapon at him.
“I didn’t come to escape.”
Daniel moved slowly between them.
“Let Ethan go.”
Michael looked at him.
“You’re Daniel.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Olivia’s recording reached someone I trust.”
Olivia looked shocked.
Michael continued.
“I’ve been watching since you promised to take Buddy.”
Ethan struggled against the ropes.
“Dad, you said you would come home.”
Michael’s face tightened.
“I wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Bell laughed.
“Tell him.”
Michael’s hand trembled.
Bell looked toward Ethan.
“Your father wasn’t only investigating the program. He helped design it.”
Laura covered her mouth.
“No.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I developed the original compound as a diagnostic tool. It was meant to temporarily imitate symptoms so doctors could study rare conditions safely.”
Bell interrupted.
“And then he discovered how profitable those symptoms could become.”
Michael opened his eyes.
“They changed the formula without telling me.”
“But you signed the approvals,” Bell said.
“I was deceived.”
“You were paid.”
Michael’s silence gave the accusation weight.
Ethan stared at his father as if seeing a stranger.
“You made me sick?”
Michael lowered the gun.
“I tried to stop them before they reached you.”
Bell suddenly grabbed one vial from the blue container and threw it against the floor.
Glass shattered.
A sharp chemical smell filled the clinic.
Dr. Carter shouted,
“Everyone out!”
Michael rushed toward Ethan.
Daniel grabbed Laura.
Marcus tackled Bell.
But before they reached the exit, metal shutters dropped over every doorway.
An automated alarm began repeating through the station.
CONTAMINATION LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED.
The observation room sealed completely.
May you like
Michael and Ethan were trapped behind the glass.
Then the ventilation system started pulling the chemical vapor directly toward them.
