Chapter 3 - The Message
Detective Aaron Price arrived before midnight.
He read the recovered message twice.
“Who received this?”
The phone number belonged to someone saved under the name Dr. L.
Elijah shook his head.
“I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Cassandra folded her arms.
“It was medical advice.”
“From whom?” Price asked.
“A private specialist.”
“What is the specialist’s full name?”
Cassandra hesitated.
Naomi continued working behind the glass wall of the trauma room.
Toby’s heartbeat was becoming steadier, but his liver markers were rising.
Elijah stood where he could see him.
He looked smaller than Naomi remembered.
Not physically.
Morally.
The wealthy founder who once spoke as if he could control every room now waited helplessly while strangers kept his son alive.
Detective Price asked Elijah about the drug.
“It’s called SN-14,” he said. “It is designed to suppress dangerous immune responses.”
“Was it tested on children?”
“No.”
“Was it approved for home use?”
“No.”
“Then why did your wife have it?”
Elijah looked at Cassandra.
She stared back with anger rather than fear.
“You gave me access to the company,” she said.
“I gave you a board position.”
“You gave me responsibilities.”
“Not laboratory access.”
Cassandra smiled bitterly.
“You never noticed what I did for that company.”
Naomi stepped out of the trauma room.
“Toby is responding to the reversal treatment.”
Elijah almost collapsed with relief.
“But he is not stable,” she continued. “The next six hours are critical.”
Detective Price showed Naomi the message.
She read it.
“This was not a panic decision.”
Elijah looked at Cassandra again.
“Who told you to give him the dose?”
Cassandra’s mouth tightened.
Before she could answer, another deleted message was restored.
It came from Dr. L.
Do not call an ambulance immediately. Wait until his breathing slows. That timing matters.
Naomi’s expression turned cold.
May you like
Someone had not merely risked Toby’s life.
Someone had planned exactly how close he should come to dying.
