Chapter 6: The Voice From The Past
For several seconds after the call ended, I couldn’t move.
The phone was still pressed against my ear.
The screen had gone dark.
But the voice remained.
Don’t trust Daniel.
My father’s voice.
Impossible.
Completely impossible.
My father had been buried six years ago.
I remembered standing beside his grave.
I remembered the cold wind that day.
I remembered my mother holding my arm because my legs were shaking so badly I couldn’t stand.
I remembered lowering a single white rose onto the coffin.
I remembered saying goodbye.
So why had I just heard him?
“Emily?””
Daniel’s voice pulled me back.
I lowered the phone slowly.
He was staring at me.
Not with confusion.
With fear.
“What did they say?””
I couldn’t answer.
“Emily.””
I looked at him.
And the worst part was that for one terrifying second…
I wondered if the voice was right.
I wondered if Daniel had been hiding more than I knew.
“I heard my father.””
Daniel went completely still.
“What?””
“I heard his voice.””
The room became silent.
Nurse Callahan stepped backward.
“No.””
I looked at her.
“You know something.””
Her face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You know.””
She looked away.
“Emily…”
“You know.””
Daniel looked between us.
“Callahan, what is going on?””
The nurse didn’t answer.
I moved closer.
“Tell me.””
She shook her head.
“I can’t.””
I laughed softly.
A broken sound.
“Everybody keeps saying that.””
I pointed toward Daniel.
“He couldn’t tell me.””
Then toward the door where Richard’s call had come through.
“He warned me.””
Then back at her.
“And you’re doing the same thing.””
My voice cracked.
“I am tired of being the only person in the room who doesn’t know what’s happening.””
Nurse Callahan’s eyes softened.
For the first time, I saw something besides fear.
Guilt.
“I knew your father.””
I stopped.
“What?””
She looked at the floor.
“Not just because of the project.””
My heart started pounding.
“How?””
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“He saved my life.””
Six years earlier.
That was where everything seemed to begin.
The year my father died.
The year Daniel’s illness started.
The year everyone around me apparently entered a world I knew nothing about.
Nurse Callahan sat down beside the window.
“I was part of the hospital review team.””
Daniel nodded.
“The one studying the workers.””
“Yes.””
She looked at him.
“Daniel wasn’t the first person who got sick.””
“I know.””
“No.””
Her voice lowered.
“You know about the workers.””
She looked at me.
“You don’t know about the patients.””
I felt cold.
“Patients?””
She nodded.
“The medical expansion project wasn’t just a construction project.””
I frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“It included a new research wing.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“The experimental treatment center.””
“Yes.””
The words hung in the air.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew?””
He looked ashamed.
“I suspected.””
That hurt.
Again.
Another piece of information he had carried alone.
Callahan continued.
“Your father discovered irregularities in the project records.””
“What kind of irregularities?””
“Patient files.””
My stomach twisted.
“Someone was changing them.””
“Why?””
“That’s what your father was trying to find out.””
I stared at her.
“My father was investigating a hospital?””
“Yes.””
“And Daniel?””
She looked at him.
“Daniel was helping him.””
I turned slowly.
“Daniel?””
He closed his eyes.
“I was.””
My heart sank.
“You knew my father?””
“Not at first.””
“Then when?””
Daniel looked at his hands.
“The week before he died.””
I felt like I had been hit.
“The week before?””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me?””
His silence answered.
I stepped away.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Because your father made me promise.””
I froze.
“My father?””
“He came to me after he found out I was working on the project.””
Daniel swallowed.
“He told me if anything happened to him, I had to keep you away from it.””
My voice became quiet.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Because he was afraid someone would use you to get to him.””
I shook my head.
“This makes no sense.””
“I know.””
“No.””
I felt anger rising.
“My father was sick. He was grieving. He was under stress.””
“Emily—”
“You’re telling me my father knew some huge secret, asked you to hide it, and then died?””
Daniel looked away.
“Yes.””
I laughed.
“But why would he trust you?””
That question hurt him.
I saw it.
But I needed the answer.
Daniel whispered:
“Because he knew I loved you.””
The room became quiet.
Because that was the one thing nobody could argue with.
Daniel had loved me.
Maybe too much.
Maybe enough to make terrible choices.
I sat down slowly.
“So my father knew about your illness?””
Daniel nodded.
“He knew I was exposed.””
“Exposed to what?””
He looked at Callahan.
She answered.
“A chemical compound used in the construction materials.””
I frowned.
“That still doesn’t explain cancer.””
“No.””
She looked serious.
“It doesn’t.””
A silence followed.
Then Daniel opened his notebook again.
“There’s something else.””
I almost laughed.
“Of course there is.””
He ignored the comment.
“Look at this.””
He turned the page.
There were medical reports.
Dates.
Names.
My eyes moved over the information.
Then I saw something.
A familiar date.
My birthday.
“What is this?””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“That’s the day they tested you.””
My blood ran cold.
“What?””
He grabbed the notebook.
“Emily, listen to me.””
“No.””
I stood.
“No, you don’t get to casually say something like that.””
“You were tested.””
“Tested for what?””
Daniel looked at me.
“For exposure.””
I stared at him.
“I was seven years old.””
“I know.””
“Why?””
“Because your father brought you to the hospital.””
I shook my head.
“I don’t remember that.””
“You wouldn’t.””
“Why?””
“Because he didn’t tell you.””
My hands started shaking.
“What did they find?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Daniel.””
His face was filled with pain.
“They found something unusual.””
“What?””
He looked at Callahan.
She whispered:
“Your body reacted differently.””
The room felt unreal.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
And that scared me more.
That night, Daniel couldn’t sleep.
Neither could I.
The hospital room was dark.
Rain tapped against the window.
Finally, Daniel spoke.
“I’m sorry.””
I stared ahead.
“For what?””
“For everything.””
I turned toward him.
“Do you love me?””
His eyes filled instantly.
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t you trust me?””
He looked down.
“I did trust you.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You trusted me to love you.””
A tear fell from his eye.
“But you didn’t trust me with the truth.””
He had no answer.
And somehow, that hurt worse.
After a long silence, he whispered:
“There’s something I need to tell you before someone else does.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“The reason Richard Vale is afraid of you…”
My heart stopped.
“…is because your father left something behind.””
“What?””
Daniel reached into the drawer.
He pulled out a small key.
I stared at it.
“What is that?””
“Your father gave this to me.””
“When?””
“Before he died.””
My chest tightened.
“Why do you have it?””
“Because he told me to wait until you were ready.””
I looked at the key.
A small metal key.
Nothing special.
Except it had a tiny engraving on it.
A symbol.
One I had never seen before.
Daniel whispered:
“Your father said this would lead you to the truth.””
I took the key from his hand.
“Where does it go?””
Daniel looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
Then his phone buzzed.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
We both stared at the screen.
The message contained only a photograph.
A photograph taken moments earlier.
Of me holding the key.
My blood froze.
Someone was watching us.
Then another message appeared.
*Stop looking for what your father buried.*
May you like
A second message followed.
*Or Daniel won’t live long enough to tell you why he lied.*
