Chapter 7 - We descended.The stairs seemed endless.
B1.
B2.
Then no number.
The temperature dropped with every step.
Jax stayed in front.
Evan held my hand.
Sarah followed behind us.
At the bottom, we reached a chamber filled with old servers.
Banks of equipment hummed in darkness.
Screens covered one wall.
On every screen was a child's face.
Seven children.
Then twelve.
Then twenty.
Missing children from different states.
Different years.
Different hospitals.
A pattern emerged.
Every child had been treated somewhere.
Every child had disappeared within forty-eight hours of discharge.
I felt sick.
“This isn't one hospital.”
“No,” Sarah said.
“This is a network.”
A voice came from behind us.
“Now you understand.”
I spun.
Voss stood in the doorway.
No gun.
No guards.
Just a white coat and calm expression.
He looked almost ordinary.
“You.”
Jax stepped forward.
Voss smiled.
“Hello, old friend.”
The dog froze.
That reaction told me more than words could.
Jax recognized him.
Voss noticed.
“He remembers.”
I tightened my grip.
“What did you do to my dog?”
“Nothing that wasn't necessary.”
“You trained him?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To find frightened children.”
I looked at Evan.
Voss continued.
“Jax was never trained to attack people.”
“I know.”
“He was trained to identify fear.”
I felt something shift.
“The behavior tonight…”
“Was exactly what he was designed to do.”
“Then why did he grab Evan's jeans?”
Voss smiled.
“Because the boy wanted you to see the band.”
I turned sharply toward Evan.
The boy stepped backward.
“What?”
Voss nodded toward him.
“Ask him.”
I looked at Evan.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“You knew?”
Silence.
“Evan.”
He began crying.
“My brother told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That Jax would know.”
I stared.
“Know what?”
“That you were the only officer who would listen.”
Voss laughed quietly.
“Not exactly.”
He pressed a button.
A screen displayed photographs of me.
My patrol history.
My calls.
My K9 assignments.
Everything.
“Your career was monitored for years.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was.”
I froze.
“My father?”
Voss looked at me.
“You never wondered why he died when you were twelve?”
I couldn't breathe.
“My father died in a car accident.”
“No.”
Voss walked closer.
“He was killed.”
Sarah whispered my name.
I couldn't hear her.
Voss continued.
“He was investigating this network.”
I stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
“Ask your mother.”
“She died eight years ago.”
“I know.”
Voss smiled.
“That's why you never got the answer.”
A server behind him began blinking red.
Voss glanced at it.
“Time.”
“What happens now?”
He looked at Evan.
“Now the child chooses.”
Evan went pale.
“Chooses what?”
“Which one of you leaves.”
I raised my weapon.
Voss didn't react.
He simply pressed another button.
A large metal door opened behind us.
Inside was a dark room.
Seven small chairs.
Six occupied.
One empty.
The children stared toward us.
And the little girl sitting in the center slowly stood.
May you like
Evan whispered one word.
“Maya.”
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