Another message arrived.
"Now your husband has given us permission to finish."
I looked at Nigel.
He was staring at the screen.
His face was filled with terror.
Then the final message appeared.
"Your daughter isn't here for treatment, Sarah."
I could barely breathe as I read the next line.
"She's here because the first experiment finally worked."
And beneath those words was a copy of a medical report.
My report.
Dated three days earlier.
At the bottom was a note from Charles Rowan.
"PATIENT LUMEN-004 HAS REGAINED FUNCTIONAL VISION AFTER TWENTY YEARS."
I stared at it.
Then I saw the line beneath.
"SECOND-GENERATION SUBJECT APPROVED FOR PHASE TWO."
Patient name:
LILY ROWAN.
My daughter.
I began screaming.
Nigel reached for me, but I pushed him away.
Then Detective Collins's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
He listened for several seconds before turning toward me.
"Sarah," he said quietly, "there's something else you need to know."
