Chapter 5

I can't breathe.

The words on the screen blur. Refocus. Blur again.

Body Found in Apartment Fire. Victim Identified as James Lawson, 58.

My father.

Dead.

"Emma." Damien's hand is on my arm. "What happened?"

I can't answer. My throat has closed. My chest is too tight.

Marcus takes my elbow. "We need to leave. Now."

"What's going on?" Damien stands. Winces. Still injured but trying to be strong. "Tell me."

"Her father." Marcus's voice is low. "There's been an accident."

"Oh god. Emma." Damien reaches for me.

I step back. Away from his touch. Away from his concern.

My father is dead.

And someone made sure I'd find out right now. In this room. With these people.

This isn't a coincidence.

"I need to go." My voice sounds hollow. Distant. "I need to see him."

"You can't." Marcus still has my elbow. Firm. "The building is a crime scene. They won't let anyone in."

"He's my father."

"I know. But right now, you need to be somewhere safe."

"Safe?" I laugh. It comes out wrong. Broken. "My father just died in a fire and you're worried about safe?"

The board members are watching. Curious. Concerned.

Richard Chen is watching most carefully of all.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Dr. Lawson." His voice is smooth. Sympathetic. "If there's anything we can do..."

I meet his eyes. Cold. Calculating.

He knew. Before I did. I see it in his face.

"You knew." The words escape before I can stop them.

"Knew what?"

"About the fire. You knew before the alert came through."

Marcus' expression doesn't change. "I assure you, I only just heard. Like everyone else."

Liar.

But I can't prove it. Not here. Not now.

"Emma, please." Damien is beside me. His hand finds mine. "Let me help. Whatever you need."

What I need is for him to be the villain I thought he was.

What I need is for this to be simple. Black and white. Good and evil.

But nothing about this is simple anymore.

"I need to call my sister." I pull away from both of them. "Excuse me."

I walk out of the conference room. Down the hallway. Into an empty patient room.

Close the door. Lock it.

Then I let myself break.

My father is dead.

The man who taught me to ride a bike. Who stayed up with me the night before my medical school interviews. Who believed I could be anything.

The man who lost everything five years ago.

The man who maybe didn't lose everything. Who maybe got paid fifteen million dollars and hid it.

The man who's been lying to me just as much as I've been lying to Damien.

I slide down the wall. Sit on the floor. Head in my hands.

My phone rings. Lily.

I answer. "Lily."

"Em." Her voice is wrecked. "Did you hear? They're saying Dad's apartment caught fire. That he didn't make it out. But that can't be right. He's at the treatment facility. Tell me that's where he is. Tell me he's safe."

My stomach drops. "What treatment facility?"

"The one you moved him to. Yesterday. You texted me that you were moving him somewhere secure."

I never texted her that.

Someone else did.

"Lily, where are you right now?"

"At school. In my dorm. Why?"

"Lock your door. Don't let anyone in except campus security."

"Emma, you're scaring me."

"I need you to listen. Dad wasn't at a treatment facility. He was at his apartment. And someone..." My voice breaks. "Someone started a fire."

"No. No, that's not possible. Your text said—"

"It wasn't me, Lily. Someone pretending to be me sent you that text." My mind races. "They wanted you to think Dad was safe. So you wouldn't check on him."

Silence. Then a sob.

"Who would do that? Why?"

"I don't know. But until I figure it out, you need to stay where there are witnesses. Cameras. People."

"Is this about that billionaire? The one whose life you saved?"

I close my eyes. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

"Emma, what have you gotten yourself into?"

That's the question, isn't it?

"I'm going to fix this. I promise. But I need you safe first."

"What about you? Are you safe?"

"I'm at the hospital. Surrounded by people. I'm fine."

Another lie. I'm collecting them like cards.

"I love you, Em."

"Love you too. Call me every hour. Just so I know you're okay."

"Okay."

I hang up. Sit in the silence.

My father is dead. My sister is in danger. And I'm in the middle of something I don't understand.

A knock on the door. "Emma? It's Marcus."

I unlock it. Let him in.

He closes the door behind him. "I made some calls. The fire started around 3 AM. Your father was inside. They're ruling it suspicious."

"Someone killed him."

"It looks that way."

"Because of me. Because I agreed to your deal. Because I'm pretending to be Damien's girlfriend." My voice rises. "My father is dead because of me."

"No." Marcus's voice is firm. "Your father is dead because someone wanted him dead. This isn't your fault."

"Then whose fault is it?"

He doesn't answer. Can't answer.

"What did the caller say?" Marcus asks quietly. "About the fifteen million."

I look up sharply. "You heard that?"

"I was right outside the car. Yes."

"They said Damien paid my father fifteen million for his company. Three times what it was worth." I stand. Face him. "Is that true?"

Marcus hesitates. Too long.

"It's true." I feel sick. "My father got paid. A lot. And he let us believe we lost everything."

"I don't know the details. Those files are sealed. Damien handled that acquisition personally. Didn't delegate any of it."

"Why? Why would he pay so much? And why would my father take the money and disappear?"

"Maybe he was protecting you. Maybe the money was payment for silence."

"About what?"

"About whatever Project Angel really is." Marcus pulls out his phone. Shows me a file. "I've been digging. Project Angel was a pharmaceutical research program. Experimental. Shut down by the FDA five years ago for ethics violations."

"What kind of violations?"

"Human trials without proper consent. Multiple deaths. The company running it was dissolved. But the research disappeared. Someone took it before federal agents could seize everything."

My blood runs cold. "My father's company distributed pharmaceuticals."

"Exactly. And three weeks before the FDA raid, Damien Cross bought Lawson Medical Solutions. Paid your father fifteen million. And all the Project Angel data vanished."

"You think my father stole it. And Damien helped him hide it."

"Or Damien took it. And paid your father to stay quiet."

Both options make me sick.

"Where's the data now?"

"No one knows. It's been missing for five years." Marcus meets my eyes. "Until someone starts threatening you and your family. Until your father dies in a suspicious fire. Until someone tells you to keep playing girlfriend to Damien Cross."

"They want me close to him. To find the data."

"Or they want him close to you. Because they think you know where it is."

"I don't know anything."

"Maybe your father told you something. Years ago. Something you didn't realize was important."

I search my memory. That day he gave me the key. He was scared. Desperate.

He said: If anything happens to me, Emma. You'll know what to do.

At the time, I thought he meant use the key. Find the safety deposit box.

But what if he meant something else?

What if there's more I'm supposed to find?

My phone buzzes. Text from unknown number.

I open it.

A photo. Of Lily. Walking across campus. Thirty seconds ago based on the timestamp.

The message: Your sister is very pretty. Very smart. It would be a shame if she had an accident too. Keep playing your role, Dr. Lawson. Keep Damien Cross happy and healthy. Or your sister joins your father.

I show Marcus. His face goes white.

"We need to get her into protective custody. Now."

"She won't come willingly. She'll want to stay at school."

"Then we put security on her without telling her."

Marcus's affirms. "I'll send better people. Ex-military. They won't miss anything."

"How do we know we can trust anyone? Someone inside Damien's organization might be working against him."

"Then we trust each other. You, me, and Damien. No one else."

"I can't trust Damien. He's been lying to me for five years."

"And you've been lying to him for two days." Marcus steps closer. "Maybe you're more alike than you want to admit."

Before I can respond, the door opens.

Damien walks in. Alone. He's changed into clothes someone brought him. Dark jeans. Simple shirt. He looks less like a patient. More like the man from the photos in his office.

Powerful. Determined.

Dangerous.

"I told the board I'm checking out of the hospital. Taking a few days to handle personal matters." His eyes lock on mine. "Emma, I'm going with you. To see your father. To deal with this. You're not doing it alone."

"You can't leave. You just had surgery."

"I'm fine. And you need help."

"I don't need your help."

"Yes. You do." He moves closer. "Someone killed your father. Someone is threatening your sister. Someone wants something from you. And I think I know why."

"You have amnesia. You don't know anything."

"I have fragmented memories. But some things are coming back." He pulls out his phone. Shows me a photo. "I found this in my cloud storage. Backed up. From two years ago."

It's a document. Medical research. The header says Project Angel. Phase Three Trial Results.

"Where did you get this?"

"I don't remember. But it's in my files. Encrypted. Hidden. Which means I knew it was important." He swipes to another image. "And look at the researcher credited at the bottom."

I read the name. My vision blurs.

Dr. James Lawson. Principal Investigator.

"No. That's not possible. My father wasn't a researcher. He ran a distribution company."

"Did he?" Damien's voice is gentle. "Or is that what he told you?"

"You're lying. This is fabricated."

"I wish it was." Damien shows me more documents. More files. All with my father's name. All related to Project Angel.

"Your father wasn't just involved, Emma. He was running it. And when it went wrong, when people died, he needed to disappear. So I helped him."

"Why? Why would you help him?"

Damien hesitates. Something flickers in his eyes. A memory trying to surface.

"Because someone I cared about was in danger because of Project Angel. And your father said he could protect them. If I helped him vanish."

"Who?" My voice is barely a whisper. "Who were you protecting?"

He looks at me. Really looks at me.

"I think it was you, Emma. I think I've been protecting you all along. I just can't remember why you needed protecting. Or why I cared so much that I'd destroy a company and pay fifteen million dollars to keep you safe."

The room spins.

My father was the researcher. The one responsible for deaths.

Damien paid him to disappear. To protect me.

Nothing I believed is true.

"I need air." I push past them both. Into the hallway.

But there's nowhere to run. Nowhere safe.

My father's dead. My sister's being watched. And the man I thought was my enemy might be the only person who's been trying to save me.

From what?

My phone buzzes. Another message.

I almost don't look.

Almost.

It's a video file. Dated five years ago. Security footage.

I press play.

It shows a research lab. My father, younger, wearing a lab coat. He's arguing with someone off-camera.

The audio is muffled but I can make out words.

"...can't continue the trials. The mortality rate is unacceptable."

Another voice responds. Familiar but I can't place it.

"Then we adjust the dosage. We're too close to stop now."

"People are dying, Richard. Children are dying."

Richard.

Richard Chen.

The video continues. My father shaking his head. Walking away.

Richard's voice follows him: "If you walk away from this, James, I'll make sure everyone knows whose idea this was. Whose research killed those children. You'll lose everything. Your family. Your freedom. Everything."

The video cuts off.

I stand frozen in the hallway.

Richard Chen. Damien's board member. Marcus's uncle.

He's been behind this all along.

And he just threatened my sister thirty minutes ago.

My father tried to stop Project Angel. Richard threatened him. Damien helped him hide.

And now Richard is cleaning up loose ends.

Starting with everyone who knows the truth.

My phone rings. Unknown number.

I answer. "Richard."

A pause. Then his smooth voice. "Very good, Dr. Lawson. You're smarter than your father was. He tried to run. Look where that got him."

"What do you want?"

"The same thing everyone wants. The Project Angel data. Your father hid it somewhere. And I think he told you where. You just don't remember yet."

"I don't know anything."

"Then I suggest you start remembering. Because your sister has class in twenty minutes. And the building she's walking into? It has such unfortunate fire safety violations. Would be tragic if something happened."

The line goes dead.

I run.