Ortiz kept her gun trained on him. “Dr. Mercer, step away from the door.”
Alan smiled—and that smile was more terrifying than anything else that night.
“You really should have stayed retired, Richard,” he said.
The words hit like a blade between ribs. Everything rearranged in my mind—Alan insisting I see Emily first. Alan controlling the room. Alan handling the scans. Alan knowing exactly what had been discovered inside her.
“The implant,” I said. “You put it in.”
“Not personally,” he replied. “But yes. We needed to know where she’d go if she ran.”
Emily began to cry silently. “I thought Daniel set me up. Alan told me Daniel was betraying me. He said if I spoke, Daniel would die first.”
“That’s why you said he wasn’t alone,” I whispered.
She nodded. “Daniel got me out of the house tonight. He told me to take the files and come to you. Before I could leave town, someone grabbed me in the parking garage. I never saw his face. When I woke up, Alan was there. He carved those words into my back and told me you’d blame Daniel. He wanted you angry. Distracted.”
