THE LITTLE RED WAGON
PART 4 — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Every monitor in the neonatal unit went black.
The silence was terrifying.
No beeping.
No alarms.
No oxygen warnings.
Nothing.
Molly could hear only the sound of her own breathing.
Then the emergency generator kicked in.
One monitor flickered back to life.
Then another.
But the incubator containing the smaller twin remained completely dark.
Vivian rushed toward it.
“Manual ventilation!”
A nurse grabbed the emergency bag.
Vivian began pumping oxygen.
“Come on, sweetheart.”
Molly pressed both hands against the glass.
“Please don't die.”
Nathaniel stood motionless.
His eyes were fixed on the elderly man at the end of the corridor.
The man hadn't moved.
He looked remarkably calm.
Almost amused.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Everyone stay where you are.”
The old man smiled.
“Still giving orders, Daniel?”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“You know my name too.”
“I know everyone's name.”
Nathaniel finally spoke.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
His father's smile faded.
“That was the idea.”
Nathaniel took a step forward.
“You disappeared twenty-two years ago.”
“I left.”
“You faked your death.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The old man looked toward the twins.
“Because people were beginning to ask questions.”
Nathaniel's fists tightened.
“About what?”
His father looked at him.
“About the children.”
Molly suddenly whispered:
“Why do you want my brothers?”
The old man turned.
His eyes settled on her.
For the first time, his expression softened.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
Molly stepped backward.
“Don't talk about my mother.”
“She was a remarkable woman.”
“You hurt her.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She hurt herself by discovering something she wasn't supposed to know.”
Nathaniel stepped between them.
“Enough.”
His father looked at him.
“You still think you're protecting them.”
“I am.”
“No, Nathaniel.”
The old man smiled.
“You're protecting your guilt.”
Nathaniel froze.
Daniel looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Nathaniel didn't answer.
His father did.
“Ask him what happened the night Elena disappeared.”
Molly looked at Nathaniel.
“What happened?”
Nathaniel's face became pale.
“I wasn't there.”
His father laughed.
“You were.”
“I wasn't.”
“You stood outside the warehouse.”
Nathaniel's voice became louder.
“I didn't know what was happening!”
“You heard her screaming.”
Nathaniel stopped.
Molly stared at him.
“You heard Mama?”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
“I thought she was going to be killed.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Nathaniel opened his eyes.
“She escaped.”
His father interrupted.
“She escaped because someone helped her.”
Daniel immediately looked at Marcus.
Marcus smiled.
Nathaniel turned toward him.
“You.”
Marcus nodded.
“I helped Elena get out.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Marcus looked toward the twins.
“The children weren't being experimented on.”
Vivian stopped ventilating the baby for a moment.
“What?”
Marcus continued.
“They were being protected.”
Everyone stared.
Daniel frowned.
“Protected from what?”
Marcus looked at the old man.
“From people like him.”
The old man's expression became cold.
“You always were sentimental.”
Marcus ignored him.
“The marks weren't identification numbers.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“Then what were they?”
“A warning.”
Nathaniel stared.
“About what?”
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
“I found this in Elena's laboratory.”
Nathaniel took it.
His hands began shaking.
At the top of the page were several words:
PROJECT LANTERN — PHASE THREE
Below it were photographs.
Dozens of newborn babies.
Each with the same mark.
Molly looked at the photographs.
“Those babies…”
Marcus nodded.
“They all disappeared.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“How many?”
“Thirty-two.”
“And the twins?”
Marcus looked at Nathaniel.
“They're number thirty-three and thirty-four.”
Molly's eyes widened.
“Why?”
Marcus pointed to the mark.
“Because these two were born with something the others didn't have.”
“What?”
Before Marcus could answer, the old man spoke.
“Enough.”
He raised his hand.
Two armed men appeared behind him.
Daniel spun around.
He hadn't heard them enter.
“Drop the weapon, Sheriff.”
Daniel slowly lowered his gun.
Nathaniel moved toward Molly.
“Stay behind me.”
His father watched him.
“You always were predictable.”
Then something unexpected happened.
Molly stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
The seven-year-old girl stood in the middle of the corridor.
Her bare feet were still bleeding.
Her dress was torn.
But she wasn't shaking anymore.
“You're not taking my brothers.”
The old man smiled.
“And what will you do?”
Molly reached into her pocket.
She pulled out the brass key.
“This.”
The old man's smile disappeared.
Nathaniel stared at the key.
“Molly…”
She looked at him.
“Mama told me something else.”
“What?”
“She said if the bad man ever came…”
Molly raised the key.
“…I should break it.”
The old man's face changed.
“Don't.”
Molly dropped the key onto the floor.
Then she stomped on it.
The brass key snapped in half.
The old man shouted:
“NO!”
Everyone froze.
Nathaniel stared at the broken pieces.
“What did she just destroy?”
Marcus smiled.
“Nothing.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
Marcus pointed toward the floor.
“She didn't destroy the key.”
He picked up one half.
“It was a transmitter.”
Nathaniel's eyes widened.
“A transmitter?”
Marcus nodded.
“Elena knew they would eventually find Molly.”
He looked at the broken key.
“So she built a signal into it.”
Daniel's radio suddenly crackled.
A voice came through.
“Carter?”
Daniel grabbed it.
“Who is this?”
The voice was weak.
Frightened.
But unmistakably female.
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Elena?”
Molly screamed:
“MAMA!”
The radio crackled again.
“Daniel…”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
Then Elena whispered:
“Don't trust Nathaniel.”
Nathaniel went completely still.
Molly stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Nathaniel.
“Elena says not to trust you.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
The radio crackled.
Then Elena spoke again.
“Because he doesn't know what he did.”
Nathaniel's face went pale.
“What did I do?”
Elena's voice became barely audible.
“You were the one who gave them our location.”
Nathaniel staggered backward.
“No.”
Molly began crying.
“You betrayed Mama?”
“No.”
Nathaniel looked desperately at her.
“I didn't.”
The old man smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Nathaniel turned toward him.
“You made me forget.”
His father nodded.
“You were young.”
“What did you do to me?”
“Nothing.”
The old man's smile became colder.
“We simply removed the part of your memory that would have made you inconvenient.”
Daniel stared.
“You're saying you erased his memory?”
Marcus answered.
“Not erased.”
He looked at Nathaniel.
“Replaced.”
Suddenly, the smaller twin's monitor came back on.
A single green line appeared.
Then a heartbeat.
Beep.
Molly gasped.
Another beep.
Vivian looked at the monitor.
“His oxygen is improving.”
But she didn't smile.
Because something else had appeared on the screen.
A symbol.
The same symbol as the birthmark.
Vivian stared.
“That shouldn't be possible.”
“What?” Daniel asked.
She pointed.
“The monitor isn't measuring his heartbeat.”
Everyone looked closer.
The screen wasn't displaying vital signs.
It was displaying a sequence of numbers.
Vivian whispered:
“It's a code.”
Nathaniel stepped toward the monitor.
He recognized it.
His face went white.
“What?”
Nathaniel stared at the numbers.
“I've seen this before.”
“Where?”
“In my father's private files.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What does it say?”
Nathaniel swallowed.
“It isn't a code.”
“Then what is it?”
Nathaniel looked toward the twins.
His voice broke.
“It's a countdown.”
Molly whispered:
“To what?”
Nathaniel looked at the clock.
The numbers on the monitor changed.
00:59:58
Then:
00:59:57
Nathaniel stepped backward.
His father smiled.
“Now you finally remember.”
And somewhere beneath the hospital, a heavy metal door began to unlock.
