Chapter 12 - Malcolm Hayes
Malcolm agreed to meet us because Camille threatened to go to the police.
He chose an empty conference room inside Hayes Medical Holdings.
That told me everything about him.
He wanted home territory.
He wanted control.
Luka stood behind me.
Rebecca sat beside me.
Camille remained near the door.
Malcolm entered alone.
He was sixty-one.
Silver-haired.
Perfectly dressed.
Calm.
“Elena.”
“Don’t call me that like we’re family.”
He smiled faintly.
“We were family.”
“Was my father’s death an accident?”
The smile disappeared.
Straight to the wound.
That was the only way I could do it.
Malcolm sat.
“Your father made powerful enemies.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
He looked at Luka.
“I did not kill Thomas.”
“Were you there that night?”
“Yes.”
“Was Derek?”
Malcolm’s silence answered.
Camille stepped forward.
“You lied about my baby.”
Malcolm looked at her stomach.
Something flickered across his face.
Fear.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Luka noticed too.
“Interesting.”
Malcolm’s eyes moved toward him.
“What?”
“You knew she was pregnant before Derek told you.”
Malcolm stood.
“This meeting is over.”
“No.”
I remained seated.
“You are going to tell me about my sister.”
He froze.
Rebecca slid the photograph of Baby B’s bracelet across the table.
Malcolm stared at it.
For the first time, he lost color.
“Where did you get that?”
“So she existed.”
His mistake was immediate.
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“You knew.”
Malcolm looked away.
“Your mother delivered twins.”
“Where did my sister go?”
“The program was already operating.”
“What program?”
“M-17.”
His voice was quieter now.
“Crane believed certain genetic markers could predict neurological disease resistance.”
I felt sick.
“They experimented on newborns?”
“Observation.”
“Don’t sanitize it.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“Your sister was transferred.”
“Stolen.”
“She was placed with another family.”
“Without my parents’ permission.”
He said nothing.
My hands shook.
“My mother died thinking one daughter survived.”
“She never knew there were two.”
That sentence nearly broke me.
I stood so quickly my chair hit the wall.
Luka steadied me.
I pulled away.
“Did my father discover it?”
“Years later.”
“And you stopped him.”
“I tried to negotiate.”
“Did Derek know?”
Malcolm looked toward the window.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
My husband had known my sister was stolen.
He had known before marrying me.
Then Malcolm said something worse.
“Derek was supposed to keep you away from the records.”
I could barely breathe.
“My entire marriage was surveillance.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Malcolm looked almost ashamed.
“He developed feelings.”
I laughed.
The sound was ugly.
“Then he should have tried acting like it.”
Luka stepped forward.
“One more question.”
He placed Camille’s false paternity report on the table.
“Whose blood did you use?”
Malcolm stared at the page.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
Then alarms began screaming throughout the building.
Someone had triggered the fire suppression system in the records floor.
Black smoke appeared behind the glass.
May you like
Malcolm whispered one word.
“Derek.”
