Mara locked the front door.
She pulled the blinds across the reception windows and turned off the exterior sign.
Eli watched her.
“Are they coming?”
“I don't know.”
“You said that before.”
“I know.”
“Does that mean yes?”
Mara looked at him.
“It means I don't want to lie to you.”
Eli nodded.
That answer seemed to satisfy him more than reassurance would have.
Mara returned to the examination room.
Tiger was lying beneath the warming lamp.
His injured leg had been stabilized.
The cat opened one eye when she entered.
“Still awake?”
Tiger blinked.
Mara checked his pulse.
Steady.
His temperature was improving.
The infection could be treated.
The fracture could be repaired.
But the microchip remained.
She could remove it.
She could also report it.
Yet the message had changed the situation.
Someone had deliberately warned her not to register the cat.
That meant someone was watching.
Mara called her colleague, Ben Carter.
He answered sleepily.
“You're calling at midnight.”
“I need you to come to the clinic.”
“Emergency?”
“Yes.”
“Animal?”
“Yes.”
“Dangerous?”
“I don't know.”
That woke him.
Twenty minutes later, Ben arrived through the back entrance.
Mara showed him the scanner record.
His expression hardened.
“That's the same company.”
“You remember?”
“Everyone remembers.”
Ben had worked at the clinic during the Copper incident.
“What is this cat doing with their chip?”
“I don't know.”
“Who brought him?”
Mara pointed toward the waiting room.
A small figure sat beneath a blanket.
Ben stared.
“You've got to be kidding.”
“His name is Eli.”
Ben approached slowly.
“Hey.”
Eli looked up.
“Are you a doctor too?”
“Not quite.”
“What are you?”
“Mostly someone who fixes things.”
Eli looked toward the examination room.
“Can you fix Tiger?”
“We're going to try.”
Eli nodded.
Ben sat beside him.
“Where's your mother?”
“Asleep.”
“Does she know you're here?”
“No.”
Ben looked at Mara.
She shook her head.
Something about the answer troubled him.
Mara returned to Tiger.
She removed the chip scanner from its case.
The code was still visible.
She entered the number into a secure veterinary database instead of the company's portal.
This time a different record appeared.
The cat had been implanted at a facility two years earlier.
Species: feline.
Breed: domestic shorthair.
Sex: male.
The owner's name was redacted.
But there was a location.
A research property outside town.
Mara knew it.
Everyone in the county knew the abandoned laboratory.
It had closed years ago after a chemical spill.
The building was never fully demolished.
“Why would a cat from there be living with Mrs. Bell?”
Ben asked.
“I don't know.”
“Maybe she adopted him.”
“Her name isn't on the record.”
“Then somebody gave him to her.”
Mara looked at the chip.
“Or someone wanted him hidden.”
Eli had heard them.
“Mrs. Bell said Tiger wasn't supposed to be outside.”
Mara turned.
“What did she mean?”
Eli pulled the blanket tighter.
“She told me he had to stay inside.”
“Why?”
“She said people were looking for him.”
Ben and Mara exchanged a glance.
“Did she tell you who?”
“No.”
“Did she ever mention the laboratory?”
Eli shook his head.
“Did she have visitors?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
“What did he look like?”
Eli frowned.
“Tall.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar here.”
Eli touched the side of his jaw.
“Was he young?”
“Not really.”
“Did he drive a white truck?”
Eli nodded.
Mara's stomach tightened.
“Did he ever come inside?”
“Once.”
“What happened?”
“He argued with Mrs. Bell.”
“About Tiger?”
Eli nodded.
“What did he say?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't remember?”
“I heard him say, ‘The cat doesn't belong to you.’”
Mara looked at Ben.
Then at Tiger.
Mrs. Bell had died two weeks earlier.
Tiger had disappeared for six days.
Then returned injured.
Someone had been searching.
Mara asked Eli where he lived.
He gave the street.
She recognized it.
Only four blocks from the clinic.
“What happened to your father?”
Eli looked down.
“He's gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Mom says he left.”
“Recently?”
“Last winter.”
Ben watched Eli carefully.
“Did he have a white truck?”
Eli nodded.
Mara felt a chill.
“Your father's truck?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it now?”
“My mom sold it.”
“When?”
Eli thought.
“After he left.”
Mara did not ask more.
The boy's face had closed.
She recognized the expression.
A child who had learned that certain questions made adults uncomfortable.
She returned to Tiger.
The cat was sleeping.
Mara checked his breathing.
Then she noticed something beneath the blanket.
A small leather collar.
She lifted it.
There was no name tag.
Only a tiny brass plate.
One word had been engraved.
ELIAS.
Mara looked toward the waiting room.
“Eli.”
The boy came in.
“That was my dad's name.”
Mara held up the collar.
Eli stared.
“He had a cat?”
“I don't know.”
“Are you sure?”
Eli nodded.
“My dad used to feed Tiger.”
Mara felt the pieces begin to connect.
“Was Tiger your father's cat?”
“I think so.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Eli shrugged.
“Mom says not to talk about Dad.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Mara did not press.
Instead, she examined the collar.
There was a second object attached beneath the leather.
A tiny memory card.
Ben stared.
“That isn't normal.”
Mara removed it carefully.
They inserted it into a secure computer.
The card contained only one video.
No title.
No date.
Mara opened it.
A man appeared on screen.
Eli gasped.
“Dad.”
Mara turned toward him.
The man in the video was sitting in what looked like a laboratory office.
His face was tired.
He spoke directly to the camera.
“If you're watching this, Tiger has probably come back.”
Mara stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“My name is Daniel Mercer. I worked at the East Ridge research facility.”
Ben looked at Mara.
East Ridge.
The same facility listed in the chip database.
Daniel continued.
“I thought the animals were being studied for disease prevention. I was wrong.”
The screen flickered.
He looked over his shoulder.
“They aren't studying them.”
Mara leaned closer.
“They are testing something on them.”
Eli whispered, “What?”
Mara held up a hand.
The recording continued.
“Tiger was one of the animals that survived the trial. We were told to record him as transferred. He wasn't transferred.”
Daniel paused.
“He was released.”
Mara stared.
“Released where?”
The recording answered.
“To Mrs. Bell.”
Eli's face changed.
His father had known Mrs. Bell.
Daniel continued.
“I gave Tiger to her because she was the only person I trusted.”
The video became distorted.
Before it ended, Daniel said one final sentence.
“If they come looking for Tiger, don't give him back.”
The screen went black.
Eli began crying.
“My dad didn't leave.”
Mara sat beside him.
“No.”
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Mom say he left?”
Mara did not know.
Ben looked toward the windows.
A vehicle passed outside.
White.
Mara closed the blinds completely.
The clinic suddenly seemed very small.
She copied the video onto two secure drives.
Then she examined Tiger's chip again.
The database record had changed.
STATUS: DECEASED.
Mara stared.
“What?”
Ben leaned over.
“That's impossible.”
Tiger was asleep on the table.
Alive.
Breathing.
Mara checked the timestamp.
The status had been updated three minutes earlier.
Someone had access to the system.
Someone knew they had found the video.
Then Eli's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His mother's name appeared.
He answered.
“Mom?”
His face went pale.
Mara could hear only one side.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I didn't.”
“I'm at the clinic.”
Silence.
Eli looked at Mara.
Then whispered, “She says I have to come home.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“Ask her why.”
Eli did.
His expression changed again.
“She says the man with the scar is there.”
The line went dead.
Mara stood.
“Ben, stay with Tiger.”
“What are you doing?”
“I'm going to get Eli's mother.”
Ben shook his head.
“You're not going alone.”
Mara looked toward the dark parking lot.
“No.”
She picked up the keys.
“We're going together.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART3: Mara Reached Eli’s House Before the Stranger Could Leave, but the Empty Bedroom and a Hidden Photograph Changed the Meaning of Daniel’s Final Warning
At Nearly Midnight, the Boy Arrived Barefoot With a Trembling Cat in His Arms, and One Detail Made Dr. Mara Question Everything
Part 2 of 16
