by Kim Jewell
Leesha gave him a half smile. “I think your suspicions are pretty on target. Yes, we all share the same birthday.”
“Sartori? Where Blevins worked?”
“Bingo.”
Martin took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Have you guys… Um, experienced…”
“Shall we call it complications, at least for now?” Leesha met his gaze dead on.
He nodded. “How much do you know about this?”
“Mr. Martin, we’ve done loads of research on all of this,” Sam leveled with him. “And I’m not going to tiptoe around the issues. This man has put my family, my friends in danger more than once. We’re out to find him, and stop him.”
“Son, you’re only a teenager.”
“Maybe so, but I’ll bet we know more than you do about this. Have you met with Charlie Rowe yet?”
“His research assistant? No, I tried to find him, but he disappeared before I could catch up with him.”
“We’ve got his files.”
“You do?” Martin paused, thinking about this for a moment. “Okay, first of all I want you to understand that you’re not alone in wanting to stop Blevins. We can help you. You’d have the power of the FBI and the Naval intelligence behind you…”
“We’ve kept this quiet for a reason, Mr. Martin,” Sam said. “We don’t want to be turned into lab rats.”
“I can understand that, and you wouldn’t be. Though we’d want to know more about you and what you’ve gone through.”
“I don’t know…”
“Sam, we can protect you, and your families. Do you want your mother in a situation like this again?”
His point seemed to hit close to home. Both he and Lexi sat up straight.
“All due respect, sir,” Trey interrupted. “but my parents don’t even know about this. You mentioned that your work is highly confidential… My father’s the Governor. Can you imagine what kind of news storm would hit if the media caught wind of this?”
He nodded thoughtfully. “I understand, and you have my word that my work – our work together – would be handled with the utmost in professionalism and secrecy. We’ve got a lot at stake too, and can’t afford to let this leak out. But what I want you to consider is that you six may not be the only ones affected by this.”
“We know,” Leesha said. “We have a list of the others in the hospital on the same date.”
“Leesha, it goes way beyond that. You guys weren’t the first babies he experimented on, or the last. There were some before you, and while we caught him early in the process, there were even some after your birthday. He was careful, but by our best guess, he could have injected close to a hundred babies over the course of several months. And not just here, in three other markets where he visited on rotation.”
“Three other hospitals?” Leesha gasped. “A hundred babies?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I was stationed here to monitor what progress I could, not really knowing what to look for or when it would happen. I’ve got counterparts in Kansas City, Des Moines and Indianapolis. He was careful, and he spread out his work.”
“He was practicing here, too, at the clinic,” Trey added. “I’ve got his computer files, if you think it will help.”
Martin chuckled, astonished at his good fortune. “Yeah, that’ll help a lot. Between what my department knows about his past, and what you’ve gathered about his present, if we work together we can do a lot to help bring some justice to all the people Blevins has hurt.”
“Have you found any others, kids like us?” Jade asked.
“No, not yet. And I’ve hesitated to call in anything on this incident yet. I wanted to talk to you first, before I let everyone else know about the breakthrough in the case.”
“Mr. Martin,” Clint started, still yet unsure of how to phrase his question. “Do you think… Would it be possible, before we get a whole bunch of police and military officials involved, could we just talk to you first? You know, keep it on the down low for the time being?”
Lexi squeezed his hand in agreement. He smiled.
“Well, I will have to report the fire today, and I’m going to have to bring in my department eventually. But for now, I think it’s a good idea for me to get a grasp on everything you guys know, what you have been through, before we have to bring any strangers into the mix. Does that sound fair?”
They all nodded.
“So for now,” Mr. Martin continued, “let’s get you guys out of here. You all look like you could use some rest. I’ll take care of all the cleanup here, and make sure everything is wrapped up tight. Sam, I’ll call you tomorrow so we can set up a time to meet and share information. Sound good?”
“Sure, Mr. Martin,” he said. “Hey, by the way… How much does Ty know about all of this?”
“Um, nothing. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I just wondered, that’s all.”
The group stood up and meandered their way back to the lingering crowd in the front. The firefighters were putting out the last of the flames, and the ambulances were packing up the few remaining people who needed treatment. The lights on all the vehicles were still flashing, but the air had quieted considerably.
Clint wrapped his arm around Lexi’s shoulder. “Don’t ever go into a burning building without me again, do you hear me? You scared the hell out of me, you know.”
She grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I was just hoping to get some answers. I can’t believe he’s gone again.”
He looked back toward the hole in the office. “Yeah, I know. But it looks like we’ve got some reinforcements who’ll help us track him down.”
“Let’s hope that’s a good thing.”
“Yeah… Let’s hope.”
