along with Tom’s coffee.
He wished there was something he could say to move past this wall she had built between them. Maybe if they had some time alone together he could make some headway. Tom doubted Larson would appreciate a request to let them be for a while. Would anything he did matter in the long run? Sarah was finished with the life they had once shared. If she still felt anything at all for him she hid it well.
Could she see his feelings? What would she think if she learned the truth?
Not important
.
Not anymore
.
Tom cleared his head and moved on. “I’ve spent the past fifteen months investigating a case involving medical experiments and murder going back several decades. An entire small Tennessee town was caught up in the insane efforts of one scientist.” Tom shook his head. “To tell you the truth, it was like something you’d expect to read in a Dean Koontz novel. Certainly not the sort of thing you’d hear about in real life.”
“You believe this is somehow related to the abductions we’re investigating?” Larson asked.
Before Tom could respond to the chief’s question, Sarah protested, “I don’t recall seeing anything about a case like that on the news. If it was as shocking as all that why wasn’t anyone reporting on it?”
She had no intention of making any of this easy on him. “I do believe they’re related,” he said in answer to Larson’s question before turning to Sarah. “You remember Paul Phillips?”
The widening of her eyes told him she did. “He helped with… yes, I do.”
Even now, five years later, she didn’t want to say their daughter’s name out loud. “Paul was drawn into the case in Tennessee. Almost got himself killed.”
“Is he all right?” Concern clouded her dark eyes.
God, how he had missed those beautiful brown eyes of hers His entire being ached just seeing her and knowing he couldn’t even touch her.
“He is now, yes.” By the time Tom had received word on Paul’s location and condition, his friend was lucky to be alive. “It took months for us to get a handle on exactly what had happened. We learned that three brothers had escaped post World War II Germany and settled in this country. Unfortunately, they weren’t good guys. They had conducted horrific medical experiments in the Nazi concentration camps.”
Sarah’s guard dropped ever so slightly with the shock that claimed her face. “That’s incredible.”
“I still find the story unfathomable.” Even the condensed version he dared to share. “We stopped the work the first two brothers had started, but the third was nowhere to be found. Our search led us to a facility in this area we believe he may be using, but we’ve had no proof until now.”
“Can you be more specific about the medical experiments?” Larson prodded.
“Gene manipulation. Illegal methods of conception. The list goes on and on.” That was technically more than he should tell anyone, but he needed Sarah to trust him on this.
“There’s no mystery,” Sarah gestured to the case board, “related to how these missing children came to be with their parents. They have no medical issues in common and none are patients of the same doctor or dentist. I looked for all common denominators. The only ones are age and financial status.”
“There is one or two more you may have missed.”
Indignation colored her cheeks. “I don’t think so.”
“They each have a deceased sibling.” Tom saw the surprise in her eyes when she realized he was correct. “Each sibling died less than one year before these children were born.”
“What’s your point?” She turned her hands up. “The children, the missing ones as well as the deceased siblings, were born naturally to their parents. No adoptions. No fertility clinics.”
“One of your missing recently developed a very rare form of leukemia. Two others have recently exhibited issues with behavior at school, and the remaining two have suffered a list of minor
He wished there was something he could say to move past this wall she had built between them. Maybe if they had some time alone together he could make some headway. Tom doubted Larson would appreciate a request to let them be for a while. Would anything he did matter in the long run? Sarah was finished with the life they had once shared. If she still felt anything at all for him she hid it well.
Could she see his feelings? What would she think if she learned the truth?
Not important
.
Not anymore
.
Tom cleared his head and moved on. “I’ve spent the past fifteen months investigating a case involving medical experiments and murder going back several decades. An entire small Tennessee town was caught up in the insane efforts of one scientist.” Tom shook his head. “To tell you the truth, it was like something you’d expect to read in a Dean Koontz novel. Certainly not the sort of thing you’d hear about in real life.”
“You believe this is somehow related to the abductions we’re investigating?” Larson asked.
Before Tom could respond to the chief’s question, Sarah protested, “I don’t recall seeing anything about a case like that on the news. If it was as shocking as all that why wasn’t anyone reporting on it?”
She had no intention of making any of this easy on him. “I do believe they’re related,” he said in answer to Larson’s question before turning to Sarah. “You remember Paul Phillips?”
The widening of her eyes told him she did. “He helped with… yes, I do.”
Even now, five years later, she didn’t want to say their daughter’s name out loud. “Paul was drawn into the case in Tennessee. Almost got himself killed.”
“Is he all right?” Concern clouded her dark eyes.
God, how he had missed those beautiful brown eyes of hers His entire being ached just seeing her and knowing he couldn’t even touch her.
“He is now, yes.” By the time Tom had received word on Paul’s location and condition, his friend was lucky to be alive. “It took months for us to get a handle on exactly what had happened. We learned that three brothers had escaped post World War II Germany and settled in this country. Unfortunately, they weren’t good guys. They had conducted horrific medical experiments in the Nazi concentration camps.”
Sarah’s guard dropped ever so slightly with the shock that claimed her face. “That’s incredible.”
“I still find the story unfathomable.” Even the condensed version he dared to share. “We stopped the work the first two brothers had started, but the third was nowhere to be found. Our search led us to a facility in this area we believe he may be using, but we’ve had no proof until now.”
“Can you be more specific about the medical experiments?” Larson prodded.
“Gene manipulation. Illegal methods of conception. The list goes on and on.” That was technically more than he should tell anyone, but he needed Sarah to trust him on this.
“There’s no mystery,” Sarah gestured to the case board, “related to how these missing children came to be with their parents. They have no medical issues in common and none are patients of the same doctor or dentist. I looked for all common denominators. The only ones are age and financial status.”
“There is one or two more you may have missed.”
Indignation colored her cheeks. “I don’t think so.”
“They each have a deceased sibling.” Tom saw the surprise in her eyes when she realized he was correct. “Each sibling died less than one year before these children were born.”
“What’s your point?” She turned her hands up. “The children, the missing ones as well as the deceased siblings, were born naturally to their parents. No adoptions. No fertility clinics.”
“One of your missing recently developed a very rare form of leukemia. Two others have recently exhibited issues with behavior at school, and the remaining two have suffered a list of minor
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