“Where’s Radar?” Tuck asked, stepping back to scan the crowd. That was when he noticed a nervous looking teenager standing beside them.
“Are you okay? You seem lost,” he said.
Paco took hold of the boy’s arm and introduced him.
“This is Hunter.”
They all shook his hand, welcoming him, trying to make him feel at ease.
“No offense, Hunter, but we were expecting someone else,” Kaden said, then turned to Paco, “Where’s Radar, isn’t he with you?”
Paco explained that the previous month, Radar had been taken ill with bad stomach cramps and brought to sick bay. That was the last anyone saw of him. They were told his appendix had burst.
“I’m sorry, guys but Radar is dead. He didn’t even have a funeral.”
There was a stunned silence until Paco spoke again.
“The guards woke us up in the middle of the night, me and Hunter, that is. We had to pack our stuff and go with an armed escort on the ferry to Ushuaia. From there we were driven to an airport and told we were being sent to Guadalajara. They said if we made any attempt to escape, we would be captured and spend the rest of our lives regretting it. All we knew when we got on that plane was that someone would be waiting for us when we arrived here. We had planned on trying to escape first chance we got, once we were off the plane. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you lot.”
“There’s no need to worry any more about escaping,” said Tuck.
“That’s right, let’s get you home,” said Kaden. “You look shattered. When you’ve rested we can go over all the details and see if we can find out what happened to Radar. My parent’s will know what to do and Jake is bound to use his influence as an ex-cop to get the information we need. Don’t worry, you are both safe now.”
While the Seager family and their guests, which included Jake Matthews and Duke, were discussing what to do about Radar’s death, Amelia went into the study to make a call. She had been trying to get in touch with Megan all day but had received no answer from her. The countless messages left on her voice mail had been completely ignored. This time she was going to call the house phone, even if it meant talking to Henry Brubaker himself.
When Amelia emerged from the study, the chatter died down. She was pale and shaking. Estelle steered her towards an empty chair.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Lloyd said.
“Oh Dad, I’ve just been talking to Henry Brubaker. He says he found a note from Megan this afternoon, telling him that she was taking off on a back packing trip for the rest of her school vacation. I was sure Megan would answer the phone, she told me her grandfather had been working late every night and that she was feeling really lonely. She said she couldn’t wait to get here. The strange thing is, I haven’t heard from Megan in two days. She was supposed to call me yesterday and I can’t reach her on her phone. Surely she would bring it with her wherever she was going.”
“There’s something not quite right about this. Megan was due to come here at the beginning of the month, that’s only a few days away. It’s not like her to just take off like that without any explanation to us,” Estelle said.
Jake drew a chair up in front of Amelia and sat on it, facing her. He took hold of her hands and looking her straight in the eye, asked a question.
“Is there anything she might have said the last time you spoke with her that makes you think she would run away?”
Amelia’s eyes welled up with tears.
“No, she was definitely planning on coming to stay with us. Wasn’t she Wolf? Didn’t she tell you how much she was looking forward to it?”
The young man had been very quiet, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Megan asked me if I would come meet you all while she was here but I told her I would be away on a job. She said she had bought a present for you, Amelia, a dress just like the one she was wearing last time I saw her. There’s no way she would have left without telling anyone, or at least cancelling her visit,” Wolf said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It sounds to me like Henry Brubaker is up to no good. Why would Megan just take off like that without even telling her best friend, do you think you should call her parents, Lloyd?” Jake asked.
“I’m not sure I’m the right person for that, maybe it would be better if Estelle talked to Lydia, mother to mother, if that makes sense.”
Lloyd raised an eyebrow as he looked at his wife. Estelle placed a hand on Kaden’s shoulder.
“Okay, I’ll do it. Lydia will be sick with worry over this and I know what that feels like, don’t I?”
She kissed the top of her son’s head before going into the study to make the call.
Ten minutes later she was back, a grave look on her face.
“Lydia says Megan has been bearing a grudge against them for not allowing her to attend Harley’s wedding. Grant had insisted she obey him, even though Lydia felt it was a bit harsh. When Henry Brubaker told them that Megan had suddenly taken off, Grant had gone to the police, reporting her as a missing person. He was told there’s nothing they could do as she was eighteen and had left a note, written in her own hand.”
“This is like what happened to Kaden. I know Megan is in danger, we’ve got to do something.” Amelia was distraught.
Jake put an arm around her shoulder.
“Henry Brubaker would never harm his own grandchild, no matter how much of a monster we think he is. Let’s try and piece all the information we have together and see what we can come up with.”
Next morning, Estelle and the boys got up early to get an order ready for delivery to Guadalajara. Tuck said he would go with Harley to the city, so that Kaden and Wolf could stay and help form a plan of action. Estelle wasn’t happy about the suggestion that Wolf take a trip to the Brubaker ranch. He wasn’t due to go back for another week, it might look suspicious if he was to turn up out of the blue.
“I could say I was in the area doing a delivery and dropped by to see Megan, he knows we like each other.”
“It’s too risky, Wolf. That man is capable of anything and he’s losing a lot of support lately. Some of his allies are of the opinion that he has taken things much too far,” said Jake.
“Who else can go, if I don’t? Duke would be recognized in an instant, what with that scar. No offense intended,” said Wolf.
“None taken,” Duke said. “He’s right, though. If we are to find out anything, someone is going to have to go there to suss things out. I know enough about the layout at the clinic to find my way around it, having made a few deliveries there myself - sorry about that, boys. If we need to break in, I’m your man for the job.”
Lloyd had been writing on a notepad. He looked around the table, all eyes were on him.
“Paco, do you think Radar had food poisoning?” he asked.
“I don’t see how. We all ate the same meal. When they told me his appendix had burst, I believed them. Why would they poison him? He was a good worker, better than me and stronger too.”
“Was there anything unusual or different about that meal? Think son. Did you dish out your own food or was it handed to you already on the plate?” Jake asked.
Paco was quiet for a moment as he thought about that last meal with his friend. He remembered there was no water on the table. That was odd and when some of the boys brought it to the attention of the guards they were told to keep quiet or the food would be taken away.
“One of the kitchen staff did come in before we had finished eating and poured water into our beakers from a large jug. But we all got the same water and we gulped it down. That meal was the saltiest food we ever had in all the time I had been there.”
Lloyd and Jake looked at each other. They both turned to Paco. It was Duke who asked the next question.
“Did the person pouring the water pick up each beaker, or did they leave them sit on the table without touching them?”
Paco closed his eyes, picturin
g in his mind the last meal he shared with his friend. When he finally spoke, his voice broke the silence that had filled the room.
“I remember the boy next to me complaining that half his water had slopped onto the table. He was told to lick it up if he was that thirsty. The reason it had spilled was because the person pouring the drinks was standing behind us and his elbow had hit off my shoulder as he was putting the full glass down between us. His hand shook and the water slopped out over the rim.” Paco opened his eyes. “Why is this important, anyway?”
Jake asked him if he was sure about what he had just related. The boy nodded.
“I think, Radar was poisoned. I don’t know why but something could have been slipped into his drink while the water was being poured,” said Jake.
“Radar was obviously wanted for something, I find it hard to believe he would have been picked randomly and taken away without good reason. Did he stand out from the rest of you in any way - stronger, healthier or smarter?” Lloyd asked.
Paco thought carefully about this before answering.
“Radar wasn’t the strongest but he was never sick. If I was to pick something that he was best at, it would have to be the lessons we had every Sunday, whether we wanted them or not.”
Once the facility in Antarctica was legally registered as a training school, the Sunday classes had been introduced. The Lake Chapala Vineyard and Market Garden had similar lessons, except not on the weekend. The boys had learned to read and write and do math to a good standard because of Lloyd’s classes he held two evenings a week.
“Was Radar a bit of a genius, then?” asked Duke.
The boys laughed at that.
“He was always good at numbers,” said Paco, “But not so hot at reading. He could fix anything electronic or electrical - like take it apart and put it back together. As the weeks went by Radar got better at reading and writing. Come to think of it, he used to complain about having more learning to do than the rest of us.”
“If he met with an accident, they would surely have said so. That’s how my brother died,” said Harley.
“Accidents happen all the time at the mine. Why give him a belly ache to fake appendicitis and then pretend he died? That doesn’t make any sense,” Paco said.
Jake Matthews and Duke exchanged glances. Lloyd read their expressions and suggested they take a break and get some fresh air.
“Let’s meet up back here in an hour and we can finalize a plan. In the meantime, think about what we can do to find Megan and how we might get the base in Antarctica to come clean about Radar. Any suggestion, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, will be taken on board,” Lloyd said.
Once Amelia and the boys had left the room, Estelle closed the door and turned to face the men.
“Okay, I know you three have something up your sleeve, so what is it, exactly?” she asked.
“We know that the Brubaker Clinic has been carrying out illegal medical procedures for the past ten years, at least. Possibly longer. We suspect that some of the boys who had allegedly died in Antarctica were used in trials. I think it is quite possible Radar met the same fate as Harley’s brother,” said Jake.
“Look at what they did to Kaden to get a sample of his heart tissue. Henry Brubaker is capable of anything, if he thinks it will further his goals.” Lloyd held out his hand to Estelle as he said this and she sat next to him, visibly upset.
“We have to find Megan and fast,” she said. “I think her grandfather’s mind is going. He might even forget that she is his granddaughter and cause her harm, assuming he knows where she is.”
“Grant would never suspect his own father of having any part in his daughter’s disappearance, so we can’t confide in him or Lydia. Am I right?” Lloyd asked.
The atmosphere in the room was tense as each one nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Doctor Simon Boyd checked the eyes that had been grown from the samples sent from Europe. It was his ambition to be recognized in his own right for all the work he had done on 3D Bio Printing. He knew that his employer, Henry Brubaker, wasn’t interested in glory and that his motives were purely personal. The attention their work had attracted from the leaders of the United Continent of Europe couldn’t have come at a better time. The supporters of the clinic were starting to get cold feet and trying to distance themselves from it. Now that Megan Brubaker had discovered their secret laboratory, it was time to seriously consider the offer from Berlin.
The door opened as Henry entered, asking how long until the eyes were duplicated.
“They are ready now. Shall I put them in their containers?”
“Yes, you do that. I think we may have time for one more transplant, don’t you?” Henry seemed distracted as he spoke.
Doctor Boyd looked with sadness at his ageing hero. They had been trying to perfect one last procedure but had failed repeatedly.
Another attempt couldn’t do any harm, he thought.
“I will prepare the patient right away, sir.”
Megan and the teenage boy had discussed a plan of escape. He told her he had been refusing food in the hope that her grandfather would tell him what was going to happen to him. Each day, a doctor with a strange accent, came and gave him an injection in the arm. He was told it was vitamins and minerals, because of his refusal to eat. The morning of Megan’s arrival his head had been shaved.
“When he comes today, maybe we could jump him, grab his key card and escape,” Megan said.
They both agreed it was better than doing nothing. However, when the door eventually opened two men entered the room, Henry and his assistant, carrying something in their hands. Megan recognized the stun guns straight away, horrified that her grandfather would even think of using one - and on his own granddaughter, at that. The boy dived at the doorway, hoping to push his way through, taking the doctors by surprise. Megan ran with him as soon as she saw him move. Immediately the stun guns touched their necks the teenagers crumpled to the floor, volts flowing through their bodies. Unable to put up any kind of resistance, the young boy was dragged out of the room.
Tears slid down Megan’s face, forming a pool against her cheek, as she lay on the cold floor. Watching helplessly through the glass door, she could see the young teenager being lifted up onto an operating table. A drip was attached to his arm and wires connected him to a monitor. He was strapped onto the table and a metal frame placed around his head. She saw a hypodermic syringe used on various places around his scalp. Next to him was the large glass box with the unconscious woman inside.
A tingling sensation started in Megan’s fingers and toes, working its way up through her limbs. She tried to raise her head but if felt like a boulder. Managing to roll onto her side, facing the door, she wriggled like a snake towards it. Slowly the strength began to flow back into her arms and she pulled herself up into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. Henry Brubaker’s assistant disappeared from view, to return a few seconds later, wheeling a medical trolley. On it sat a small glass case containing something that was pulsating. Megan saw her grandfather carefully lift out a pale pink jelly-like mass, which had wires connecting it to a machine on the trolley. He was standing behind the woman in the glass compartment and as he turned around, Megan gasped when it dawned on her what she was looking at. It was a human brain.
Another trolley with a similar glass box, containing a second quivering mass, was placed beside the constrained teenager. By now, Megan’s legs were strong enough to bear her weight and she was standing, pounding on the door, shouting at her grandfather. It was a futile attempt to get his attention. The glass was several inches thick and the room soundproofed. She could see that the boy was fully conscious but seemed unable to move any part of his body, not a twitch from his feet, nor a tilt of his head but his eyes were open. While her grandfather, who wasn’t quite so visible, seemed to be working on the woman, his assistant was using what looked like a pen to draw on the teenager’s constrained head.
&
nbsp; Turning his back for a moment, Doctor Boyd picked up a small electrical machine which had a cable running from it to somewhere under the operating table. Megan stumbled backwards, terrified by what she saw in his hand. She threw herself once more at the toughened glass, screaming for them to stop. Nobody took any notice of her. There was nothing in the room she could use to throw at the door, the metal bunk had been bolted to the wall. The only other items being a mattress and some bedding. Everything in the tiny, adjoining bathroom was fixed solidly in place.
A calmness swept over Megan, as she realized the hopelessness of the situation. She leaned against the glass, unable to draw her eyes away from the scene being played out before her. Her grandfather seemed to be mimicking the actions of his assistant. They constantly checked the monitors and watched each other’s movements. Lifting the machines, they positioned them over the heads of the two people lying in front of them. Megan automatically placed her hands over her ears, in spite of being in a soundproofed chamber. She was mesmerized by what was taking place. A sudden flash caused her to blink, breaking her hypnotic stare. As it moved over the boy’s head, a polished circular steel blade reflected the overhead light. Megan’s eyes closed as she pressed her back against the cold, tiled wall and slid down to the floor.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The morning sun sent a wave of heat through the windscreen and Wolf looked at his companion, who was lying back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed.
“You asleep, Tuck?” he asked.
“Nope, just thinking about something.”
“You seem to be doing a lot that these days. Would Amelia have anything to do with it?”
Tuck opened his eyes and winced at the bright light. He put on his sunglasses and sat upright, stretching away the stiffness caused by the long journey.
“It’s okay for you, Wolf, on your way to rescue your damsel in distress. She won’t be able to stay out of your arms after this. You don’t have to worry about any competition, do you?”
Finding 02 Finding Megan Page 5