Grant shook his head then shrugged his shoulders. The two men carried on searching, until the detective returned.
“Come with me, both of you. There’s something you need to see at the clinic. I’ve got permission for us to get inside that chamber. You had better brace yourself for what you are about to be confronted with, Grant.” Jake led the men to a police car that had pulled up outside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The blood drained from Grant’s face when he entered the underground chamber where his daughter had been held. His legs felt like jelly as Lloyd showed him the small room Megan and Radar had shared. The thought of his daughter trapped in the tiny soundproofed cell with its thick glass door sent shivers down his spine.
“Can you come over here for a moment,” Jake was standing beside the unconscious woman and beckoned to the men.
The forensic technician, who was taking samples and recording evidence, stepped aside to let them pass.
“Grant, I want you to look carefully at this lady. Do you recognize her? Have you ever seen her before? Take your time, there’s no rush,” Jake said.
“There is something vaguely familiar about her but I don’t know what it is. Has anyone done a DNA test on her yet?”
The technician cleared his throat before answering Grant’s question.
“Her DNA hasn’t come up with any matches, which is unusual, considering it’s a run of the mill test for everyone nowadays, even for a driving permit. The fact that there are no records in Central Database for her makes me wonder exactly how long she has been down here. Everyone on the continent is on that, certainly anyone born in the last fifteen years or who has a bank account, a pension, who drives, pays utility bills, the list goes on. There’s just no way she could have been conscious this past decade and a half and avoided a DNA test.”
Jake put a hand on Grant’s shoulder.
“Do you mind if this guy takes a DNA sample from you? Lloyd and I have already given one. It helps to identify who has been in here. Hopefully, whoever has Megan will show up too.”
Grant said he would be happy to cooperate in any way possible if it would lead to the safe return of his daughter. The technician took a mouth swab and promised to process it straight away.
“The equipment here is state of the art. It certainly beats any lab I ever worked in. My superiors have decided to leave this lady here. She’s brain dead and no relatives have come forward, even though her face has been all over the internet and media since she was discovered. So I guess there’s no need to disturb her,” the technician said as he looked around the room. “A team of scientists and surgeons are arriving tomorrow to examine her and the organ samples we found. If that will be all, I should get back to work. I have a lot more testing to do before writing up my report.”
“We’ll go now and let you get on with it. Thanks for your time. Please let me know the minute you find anything substantial,” said Jake.
Back at the house Lydia was told what was going on at the clinic. A forensic team was at work searching every inch of the ranch, one more time, as part of the investigation into Megan’s disappearance. She had finally been classed as a missing person. Her grandfather had not been absent long enough to be put on the list but unofficially he was also regarded as being missing.
The boys took it in turns sitting with Radar. Even when he slept one of them was always in the room with him. Apart from changing the dressing on his head, the nurse spent most of the day watching television or on her phone.
Late in the afternoon, Jake received a call from the forensic technician he had spoken to that morning.
“I think you had better get down here, I have a match for our mysterious lady and I don’t think you’re going to believe it.”
“Oh, I think I will, I have had my suspicions about who she is since this morning,” said Jake. “I’m on my way.”
“That was forensics, they want me down there. I think maybe both of you should come, too,” the detective pointed to Grant and Lloyd.
Standing in his father’s secret chamber once more, Grant felt claustrophobic. He was staring at the woman with the blonde hair and soft skin, who looked to be in her early sixties. Peering closer at the familiar outline of her face, he wondered where he might have met her before. Seeing her for the second time, he felt sure she had spoken to him at some point in the past. Grant looked over at Jake, who was deep in conversation with the forensic technician they had met that morning. The detective crossed the room to stand by the unknown woman.
“Grant, you need to prepare yourself for what I’m about to tell you. Your DNA has been matched to three people who have been here. Your father, Megan and this lady.”
“She’s my mother, isn’t she?”
“I’m so sorry. Yes she is. Obviously, your father never switched off her life support. I can’t believe he never told you about this,” said Jake.
Tears streamed down Grant’s face as he moved closer to the mother he had said goodbye to many years before.
“Can I touch her,” he looked at the technician.
The man nodded his head, and walked away giving him some privacy. Jake and Lloyd followed him, to wait in the outer room. The three of them sat there staring at the floor, lost for words.
“You mentioned organ samples this morning, what did you mean by that, are they her organs?” Jake asked, pointing to the chamber.
“Some of them are, the brain in the small glass case has been biologically 3D printed from a tissue sample of her own brain. It looks to me that some kind of transplant was about to be performed here but on the boy. He was the one the duplicate brain was hooked up to,” said the technician.
“Has there ever been a successful brain transplant that you know of?” asked Jake.
“Never, it’s not possible. There has been decades of trials on animals and nobody has ever been able to do it.”
“I bet Henry Brubaker was close and ran out of time. Nothing surprises me about that man. I’m really worried about Megan, I think he has her with him,” Lloyd said.
“Who has Megan with him?” Grant had stepped into the room, his eyes red and his face ashen.
For the first time, Lloyd truly felt sorry for the man standing in front of him. He stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“We were just saying your father and Megan are most likely together.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better, Lloyd? You’ve seen what he’s been doing all these years. It’s barbaric. He’s insane. I was at my mother’s funeral - how could he deceive all of us like that. What is he going to do with Megan if he does have her with him?”
Jake could see that Grant was losing control and panic had begun to set in. He suggested they get back to the house and discuss the situation there, away from clinic. Lloyd put his arm around Grant’s shoulder as he led him to the elevator. Whatever role Megan’s father had played in Kaden’s disappearance was of little consequence at that moment. Lloyd could see the anguish and hurt written all over Grant’s face. Compassion for an old friend was beginning to grow in him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Henry Brubaker watched his granddaughter’s eyes flicker open. Adjusting the flow of the drip connected to her arm, he spoke softly to her. When she struggled to sit up, he gently laid his hand on her shoulder and put a finger to his lips.
“Lie down, sweetie and don’t say anything, they’re listening,” he whispered as he bent down to kiss her forehead.
“Doctor Brubaker, come with me. Your granddaughter will be well cared for in your absence, have no fear.”
Ernst clicked his fingers at someone in the corridor and a nurse stepped inside the room. As he walked through the doorway, Henry looked back and gave a weak smile.
Alone with the woman, Megan attempted to make conversation but there was no response. Then she tried the desperate approach, pleading to be released from the straps holding her down - asking why she was being kept there against her will. She even said she ne
eded to use the bathroom. All she received was a cold stare and a condescending smirk. Megan lay her head back down onto the crisp, white pillow and closed her eyes.
She visualized her parent’s faces, wondering what they were doing at that moment. The thought that they may not even realize she was missing scared her. She hoped they would not believe, for too long, the story her grandfather made up about her going on a trip.
An hour later, Henry was back in the room and the nurse left them alone. Removing the drip from Megan’s arm, he warned her once more that they were being watched. When the straps holding her down were undone, Henry helped his granddaughter sit up as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Pops, what’s going on, why was Radar having brain surgery and who was that woman beside him?”
“Come, sit over here on this sofa, sweetie, it’s more comfortable,” Henry said, sitting on it himself and patting the empty space beside him.
“Are you being held here against your will too, Pops, or is it just me?”
“Let me tell you a story, it will help you to make some sense of what you have seen these past few days. All my life I have had the ability to remain focused and determined on any goals I set myself. I have become a very rich man, not because I intentionally set out to make money but because I reached my goals. At times, I needed to raise funds to carry on my research and I used my resources wisely. This resulted in more wealth but the money was secondary, it was always the goal that was important. Do you know what my goal was when I was a young man?”
“To be a doctor,” Megan said.
Henry went on to explain how losing his parents at a young age made him even more determined to be a good doctor, the best he could be. His love for medicine grew stronger as each year went by and with every person he helped. The pain on the faces of his patients’ families when he had bad news for them was his pain, too. He knew how they felt, having been there himself. It was the reason for opening the clinic in Mexico.
“When your grandmother was injured so badly it brought back all the grief I had suffered at the loss of my parents and multiplied it a hundred times over. She was the love of my life, my strength. Whenever I lost a patient I would come home feeling useless and defeated. Your grandmother would build me up again, reminding me of those I had helped and of how many others I would help in the future. I could not bring myself to let her go. Can you understand that, sweetie? I just couldn’t let her go.”
Henry put his head down and Megan saw teardrops splash onto the floor between his feet. She put her arms around him and shed her own tears for a grandmother she had never known. She felt a deep sigh run through him, then Henry spoke again in a quiet, steady voice.
“Her injuries were all internal, most of her vital organs being damaged by the impact of the car that hit her. Your father accused me of seeking revenge because I used homeless boys as workers in the mine in Antarctica. Did you know that?”
Megan shook her head, “I didn’t know much about the mine until Radar told me but I knew a street kid had stolen the car that killed my grandmother.”
“I never felt I was being vengeful, not until Grant brought it up. I now realise there may be some truth in what he said but it was never my motive. My goal has always been to help others. I was even willing to sacrifice the freedom of your young friend, Kaden, in the process. The lady you mentioned, the one back at the clinic, do you know who she is, Megan?”
“Is she one of the patients that you couldn’t save, Pops?”
“Yes, she is. I have been trying to save her for over thirty years. She is your grandmother, my beautiful sweet Rebecca.”
Horrified, Megan jumped up and ran across the room. Pressing her back against the wall, she tried to get as far away from her grandfather as possible. Henry looked up, surprised by her reaction.
“I shouldn’t expect you to understand, my dear, you haven’t known love that deep, yet. It may be better if you never experience it in the first place - it hurts too much if it is taken away from you. Please don’t look at me like I am some sort of monster, I can’t bear to see that in your eyes. I promise you I am not going to hurt you. Please, sweetheart, come sit beside your old grandpa.”
Megan slid down the wall shaking her head slowly, from side to side. She looked across the room at her grandfather, his hands held out, pleading with her and all she could feel was revulsion. It was too much information in too short a time, impossible for her to process.
Henry went to stand up and Megan put her hands out in front of her, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t see the hurt on his face.
“Don’t come near me, Pops. Please, stay where you are. I can’t be near you right now.”
“I understand, really I do. I think I had better go now and leave you to gather your thoughts. This has been a lot for you to take in, sweetie.”
Walking towards the door, Henry said he would bring back some food, as it had been too long since either of them had eaten.
Megan heard the lock click and opened her eyes. She tried to imagine herself in her grandfather’s shoes, his young wife on life support and the research facility at his clinic helping others. If she was in his position, with the knowledge and equipment he had at his disposal, wouldn’t she do the same thing, she reasoned.
Megan sat on the sofa, in the same spot her grandfather had been sitting on, and closed her eyes once more. She knew he was right about her not knowing how deep his love for her grandmother had been. She tried to think of someone she might feel that way about and Wolf came to mind. Even though they had only just begun to have a relationship, the feelings she experienced when she was with him came back to her.
“If I multiply that a million times, I still don’t think I would do what Pops has done,” she said to herself, sighing.
When Henry returned and Megan smelled the food, she realized how hungry she was. As they ate in silence, she stole glances at her grandfather, who kept his head down, avoiding eye contact. Questions were beginning to race through Megan’s head and in spite of her feelings towards Henry, curiosity got the better of her.
“What were you about to do to Radar?” she asked.
Her grandfather sighed and put down his bowl.
“I guess I owe you an explanation. He was the first healthy specim…I mean, boy, that I used. All the others had been badly injured or sick, with little chance of living a full life, some of them had come from the mine in Antarctica. Others were sick, abandoned individuals. A few of those I even managed to cure and they went on make a good life for themselves. I have been perfecting 3D bio printing for years. It has helped people needing new organs or skin. In fact the procedure has just been approved and can be legally performed now.
The only organ I have not successfully replaced has been the brain. Your grandmother has been brain dead for more than three decades. All her other organs function perfectly well. That young man was about to receive a duplicate of Rebecca’s brain, if it worked on him then I knew it would work on her. Unlike the previous trials, this time we had a healthy, uninjured, intelligent boy to work on. Your grandmother’s organs are all healthy and her body, although older, is in great condition for her age.”
“Will Radar recover from what you did, is he still alive?” asked Megan.
Henry looked up at the camera, aware that their conversation was being monitored.
“It’s not likely my dear. If he is not found soon he will die. Everyone thinks Doctor Boyd and myself are on our way to a medical convention. The staff at the clinic know I have a laboratory but none of them have ever been in there. When they finally realize I am missing they will inform the police and the door will be forced open. That may not happen soon enough to save the boy, though. I’m sorry.”
“If Radar dies you will be guilty of murder. Can you not see that, Pops?”
“I’m already a murderer. I could have saved some of those other boys and I chose not to,” said Henry, devoid of any emotion.
Megan was silent for a f
ew moments, trying to make sense of everything she had just been told. She was unable to relate the man who was speaking to her with the grandfather she had grown up knowing and loving.
“Is she still alive, I mean Grandma?”
“Only because she is hooked up to a machine. Without it she can’t breathe or pump blood around her body or assimilate the nutrients that are fed to her through a drip. The fact is that I should have let her go, way back then and spent more time with your father. In a way, Grant lost both his parents because of that accident.”
Megan suddenly realized what would happen when her grandmother was discovered.
“Poor Dad, he’s going to find out his mother was alive, or kept alive, for all these years and you never told him. He may hate you for that.”
“I can’t blame him if he does. Do you feel the same way, Megan?” Henry looked at his granddaughter with sad, tired eyes.
“I don’t know what I feel towards you but it’s not hatred. I’m very angry with you and disgusted at what you have done. It’s like I never really knew you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Lydia couldn’t take her eyes from the woman she had just been introduced to. She could see the resemblance to Megan and it scared her.
“Oh Grant, what if your father is so deranged he thinks his granddaughter is his wife? If they are together, does that mean she is safe or in danger?”
“I honestly can’t say, Lydia. There is no excuse for what he has been doing all these years. Imprisoning our daughter and lying to us about her disappearance is the last straw. As for this,” Grant pointed to his mother lying in front of them. “There are no words to describe how I feel about this. I no longer consider him my father.”
There was a light knock on the open door and the couple turned to see Jake, standing behind them.
“I hope this room is okay, it was the most private one I could find?” the detective said.
“Thank you for taking care of everything, I really appreciate it,” said Grant, “I couldn’t stand the thought of my mother lying downstairs, in that chamber of horrors.”
Finding 02 Finding Megan Page 9