Into The Light

by Wolfe, H. M.

  CHAPTER 21

  "So," Rayne said, after the first wave of shock, the mentioning of Alastair's name and relation he had with Hayden provoked dissipated a bit, "I take it you are one of the poor rich boys placed in nannies', chauffeurs' and housekeepers' care, because your parents, who are supposed to watch over and love you are too busy for that?"

  "No, not at all," Hayden replied, sensing the irony from the man's voice. "You see, great-uncle Alastair is..."

  ”I know who he is, or rather was, because he retired not long ago, which gives him plenty of time to spend in the company of his young nephews,” Rayne spat. ”But he is how he is, and I bet your brother learned to act the same. After all, with a teacher like that...”

  "My brother is on his way here, most likely worried sick about us. With all due respect, doctor, you don't know them. I am very grateful for you saving Arnett's life, and mine, but that doesn't give you the right to think and speak ill of my family." As he spoke, Hayden's deep blue eyes darkened, becoming almost black.

  In the meantime, Arnett woke up after being sedated by Rayne and was looking around him confused, not realizing what had happened to him. After a while, the kid extended his hand, calling his friend's name. Hayden noticed, and took the hand between his own, rubbing and kissing it.

  All of a sudden, the main door of the little clinic burst open, letting an agitated Daniel inside. He pushed through the crowd of people waiting to be examined, ignoring their protests, and went straight to Rayne's office. Without knocking, he barged inside, as the doctor was examining a pregnant Brazilian woman.

  Instead of waiting, he helped the patient down from the examination table and into her clothes. All the time, he spoke with her in Portuguese, asking questions about the pregnancy and giving a lot of useful advice about how to take care of her and the unborn baby on a tight budget.

  Then, as the woman was leaving, Daniel turned to Rayne, who was half-amused, half-startled by the whole episode. "I take you don't leave until they are all properly examined and diagnosed," he said, gesturing outside. "And also, you are kind of short of medical supplies."

  "Short of medical supplies?! Dude, that is the understatement of the century! That is all I have," Rayne said, opening a heavy, rusty metallic closet and showing its content to Daniel, "and it will all be gone by tomorrow."

  "Wait a bit, I am going to check on someone, and then I'll be back with you," the unexpected visitor said, pulling up his phone.

  Rayne nodded, continuing to examine his patients and to prescribe medication. After

  a while, another guy, a brunette this time, stepped into the office. "Hello, I'm Eugene, Daniel told me that you need help, so here I am."

  "Who told you I need help?" For a second, Rayne looked confused, then realized. "Oh, the weirdo from earlier! Although, if I thought about it better, he wasn't a weirdo after all, if you would be as good as him..."

  "There's only one way to find out how good or not I am," Eugene smirked, "put me to work."

  Rayne took the advice and didn't regret it, especially since, after a few minutes, the other guy, Daniel, also appeared. The newly arrived men, in spite of their city boy appearance, didn't seem disgusted by the sometimes purulent wounds that needed to be cleaned, bandaged, stitched or disinfected or by the unkempt appearance of some of the patients.

  Both men seemed younger than Rayne, Eugene by only one or two years, while Daniel seemed to be in his middle to late twenties. Occasionally, they took a few minutes break, saying that they had to check on something.

  With all the excitement, Rayne forgot, almost totally, about the two teenagers in the emergency room. He scolded himself mentally and left the office, saying that he had to take care of something, much to the two guys' amusement. Entering the room, Rayne let out a sigh of relief, as the boys were cuddled together, safe and sound, asleep.

  Neither of them showed signs of fever or other complications, so the doctor took the chart to note it down. As he was getting ready to do that, Rayne gasped in surprise, because the medical chart had been filled in with two different handwriting. Three, in fact, his included. It didn't take him long to realize that it was the doing of his unexpected helpers, Eugene and Daniel.

  Then, he remembered. Hayden, Alastair Stark's nephew, said his older brother's name was Daniel. So that was it, Rayne thought bitterly, the entire good Samaritan masquerade was that soulless bastard's doing, and that fellow like the excellent nephew he was, carried on the plan. The doctor felt the anger slowly raising inside, but he decided to keep it under control, at least for the time being.

  He stepped out of the room, heading back to the primary office when a giant man about seven feet tall bumped into him. Rayne was getting ready to admonish the guy, but instead, he just stared at the multitude of packages, all of them containing different medical supplies, the giant was carrying.

  ”Hey, doc, where should I put these?” the man whispered-yelled, gesturing with his head to the load he was carrying.

  "In the main office, there's a closet in there where I store them," Rayne finally answered, after staring some more at the mountain in front of him.

  "There's no more room in there, doc, not even if these were all of them, but the other lads are bringing more, so..." the mountain replied in a thick accent voice.

  ”What other lads?” Rayne was the embodiment of confusion, unable to understand what was going on.

  "The Russians, Aristarh and Serghei. Boss' orders", the fellow said, following the doctor to the back of the building, where the storage room was. Of course, with the scarce funds he had, Rayne couldn't afford to buy so many supplies at a time, so it was empty.

  "OK, put them there, and tell the others to do the same," Rayne said, determined to get to the bottom of the whole charade.

  He went into the office and started to examine another patient, spying on the other two men from the corner of his eye. To his surprise, neither of them showed any sign of tiredness or boredom. On the contrary, they both seemed to possess vast reserves of energy and stamina, much to Rayne's admiration and pleasant surprise.

  However, the sensation that everything was a carefully staged act designed to fool him persisted in the corner of the doctor's mind, nagging him. Why didn't Daniel tell him who he was from the beginning? Why didn't he ask, instead of searching for the boys' room by himself?

  Who was Eugene and what role did he play in all this? But above all, where and when had the two of them assimilated the amazing medical knowledge they made use of in examining the patients? With these questions running through his mind, Rayne didn't notice the lobby had emptied.

  "Finally," Eugene groaned, stretching his hands over the head. "My friend, you have all my admiration. I don't know how you keep up with this on a daily basis. I would have called quits by now."

  "Because you are old and rusty, that's why," Daniel playfully retorted, "and because Elliott, who's a decade younger, drains you of all your energy."

  "Well," Rayne answered, watching, amused, the banter between the two friends, "someone has to take care of them, too, you know. Unfortunately, my patients can't afford expensive treatments and visits to well-known specialists. So I don't have a choice."

  "Yes, you are right," Daniel admitted, his voice laced with sadness. "but still...God! My neck and shoulders are stiff, they are in great need, of a massage," he groaned. "What about you, doc? What do you need right now?" he winked.

  ”Superficial bastard, like his great-uncle,” Rayne thought bitterly. But, instead of the acid reply on the tip of his tongue, the doctor heard himself voicing his deepest buried wishes. ”A completely equipped clinic and a good divorce lawyer who could reunite me with my son.”

  Daniel looked straight into his eyes, nodding. "It can be done everything can be taken care of, can't it, Eugene?" he said, turning to the brunette. "Oh, sorry about not introducing myself earlier," he continued, extending his hand. "Daniel Bloom-Van Sloot."

  "Rayne Calhoun." His name was all the doctor s
aid, taking the other man's hand and shaking it only for a second or two.

  Bloom-Van Sloot. The missing kid. He remembered the case very well. It happened some thirteen years earlier, by the time he started working with Conroy and his collaborator, that scary-looking Italian scientist, whose name he forgot all the time. It was around the time he had Gerrard, the only light in his bleak existence.

  Alastair Stark, the man with countless friends in high places and endless resources, must have found the kid, turning him into a cold-hearted, manipulative bastard. A younger version of himself. And now, most likely, Daniel was doing the same with his kid brother. At this thought, Rayne felt a pang in his chest.

  "I'll go and check on Arnett and Hayden," he said. "Thank you, guys, you must go and have a well-deserved rest." The doctor smiled weakly in Eugene's direction, avoiding Daniel.

  ”Um, doc, excuse me, but Aristarh and Mickey already took the boys home,” the raven-haired man spoke. ”I am sorry about not informing you earlier, I was going to, but...” he lowered his head in shame.

  "Of course you didn't inform me, Mister Bloom," Rayne lashed out, "you didn't feel like it. Of course, your brother will be treated by the best doctors in the city, while Arnett...Well, his fate depends very much on how much he means to you. Of how you could use him in the future."

  "Look, Doctor Calhoun, I don't know what you think of me. Someone who has their agenda has filled your head with all these false images of my family and me. Anyway, you will have the chance to see how wrong those persons were if you accept my offer." Daniel's voice seemed sincere, but, without realizing it, he'd made a big mistake.

  Rayne's eyes darkened menacingly, as he fought to keep control over his temper. But the doctor made a decision, and it was too late to back down. "What offer?" he said in a raspy voice.

  "To come and take care of the kids at my house, as their doctor, until they are back on their feet. What do you think?"

  Rayne's jaw dropped on the floor, his eyes wide with surprise, as that offer was what he least expected from someone related to the cold-hearted man who chose a comfortable life over his flesh and blood. A crazy idea went through Rayne's head, making him laugh hysterically on the inside.

  What if this Daniel fellow dared to stand up for himself and Hayden, saying no to his old great-uncle's manipulations and twisted little games? What if he was his own man? Rayne wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to witness the clashes between the two, so he decided to accept the offer.

  "All right, I'm in, but on one condition," he said, giving Daniel a piercing look. "It's, either take it or leave it," he felt the need to add.

  "Good," the other man replied, a mysterious smile on his face. "I agree from the start, but I would like to know what I've agreed to. What is your condition, I mean."

  Rayne nodded. "It seems fair to me. I want honest answers to any question I may ask you. And don't worry, I am not interested in what you and your girlfriend are doing after it gets dark," he said ironically.

  "Husband," Daniel said, his eyes brightening. "I'm a married man, Rayne, and I'm the luckiest guy on earth to have him by my side."

  "Yes, he's a lucky bastard," Eugene also confirmed, then shook his head. "Man, those two are unstoppable in so many ways! Together, they are invincible."

  Hearing the two of them speaking like that, Rayne felt a pang in his chest, wondering if Conroy ever spoke of him in the same way. But, instead of letting his mind wander on that path, he decided to continue the question and answer session. As soon as the three of them got inside the car, he resumed it.

  "There is something I am confused about," Rayne said, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Why didn't Hayden call an ambulance, to take Arnett to a hospital? Or, supposing that he was scared, why didn't you?"

  "To protect the kid," Daniel answered without hesitation. "Calling an ambulance would have landed Arnett in deep trouble, and that is the last thing I want. My kid brother has feelings for him, so..."

  "I don't understand. What kind of trouble would have the boy gotten into if you checked him into a hospital?" Rayne had his theories but also needed to hear Daniel's version.

  "All clinics and hospitals, at least the big ones, have an obligation to report the gunshot wounds to the police so that they could investigate the incident. Last time, Tarquin managed to get Arnett out of that mess, but..."

  "Wait a minute, are you saying, this is not the first time the kid had been shot? When did that happen?" Rayne's mind was in the gutter.

  "About two months earlier. At the time, he lived with Hayden and his mother. Ten armed men attacked the house, killing the poor woman. However, before that, Arnett managed to take seven of them down, suffering multiple severe wounds."

  "That kid killed seven grown-up, armed men?" Rayne was shocked by the implications of Daniel's revelations.

  When he saw how fast the teenager's wounds were healing, he suspected something was not quite right. The doctor had seen this before, many times, as he was the one who discovered the serum by accident. More than that, Rayne had volunteered to test it, and that was why he didn't have any scar left from his C section.

  He couldn't stop wondering how Arnett had become in possession of the serum. Did he ingest it by accident, did someone else administrate it to him? If yes, who and why? However, the thing that troubled Rayne the most was Daniel saying Arnett killed seven armed men. If that was true, the boy was a deadly machine, programmed to fight to his last breath.

  Closing his eyes, the doctor remembered with great clarity how Conroy hid in some corner with that Italian scientist, whispering and casting him sidelong glances. At that time, Rayne didn't give much importance to that, but now everything clicked into place, making him freeze at the realization.

  His professor, the man whose intelligence and desire to serve the science he so naively admired, was a monster, who had subjected his fellow humans to horrific experiments, using his gullible student's discoveries. All along, Rayne suspected, deep down in his soul, that something wasn't right, but he didn't say anything, because he loved Conroy and believed the man loved him back.

  And now, when the ugly truth was right there, there was no one he could turn to. No one he could trust. Even if there was, Rayne couldn't have told anything to anyone. He had to stay quiet, to push everything to the furthest, darkest corner of his mind.

  Doing otherwise would equal turning his back on the only thing that mattered — abandoning his son to a fate worse than death. Knowing Conroy, he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Gerrard to save his skin. Rayne couldn't do that, and he wouldn't allow it.

  CHAPTER 22

  "Now that's strange," Eugene said, frowning while he stared at the screen of his phone. "He's never done that before."

  "Who never did what?" Daniel asked absently, focusing on the road while trying to find answers to some of the questions that nagged him since Hayden messaged him about the incident he and Arnett were involved in.

  "Elliott. He hasn't answered any of my calls or messages. It's not like him, to ignore me, not for so long." Eugene was worried and didn't make efforts to hide it.

  Daniel shrugged. "He may be caught up in some work, turned the phone off and didn't check it. You know how forgetful he can sometimes be, especially when work is involved. He's so much like Tarquin that sometimes I think these two were related, in another lifetime."

  "Who's Tarquin?" Rayne, who had been silent most of the ride, asked. Daniel had mentioned the name once, like the one behind Arnett's release, when he was accused, of killing those assassins.

  "My husband," Daniel answered, glad to divert Eugene's attention from Elliott not answering his calls or messages. He was also worried about the whole thing, suspecting something terrible might have happened. "He works for the FBI," he added proudly.

  "Oh, so he's older than you. I mean, he has to be, if he has a rank high enough so he could pull strings and have the accusations against Arnett dropped," Rayne said, visibly impressed.

  "No, Tarqu
in is four years younger than me," Daniel smiled weakly, "but he is way smarter. And yes, he's a special agent, a hell of a good one."

  An FBI special agent. Rayne gasped in shock, wondering if the man realized that something was not quite right with Arnett. If he ever found out, the kid could land in the government's custody, and it wouldn't be long before everything was exposed.

  Rayne had to admit that Conroy was a genius, after all, because he took the credit for inventing those miracle painkillers and other treatments. All the financially profitable part of their research. There were, of course, the studies on the human genome they had worked together on, that had brought him the much-coveted recognition of the academic world.

  So, when everything was exposed, Rayne would be the only one who would take the fall. Conroy could, and he surely would claim that his former student and ex-husband was the only one in charge of the experiments, that Rayne had thwarted them without his knowledge. He could even invoke this as a reason for divorce, gaining everyone's sympathy and approval.