We found the nurse's locker empty.<\/p>\n
Her name was Elena Ward.<\/p>\n
She had worked at the rehabilitation center for four years.<\/p>\n
According to the administrator, she had never been disciplined.<\/p>\n
No complaints.<\/p>\n
No suspicious absences.<\/p>\n
No financial problems.<\/p>\n
No reason anyone could immediately identify.<\/p>\n
Yet she had been standing beside my father's room while he was taken.<\/p>\n
And she had lied to me.<\/p>\n
I stood in the locker room while Viktor searched the small metal compartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I looked inside.<\/p>\n
A folded uniform.<\/p>\n
A pair of shoes.<\/p>\n
A photograph.<\/p>\n
I picked up the photograph.<\/p>\n
It showed Elena standing beside a young man.<\/p>\n
The man was smiling.<\/p>\n
I didn't recognize him.<\/p>\n
Viktor did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's Markus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour former partner?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe isn't dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened three months ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkus disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
There was writing on the back.<\/p>\n
A date.<\/p>\n
And a location.<\/p>\n
I recognized the location immediately.<\/p>\n
The warehouse from my father's photographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're going there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that's where they want us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is where they want us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is exactly why we need to stop moving according to their plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to argue.<\/p>\n
Then the administrator entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice have arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey aren't looking for the people who took your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're looking for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
The administrator handed him a document.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone filed a complaint alleging that Ms. Keller accessed restricted medical records.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never accessed anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would they say that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they want you arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor read the document.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is fabricated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably?\u201d<\/p>\n
The administrator looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
We did.<\/p>\n
The police were already entering through the front doors.<\/p>\n
Viktor pulled me into a side corridor.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have your passport?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we're leaving the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father is still here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can't find him if you're in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won't be arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they want me arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen help me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He studied me.<\/p>\n
Finally, he nodded.<\/p>\n
We left through the loading entrance.<\/p>\n
His driver wasn't there.<\/p>\n
Viktor checked his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
We walked three blocks before stopping at a small caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
I sat in the corner with my back against the wall.<\/p>\n
Viktor ordered coffee.<\/p>\n
Neither of us drank it.<\/p>\n
I opened the photographs from my father's case on my phone.<\/p>\n
One by one, I examined them.<\/p>\n
Warehouse.<\/p>\n
Conference.<\/p>\n
Shipping containers.<\/p>\n
Equipment crates.<\/p>\n
Then I saw something I had missed before.<\/p>\n
A number printed on one crate.<\/p>\n
I zoomed in.<\/p>\n
Viktor leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shipment number.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou recognize it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cViktor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt belonged to a project that officially never existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the project was cancelled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same year as my conference photograph.<\/p>\n
I felt a chill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that connected?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the photograph again.<\/p>\n
The blurred man standing beside me was holding a folder.<\/p>\n
I zoomed in.<\/p>\n
A corner of the folder carried the same symbol as the black case.<\/p>\n
Viktor saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat symbol belonged to a private research program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedical?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means they were developing rehabilitation systems for people with severe neurological injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of my father.<\/p>\n
His accident.<\/p>\n
His medical knowledge.<\/p>\n
His work.<\/p>\n
Then another thought struck me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if my father wasn't investigating them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if he helped them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor didn't answer.<\/p>\n
I remembered the words in the notebook.<\/p>\n
ANNA KNOWS NOTHING.<\/p>\n
Not Anna is innocent.<\/p>\n
Not Anna must be protected.<\/p>\n
Anna knows nothing.<\/p>\n
There was a difference.<\/p>\n
My father hadn't written that because he thought I was uninvolved.<\/p>\n
He had written it because he knew I was involved without knowing it.<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they do at that conference?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tested something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA translation protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't sound dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone discovered that the translated documents were being altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAltered how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain instructions were changed between languages.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began to pound.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstructions for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTreatment protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean patients could have received the wrong treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my father found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why was my photograph used?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor was silent.<\/p>\n
I answered my own question.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I translated the documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I didn't know they were altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone used my work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pieces were beginning to connect.<\/p>\n
My father's investigation.<\/p>\n
The conference.<\/p>\n
The altered documents.<\/p>\n
The photograph.<\/p>\n
The company.<\/p>\n
The people following us.<\/p>\n
But one piece still didn't fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would they need me now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the system is being restarted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat system?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same one.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his phone.<\/p>\n
A secure message had arrived.<\/p>\n
He read it.<\/p>\n
Then he turned the screen toward me.<\/p>\n
A photograph.<\/p>\n
A laboratory.<\/p>\n
Several computers.<\/p>\n
And a date.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor's face had gone pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder my company headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said your office was compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen someone is using your company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo restart the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my father knows how to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen that's where we're going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at his hand.<\/p>\n
He released me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy former partner isn't working against the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's running it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The caf\u00e9 suddenly seemed unbearably quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're saying Markus is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he took my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Elena works for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would Markus leave the photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he wanted us to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
This time there was no photograph.<\/p>\n
Only a sentence.<\/p>\n
ASK VIKTOR WHO WAS IN THE SECOND SURVIVOR FILE.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's the second survivor file?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor's face went completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means I absolutely do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Then whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
We found the nurse's locker empty. Her name was Elena Ward. She had worked at the rehabilitation center for four years. According to the administrator, she had never been disciplined. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5564,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5552\/revisions\/5564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}