Key Inheritance: A Desperate Plan

CHAPTER THREE: MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS

Chris Terry woke up one morning feeling off. She literally ached everywhere; her head was pounding and her stomach was lurching. It was a struggle just to get out of bed; every time she moved, the room spun around her. All she could think to do was to call for her mother only yelling hurt her throat as well as her head.

“Mom… MOM! Ow…”

The first person to reach her door was her little brother, Tommy who politely but weakly knocked before peeking in. Chris did not need to ask how he was feeling. He was sheet pale with a look of misery on his face. It was not long before their mother, Maria carefully pushed her way into the room with their father, Tom gently leading Tommy back to his own room. Maria was tall and slender but deceptively strong; she pushed a lock of her long blond hair aside revealing her fiery hazel eyes before shaking her head. Chris could do nothing but allow Maria lead her to her bathroom suite. There, Chris instantly threw up into the toilet. Fortunately, she had the sense to move her auburn hair out of the way.

She briefly turned to Maria with tears in her hazel eyes. “What- what is happening me?!”

Maria gently rubbed Chris’ back, soothing her. “I don’t know, sweetie but I think it goes without saying that you and your brother will not be going to school today.”

Chris tried to speak but was interrupted with another bout of throwing up into the toilet followed by a low moan. Maria sighed then turned to see Tom standing at the bedroom door. He was a towering man with muscle to match with short auburn hair and gentle blue eyes. She and Tom were both private detectives who worked closely with the local police and sometimes even with the FBI to solve some of the most baffling crimes.

Tom sighed, seeing Chris bent over the toilet and waved Maria over to him. “This is not an isolated incident. I just caught a report on the emergency channel; a small number of kids from Chris and Tommy’s school are being rushed to the hospital with similar severe symptoms.”

Maria nodded, worry on her face. There was nothing to discuss though their minds were racing. What could it have been and how did it effect their children and other kids? Has it effected the teachers or start effecting the parents? Determined to get some answers, Chris and Tommy were herded into the family car. It was a modified sleek black 1931 Buick Straight Eight. She was an old car but more durable and more powerful than most sport cars of the day. They raced to the hospital at speeds exceeding eighty miles an hour with lights and sirens blaring. On the way, Maria put in an emergency call on his police band radio.

“This is detective Terry enroute to Evergreen City hospital with my son and daughter; both experiencing high fever, nausea, body aches and convulsions! ETA, four minutes!”

An immediate response came. “Roger, detective Terry; enroute, ETA four minutes.”

The emergency room was busy but not more than expected much to Tom and Maria’s relief. Chris and Tommy were seen by a doctor almost immediately. As the hours passed, Tom took stock of the situation; trying to make sense of it. What concerned him was the fact the other kids suffering from similar symptoms were all of Chris and Tommy’s close circle of friends from school. This included their new friends, a fourteen year old exchange student by the name of Sarah Veronica and a sixteen year old teacher’s aide by the name of Felicia Graves. They both started at the school around a year prior. Their parents along with six others started working there as substitute teachers soon after. It was during this time when several teachers mysteriously fell ill at random for days at a time. Before the incidents could be looked into, the school’s guidance counselor was suddenly replaced, citing coming to work while severely ill. Tom did not buy that; someone would have noticed this before the matter became bad enough to require an investigation. He smelled a cover up but he had no proof, not yet. Was it possible that this was the origin of the children’s mysterious illness? It was unlikely, given the regular teachers had returned a month ago. Still, Tom knew not to ignore convenient coincidences.

His thoughts were interrupted by his longtime friend, Dr. Stone who approached them with a look of concern. “Tom, Maria, we are really going to need your detective skills on this one.”

Tom frowned. “What do you have? What happened to these kids?”

Stone sighed, his expression serious. “All of them are showing signs of radiation sickness but no signs of being exposed to it. Two of them came in looking like they could die any minute; we suspect they may be the source and had quarantined.”

Tom was shocked and disturbed. “Which two do you have in quarantine and do you have any ideas as to what might be affecting them all?”

Stone checked his papers. “Felicia Graves and Sarah Veronica are the two in quarantine. Their parents do not seem to be showing any symptoms but we are running some tests, just in case.”

Maria sighed. “We should get ourselves tested as well then, just in case.”

Stone nodded. “After which I hope you will investigate this.”

Tom locked his jaws in decision. “We are investigating this matter now.”

Maria nodded in agreement. “This could be anything so every second counts. But until we figure out what we are dealing with, we will need to keep it on the low to avoid a panic.”

Dr. Stone nodded. “We will do all we can on this end. In the meantime, you have the full cooperation of this hospital.”

Tom and Maria were very good at what they did; it had earned them a lot of respect with many fields of law enforcement. The two were often deputized by local and state officials to give them more room to work in an emergency. This was no exception; one call to the head of the Emergency Response Organization, Mr. Joshua Samson, was all it took. The two were granted emergency police powers while on the case. Police powers were not given to private citizens lightly; there would have to be a real serious emergency to request it. Twelve kids suddenly becoming seriously ill at the same time then all being diagnosed with symptoms of radiation poisoning was a damn good reason to go to the mat with the E.R.O. and sound the silent alarm. Only the two kids who were put into quarantine were actually giving off a radioactive signature, though weak. What made the case even more baffling was that it was unlike any other radiation type the doctors had encountered before. Still, even two kids showing signs of being exposed to radiation was alarming. Especially when no one knows where the radioactive material is, where it came from or who brought it to the small city of Evergreen and why.

However, Joshua seemed concerned about something deeper. “Here is the real problem, Tom. What if we officially sound the alarm and nothing is found? What if we do nothing and it ends up being something worse than we previously feared like a new pandemic? We need to be very careful here.”

Tom grunted. “You know me far better than that, Josh. Everything about this points to something sinister and I smell a cover up. I agree we need take this quietly until we know more of what we are dealing with but I do not call you unless I feel it warrants your attention.”

Joshua was silent for a moment, considering the weight of Tom’s words. “Alright, Tom. I’ll grant you police powers for the time being and see what I can learn from my end. Just make certain to quietly bring the sheriff in on this; the last thing we need is a love tiff over jurisdiction making things worse.”

With that said, Joshua ended the call.

Hours later, once Tom and Maria were clear of any symptoms, they began their investigation. Maria stayed at the hospital to help with damage and information control. This included giving the sheriff a call; they needed to move fast to prevent rumors from spreading before they knew exactly what they were dealing with. They needed to ensure the facts would not be shrouded by fearful talk and speculation. Tom decided to start by giving the former school counselor, Lisa Talbot a call. Once he had her side of the story, he could move on to the children and their parents to hear what they knew or had noticed. There had to be something that linked everything together to the mysterious illness.

The phone call with Ms. Talbot raised more questions as well as a few red flags. Tom introduced himself and briefly explained why he was calling. He had expected her to give some defense to why she came to work sick. Only nothing could have prepared him for her statement.

It seemed to him that she had been waiting for someone to ask. “I was not let go or fired or however you want to word it. I was forced into early retirement.”

Tom grunted, taking some notes from his end of the line. “So you were not reporting to work, ill then?”

Ms. Talbot clicked her tongue. “Oh, I was ill but it was not coming to work ill that sparked my removal. It was the fact I was diagnosed with symptoms that pointed to radiation sickness. I had every intention to sound the alarm but the school board assured me that they would take all the necessary steps. That was the last I heard of it and I can’t get answers from anyone.”

Tom blinked. He had not mentioned radiation sickness to her which confirmed his suspicion of a cover up. “Are you still suffering from these symptoms?”

Ms. Talbot sighed. “No, the symptoms seemed to diminish then vanish about a month later. In fact, I’ve never felt better in my life since which ruins any credibility to my claim.”

Tom then decided to take a chance and fill Ms. Talbot in what he was dealing with. “We have twelve kids at the hospital suffering from the very same symptoms. All of them fell ill at the same time and we have no answers so far. It would really help our investigation if you came to the hospital an tell us everything you know about this matter.”

Tom heard Ms. Talbot gasp over the phone, he could almost hear her tears. “What…?! I will be there by tomorrow morning!”

Moments later, in the ICU, Maria walked into Chris’ room with a teddy bear and a few plastic flowers. She had bought them at the gift shop, hoping it would bring some comfort. “Your father and I are doing all we can to get to the bottom of this, sweetie. How are you holding up?”

Chris coughed before throwing up into a vomit bag. “Other than feeling like I’m being pulled inside out, I’m just great…”

Maria gave a hint of a smile. “I see this hasn’t effected your witty sarcasm. Your father is talking to Tommy right now; he found something interesting.”

That caught Chris’ attention. “What did he find?”

Maria sat down, handing Chris the teddy bear and fake flowers. “It seems the former guidance counselor, Ms. Talbot suffered from the same symptoms four months before they hit you and your friends. She will be here tomorrow to tell us her side of the story; maybe it will give us a few clues.”

Chris gave a small smile. “I never bought the rumors that she was fired for recklessness; coming to work while sick. Find out what she took, I’ll guzzle it down in front of you.”

Maria smiled back. Chris never liked taking medicine; she got it from her father. Hearing her say this, she knew her daughter was feeling miserable. “I’ll make a point to ask her.”

Elsewhere, Tom entered his son’s room to find Tommy looking even more miserable than Chris was when he left her. There were tears in his eyes though he tried not to show them upon noticing his father standing in the doorway. Tom found it bemusing that he was trying to look stronger than he clearly felt. In fact, he looked weaker than all the other kids. Tom guessed his young age played a factor as well as his unusually small frame for a boy. He was hooked up to more wires and tubes than he cared to be but Tom had not heard a single complaint from him. The nurses told him he was very cooperative and more worried about his sister than himself. That made Tom proud; he was raising him right.

He had bought a teddy bear soldier and some plastic flowers from the gift shop to try to break the ice. “At ease, soldier; you’re fighting one hell of a battle as it is.”

Tommy coughed before throwing up into a vomit bag before vainly stifling a moan. “Is Chris okay? Have they learned anything?”

Tom sighed. Tommy’s voice was weak, an octave higher than normal or so it seemed. Still, he was a fighter and Tom knew he was not going to let this beat him if he had anything to say about it. He walked over to the bed, giving Tommy the teddy bear before placing the plastic flowers onto a table before sitting at the bedside. “This is a baffling case, son. Everyone is showing signs of radiation poisoning but there is little to no evidence pointing to where this radiation came from.”

Tommy was thoughtful for a moment. “Sarah and Felicia both seemed out of sorts when they transferred to our school last year; maybe that’s something.”

Tom eyed Tommy curiously. “Out of sorts how?”

Tommy shrugged. “They were jumpy; looking around as if they were expecting to be hit by anyone from anywhere at any time. Chris and I were the first to really approach them. We became friends rather quick.”

Tom grunted. “Interesting. Did they say or do anything that seemed strange or out of the norm?”

Tommy nodded before coughing. “Ciara Blair and her queen bee want to bees decided to try to intimidate Sarah with their usual greet the new student routine like they did to me before finding out you and mom were private detectives.”

Tom cracked a grin. He remembered that day well. Before this, Ciara and her posy were rather physical with those younger and weaker than them. The mere mention of he and his wife opening a full investigation into the assault on two minors was enough to get Ciara’s father involved. Ciara’s father owned the local bank and any bad press was bad for business.

“I take it did not go well.”

Tommy shook his head. “No but there wasn’t any fight. Sarah just gave her a look; one that really scared me. It seemed to scare Ciara and her posy even more.”

Tom raised a single eyebrow. “What of your other new friend?”

Tommy nodded. “Ciara and her friends are scared of her too for the same reason. They both promised us that they have a gentle side but they will not tolerate people who try to bully others out of what they have.”

It was not exactly a hot tip but it was a strong clue. To be able to intimidate a person who uses intimidation with a mere glare said a lot. This was especially true given what he had heard about the substitute teachers from Chris and Tommy over the past year. Their actions and words were borderline strict, almost military in nature. He made it a note to talk to the parents of the two girls in quarantine. He eventually left Tommy after he fell asleep under the effects of medication and made his way to the intensive care unit where he met the parents he was hoping to talk to, Samuel Graves and Viva Veronica.

Samuel gave a patient smile. “Detective Terry; Viva’s daughter and mine are in stable condition but they are still emitting low levels of some… radiation. The doctors will not be pulling them out of quarantine for a while.”

Tom nodded grimly. “My son and daughter, your daughters and many of their friends are suffering from severe symptoms that all point to radiation poisoning. If there is anything you two can tell me that can help us get to the bottom of this, I would appreciate it if you talk to me about it.”

Samuel and Viva turned to each other, a shared look of concern on their face. Tom had done enough interrogations to know that they had some idea of what was going on. The reluctance in their eyes revealed that they were either unwilling to say or too frightened to say. Tom waited patiently for them to speak or make a move but was slightly surprised when Samuel motioned to an unoccupied visitors lounge.

The three took a seat, Samuel’s mind raced. Now was not the time or the place to reveal their hand; there was too much at stake. They had painstakingly watched every student who entered their assigned classrooms, looking for the right recruits. The former guidance counselor, Ms. Lisa Talbot proved to be an obstacle due to her finding a liking to the youngest team members. She had an uncanny ability to detect inner torment in a person’s eyes; they knew it was only a matter of time before she would get through to Sarah and Felicia and they would talk. Giving her the curse and blessing of the genetic enhancements was necessary to remove her from the picture. Jon Smith arranged for her quiet removal and retirement afterword but chastised us for the sloppy work. There was a chance she would not survive the enhancements which would lead to an investigation. Fortunately, she survived but it was an unnecessary risk, one that could potentially come back to haunt them. The teenagers they had chosen were all too perfect. They were all shy, social outcasts with a small, tight circle of friends who were all but invisible to their peers. The only wild card was the fact the parents of Chris and Tommy Terry were both private investigators. It was deemed worth the risk, however and they moved forward.

Samuel decided to instead give Detective Terry a hint which would lead him towards the whole truth but give his team more time to prepare to place all the cards upon the table. “Viva and I like to take road trips, explore off the beaten path. We take our daughters along for the experience.”

Viva’s eyes lit up, seeing where Samuel was going with his explanation. “We stopped at a place called the Stardust Hotel for the night after we experienced some car trouble. Everything in the small town was already closed. We were lucky the hotel had room.”

Tom raised a single eyebrow. The hotel Viva mentioned sounded familiar to him. “The Star Dust Hotel…?”

Samuel nodded. “It was about four months ago, out in the Nevada dessert. The weirdest night we ever had.” He paused. “It’s the only thing we can think of that links everything because I seem to remember seeing you and your wife there that same night.”

Viva sighed before quickly adding, “We tried to get answers from the staff there but they are giving us the run around. They all keep claiming they were not even open the night in question.”

Tom was intrigued. He was also suspicious. Even though Samuel and Viva were just as much victims as he and his wife, something did not fit right. They were not near as hysterical as the other parents who had brought their seriously ill children in. That and their words seemed to be carefully chosen as if they were afraid of saying anything to make them stand out.

Tom had nothing more than a gut feeling at the moment so he gave them the benefit of the doubt but made a note to watch them carefully. “I will talk to my partner and see if we can get some answers on our end. Thank you for your cooperation.”