A buzzing overhead caught his attention. It was a drone. Not one, but three of them.
A computerized voice called through the fog.
“Dr. Samuel Anderson, please step away from the others.”
Sam glanced around the cemetery. What was happening here?
“Dr. Samuel Anderson, this is your second warning. Step away and put your hands on your head.”
“What?” Sam called out.
Adeline looked up. “Dad, what’s going on?”
The three drones were hovering above them now. The computerized voice called again.
“Adeline Anderson, step away and put your hands on your head.”
Sam realized the suited figures he had seen earlier were surrounding them now. There were seven in all, wearing Absolom City Police uniforms, standing with their hands on their belts within easy reach of the handcuffs and stun batons hanging there.
The drone called again.
“Dr. Samuel Anderson, this is your final warning. You have five seconds to separate yourself from the others and place your hands on your head.”
“Dad…” Adeline’s voice was ragged and panicked.
“It’s okay,” he whispered as he turned and scanned the police officers, searching for the person in charge to address.
“I’d like to talk to—”
The sharp pain in his neck was like a bee sting. He reached up and felt a circular piece of metal the size of a coin dug into his skin. He was trying to pry it loose when his vision blurred. His legs went weak, and he fell headfirst into the soft grass.
The last thing Sam saw before the darkness swallowed him was the engraved letters on his wife’s headstone.
TWO
When he came to, Sam was lying in a hospital bed. His arms and legs were strapped down. A machine to his left showed his vitals, the charts and numbers updating in real time.
Sensors were adhered to his chest and forehead. He felt a slight pinch on his right hand. He looked down and found an IV snaking away, a clear tube with a piece of tape over it.
Beside him, a nurse sat on a metal chair, dressed in blue scrubs, reading a digital paper. He looked up and tapped a button on his chest.
“Timestamp. Subject is awake and appears alert.”
Sam felt like his mouth was full of sawdust. He fought through it, forcing the words out. “Where am I?”
“Post-arrest medical observation at Absolom City Police, Central Station.”
“Why?”
Before the nurse could answer, the door opened, and a man and a woman walked in, both dressed in suits, gold and silver police badges clipped at their waists.
“Dr. Anderson,” the woman said. “I’m Detective Billings. This is my partner, Detective Holloway. How do you feel?”
“Very confused. Not very happy.”
Billings made no reaction. “You were issued three requests to comply, which you refused. You were subsequently restrained in accordance with the standardized arrest protocol, which protects law enforcement personnel and ensures all subjects of arrests are treated uniformly, regardless of—”
“Why am I here?”
“Dr. Anderson, you’re under arrest for the murder of Dr. Nora Thomas.”
Out of his peripheral vision, Sam saw his pulse number on the machine skyrocket. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came.
Billings held up her arm and tapped a smartwatch. A woman’s voice spoke loudly.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights that have just been read to you?”
Sam lay there, still in shock.
“Dr. Anderson?” Billings asked.
Nora was dead.
That was Sam’s first thought.
How? was his second thought.
She had been murdered.
It was impossible. Who would murder Nora? Someone protesting Absolom? If so, were the other Absolom scientists in danger? Company personnel? His family?
“Dr. Anderson?”
His gaze drifted back to the woman.
“Do you understand the rights that have been read to you?”
“Yes,” he muttered.
“With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”
“You better believe I want to speak with you. I want some answers.”
“So do we, doctor. We’re just here to find the truth.”
“How…” Sam began, but his mind spun, unable to form a question. A million of them fought a war in his brain, none emerging on top.
Billings reached inside her jacket and took out an e-ink tablet slightly bigger than her hand.