Read Online The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) by Matthew Sullivan - Free Book Online
Authors: Matthew Sullivan
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originally sought, but it would be enough to force a mistrial, and that was much better than the alternative. “Run it,” Charlie repeated.
“You realize that the odds of both of your parents having heart attacks simultaneously are slimmer than winning the Powerball five times in a row, right?”
“I’m counting on that.” Charlie said as his eyes stayed fixed on the positive test strip and his thumb began flipping the pages of his pocketed Moleskine.
“They would’ve had to have been drugged. But if they were, it would have shown up in the toxicology.”
Charlie didn’t even bother responding. He just kept staring at the strip, focusing every ounce of energy in his body in an attempt to will the strip back to its original white.
Dr. Huang sighed. He knew this was just another losing battle. Plus, as much as he wanted to get home, there was a part of him that was just as curious as Charlie. “All right, all right,” he said.
Dr. Huang readied a new vial, and then added the test strip and a few drops of Mary’s blood. A couple shakes and it was good to go. They both watched the vial with bated breath.
A minute—which felt more like an hour—passed, and nothing had changed. And then, in a flash, the strip turned from its porcelain white to the same dark maroon as the other strip.
“I’ll. Be. Damned,” Dr. Huang said, not believing his eyes. “You know what this means?”
Charlie knew what it meant for him. It meant that the jury had spoken. It meant that he had to accept that Walter was right. It meant that his parents and Walter had been murdered. And it meant that Terry Heins was responsible for it all.
Even though Dr. Huang didn’t have the same information as Charlie, he had enough to know that foul play was involved. When Charlie didn’t respond, Dr. Huang answered his own question. “It means I need to run more tests and find out how they were drugged. I need to change my report and open their file back up. I also need to notify the lead officer working the case.”
“No!” Charlie blurted out. “You can’t.”
“What?” Dr. Huang said, taken aback by Charlie’s extreme reluctance. “I don’t understand. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“No. It isn’t. None of this is what I wanted. In fact, I wanted the exact opposite. I just wanted to be sure that it was a regular accident. That’s all.”
“Well, it wasn’t. And whoever’s responsible for this needs to be found. They need to be held accountable.”
“I already know who’s responsible for their deaths.”
“You do?” Dr. Huang said, his eyes fluttering from the shock of Charlie’s admission. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“Because I didn’t wanna believe it was true.”
“Who killed your parents?”
“It’s better for you if you don’t know. The person behind their deaths is incredibly powerful. All you need to know is that if you change your report, the only thing you’ll accomplish is putting the both of us at risk.”
Everything Charlie had just said sounded completely crazy to the medical examiner, but then again, so was everything that had led up to that moment. “I don’t know,” Dr. Huang said.
“Please,” Charlie begged. “You gotta trust me on this.”
Dr. Huang was still not quite ready to yield to Charlie’s demands. “We need to do something.”
“I know,” Charlie said. He knew they—or more important, he—needed to do something, he just didn’t know what. And then he remembered the pdf contract on the thumb drive. “Just let me handle that. At least give me a little time to see what else I can find out. To get more evidence.”
Dr. Huang considered Charlie’s proposal. It went against every code that he had sworn to uphold, but Charlie was both determined and persuasive. “Fine,” Dr. Huang said, relenting once more. “I’ll give you two weeks. But after that, I’m reopening the file and you’re giving me the name of who you think was behind
“You realize that the odds of both of your parents having heart attacks simultaneously are slimmer than winning the Powerball five times in a row, right?”
“I’m counting on that.” Charlie said as his eyes stayed fixed on the positive test strip and his thumb began flipping the pages of his pocketed Moleskine.
“They would’ve had to have been drugged. But if they were, it would have shown up in the toxicology.”
Charlie didn’t even bother responding. He just kept staring at the strip, focusing every ounce of energy in his body in an attempt to will the strip back to its original white.
Dr. Huang sighed. He knew this was just another losing battle. Plus, as much as he wanted to get home, there was a part of him that was just as curious as Charlie. “All right, all right,” he said.
Dr. Huang readied a new vial, and then added the test strip and a few drops of Mary’s blood. A couple shakes and it was good to go. They both watched the vial with bated breath.
A minute—which felt more like an hour—passed, and nothing had changed. And then, in a flash, the strip turned from its porcelain white to the same dark maroon as the other strip.
“I’ll. Be. Damned,” Dr. Huang said, not believing his eyes. “You know what this means?”
Charlie knew what it meant for him. It meant that the jury had spoken. It meant that he had to accept that Walter was right. It meant that his parents and Walter had been murdered. And it meant that Terry Heins was responsible for it all.
Even though Dr. Huang didn’t have the same information as Charlie, he had enough to know that foul play was involved. When Charlie didn’t respond, Dr. Huang answered his own question. “It means I need to run more tests and find out how they were drugged. I need to change my report and open their file back up. I also need to notify the lead officer working the case.”
“No!” Charlie blurted out. “You can’t.”
“What?” Dr. Huang said, taken aback by Charlie’s extreme reluctance. “I don’t understand. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“No. It isn’t. None of this is what I wanted. In fact, I wanted the exact opposite. I just wanted to be sure that it was a regular accident. That’s all.”
“Well, it wasn’t. And whoever’s responsible for this needs to be found. They need to be held accountable.”
“I already know who’s responsible for their deaths.”
“You do?” Dr. Huang said, his eyes fluttering from the shock of Charlie’s admission. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“Because I didn’t wanna believe it was true.”
“Who killed your parents?”
“It’s better for you if you don’t know. The person behind their deaths is incredibly powerful. All you need to know is that if you change your report, the only thing you’ll accomplish is putting the both of us at risk.”
Everything Charlie had just said sounded completely crazy to the medical examiner, but then again, so was everything that had led up to that moment. “I don’t know,” Dr. Huang said.
“Please,” Charlie begged. “You gotta trust me on this.”
Dr. Huang was still not quite ready to yield to Charlie’s demands. “We need to do something.”
“I know,” Charlie said. He knew they—or more important, he—needed to do something, he just didn’t know what. And then he remembered the pdf contract on the thumb drive. “Just let me handle that. At least give me a little time to see what else I can find out. To get more evidence.”
Dr. Huang considered Charlie’s proposal. It went against every code that he had sworn to uphold, but Charlie was both determined and persuasive. “Fine,” Dr. Huang said, relenting once more. “I’ll give you two weeks. But after that, I’m reopening the file and you’re giving me the name of who you think was behind
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