The Road To Saint Arden
Chapter 05 - The Road To Saint Arden
Saint Arden Neurological Center stood outside the city behind stone walls and pine trees.
It did not appear in ordinary medical directories. Its public website described executive rehabilitation and private memory care. The clinic charged enough to make secrecy resemble luxury.
Emma had visited Thomas under supervision only four times.
Each time, she used the foundation review as cover. Nurse Claire Morgan quietly provided copies of records and arranged the independent tests. Those tests showed Thomas had cognitive injuries but no condition explaining fifteen years of complete isolation.
His memory was fragmented.
His legal identity was not.
Halfway to the clinic, the retired detective noticed the black SUVs.
He left the highway, entered a crowded service area, and switched places with a second vehicle Marcus had arranged. Emma and Julian continued in an ordinary delivery van while the minivan drew the surveillance team north.
Julian sat beside boxes of medical supplies.
His father had once owned a fleet of aircraft.
Now Julian traveled hidden behind disposable gloves to reach him.
Emma squeezed his hand.
At Saint Arden, federal agents waited beyond the main gate with the emergency order. The clinic director stalled. He claimed Thomas Reed had been transferred that morning.
Nurse Claire appeared behind him.
“That’s a lie.”
The director’s face changed.
Claire unlocked a side entrance and led them through a quiet corridor. She explained that Thomas was scheduled for transport at midnight to a facility in another country. The transfer authorization carried Victoria Cross’s signature.
Room 309 was empty.
The bed remained warm.
A wheelchair stood near the window. On the bedside table lay a wooden puzzle shaped like a compass.
Julian picked it up.
One piece was missing.
Nurse Claire opened a drawer and found a note Thomas had hidden beneath the lining. The handwriting was shaky.
If Julian comes, tell him the north piece is with me.
A shout sounded outside.
Agents stopped a medical transport van at the rear gate.
Julian ran.
The van doors opened.
Thomas sat inside, wrists strapped loosely to the chair, gray hair falling across his face. A medic reached toward a syringe before an agent pulled him away.
Julian stopped at the threshold.
The man looked older than the photograph. Smaller. Frightened.
Julian held up the compass puzzle.
Thomas stared.
May you like
Then slowly opened his left hand.
Inside was the missing north piece.
