"Phoebe..." Dexter''s voice carried an edge of desperation, the sting of mistrust tasted all too familiar


    now. "Why can''t you just trust me once? Caleb is dangerous, and you should be running the other


    way, not... not falling for him. He''s deceiving you, ying on the fact that you''ve forgotten your past.


    Dr. Damian told me that Caleb is a psychopath; hecks empathy, incapable of love. His mind, his


    vision, it''s all consumed by obsession—not a soul in sight."


    I tuned Dexter out. He was relentless in his bad-mouthing of Colin.


    "Foebe?" As I stepped into the hospital, Robin caught sight of me. "What happened? Are you hurt?"


    I shook my head, pointing a thumb at Dexter. "Him."


    A nurse approached to assess Dexter''s injuries and ushered him off to the treatment room.


    I whispered, "Henry''s men."


    Robin nodded in understanding. "Stay inside if you can."


    "Why are you here?"


    "There''s been another incident," Robin murmured, ncing around. "Came to check it out. The


    victim''s still hanging on, fighting for his life. The assant was sloppy, panicked—didn''t make sure


    the target was dead before dashing off, scattering spices to cover the track."


    I nodded in acknowledgment. "So if the victim wakes up, he could ID the attacker?"


    "We have already got surveince footage of the suspect, they''re moving in to arrest. I suspect


    there''s a puppet master behind all this. If the victim survives, he might just flush out the


    mastermind." Robin spoke softly. "Look."


    He shared his findings with me. "This person, another parent searching for his child, an eighteen-


    year-old gone for three years."


    I paused, looking at Robin. "Themon thread... the killers are parents driven to the brink by the


    loss of their children."


    Victim and killer were one and the same.


    "Did their kids all go missing at the same time?" I wondered aloud, suspecting these


    disappearances were connected to the shadowy figure behind it all.


    "Not at the same time, but there is amonality—the missing kids all had... issues," Robin tapped


    his temple.


    "Mentally challenged, or...?" I gasped.


    "Asperger''s syndrome," Robin checked our surroundings. "The so-called ''genius disease.'' They say


    these kids are touched by God, either geniuses or the opposite."


    Both extremes.


    I took a deep breath, facing Robin. "Asperger''s syndrome..."


    Suddenly, my head pounded as if it would explode.


    The missing children, all diagnosed with Asperger''s syndrome.


    In my parents'' journals, it was written that I too was a ''problem'' child diagnosed with Asperger''s.


    But that didn''t make sense. Aside from being a bit of a loner, I was neither a genius nor mentally


    challenged.


    I felt utterly ordinary, as in as theye.


    "Colin and Carter were alsobeled with this ''genius disease.''" Robin sat back, his toneced with


    resignation. "These geniuses are not like us. They''re lonely, misunderstood, yet they shine with


    extraordinary gifts in fields like art, math, finance, chemistry, physics..."


    Têxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    A chill crept over me, and a terrifying thought whispered through my mind.


    Was it possible that someone was exploiting these so-called child prodigies?


    What if there was an even darker conspiracy at y?


    "What business was thetest victim involved in?" I asked quietly.


    "Overseas stuff, supposedly in health supplements," Robin scoffed. "More like the head of a


    pyramid scheme, if you ask me."