Page 54 of Perfection

He must have made a sound, or perhaps he had remained there long enough for someone to notice, because the next thing he knew, Cal was there.

“Are you all—” Cal faltered, seeming as stunned as York. “How did he get here?”

“My question exactly.” His mind raced to piece together the puzzle and only one possible answer revealed itself. “Damn. My ex.”

“You think Madison put him here?”

“I do. Despite the fact that I explicitly rejected the idea.” York’s heart thrummed in his chest. The desire to rip open the containment unit was unbearable. He fisted his hands to hold them still. Unlike the GEI children, Danny wouldn’t be waking up when a cure for the virus was found. His gut did a queasy flip, and his heart ached.

“I’m going to kill her,” he said through clenched teeth.

Cal clapped a hand on York’s shoulder. “Come on, man. Let’s go. They can handle it from here.”

York looked up and around at the kids yet to be placed in beds. “No. Not yet. I should finish.” He gave his son’s body another hard perusal. His fingers curled over the glass, making a scratching sound.

Dammit, Danny was still gone, no matter if he was frozen.

Cal made a pained face. “Okay. Then I’m heading back to the precinct to follow up on Vi.”

York backed up a couple of steps. “Good idea. See you in a while.”

With a heavy heart, York found another child to help, and he pushed himself on from one pod to the next until every last child was tucked in. Safe from the deadly effects of the virus. At least for now.

No doubt they all had better odds than his Danny.