Part 3Biohazard: The Christmas Betrayal

The motion stopped instantly.

Through the gaps in the crowd, I saw a squad of uniformed officers swarming the lobby.

The lead officer held up his badge. "We received a call about a riot in progress."

He looked at me—hair messed up, cheek swelling, uniform torn. "Did you call 911, ma'am?"

I coughed, pulling myself up. "I did."

Mark’s face paled for a fraction of a second before he switched tactics. He pointed a shaking finger at me.

"Officer! You have to arrest her! She committed an act of bio-terrorism! She caused a massive virus leak due to negligence and killed everyone in that wing!"

"She's a murderer! She has the audacity to call the police? Take her away!"

I knew Mark’s game. He wanted the police to arrest me, remove me from the building, and officially charge me. Once I was in the system as the suspect, the narrative would be set.

I took a deep breath. "They are framing me. I didn't kill anyone."

Mark got in my face. "How dare you lie to the police!" He turned to the officer, putting on his best grieving hero act. "Officer, she sabotaged the lab to hide her incompetence. Dozens are dead. My colleagues..."

The crowd surged again.

"Arrest her!"

"Justice for our families!"

"She's a devil!"

The officer looked disturbed. "Is this true? Are there casualties?"

"Yes!" Mark shouted. "It's a massacre! Check the logs! Only she went in!"

Chloe chimed in, "Officer, please, just take her. She needs to pay."

The officer reached for his handcuffs. "Ma'am, given the severity of the accusation, we need to bring you in for questioning."

I clenched my fists. "I said, I didn't hurt anyone."

I turned to the elderly woman who had grabbed me earlier. "Ma'am, your son is David, right? David Liu?"

She nodded, tears streaming down her face.

I pulled out my phone. "Officer, before you cuff me, let me make one call."

Mark laughed nervously. "Stalling? The virus kills in hours. David is probably already dead or in a coma. He can't answer!"

I tapped the screen. Video call.

Ring... Ring...

Click.

David’s face filled the screen. He was smiling, holding a sandwich. Behind him, people were laughing and walking around.

"Hey, Director Sarah! What's up?"

The lobby went silent.

"David," I said calmly. "Where are you right now?"

He looked confused. "Uh, we're at the Annex. You told us the main lab was undergoing maintenance this morning, remember? So the whole night shift crew came over here to do inventory on the mice. We just finished up."

The background was clearly the Annex building—miles away from the "contaminated" lab.