Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO WASN'T DEADEmergency lights came on.
Mercer was gone.
So was Reyes.
For two terrifying seconds, I couldn't see anything.
Then Bear barked.
I grabbed Lily's hand.
We ran backstage.
A door slammed behind us.
Someone chased us.
“Keep going!” I shouted.
We reached the old costume room.
Locked.
Bear slammed into the door.
Once.
Twice.
It broke.
Inside, another passage waited.
I pulled Lily inside.
“Where does this go?”
“I don't know.”
Then I heard footsteps.
Bear turned.
He knew.
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Lily.”
She froze.
“Dad?”
I closed my eyes.
A figure stepped into the dim light.
Older than the photographs.
Thinner.
A scar across his cheek.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Michael Carter.
Lily screamed.
“Daddy!”
She ran.
I grabbed her before she could reach him.
The man stopped.
“Sarah, please.”
I stared.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you let her believe you were dead?”
His expression broke.
“Because if they knew I survived, they'd use her to get to me.”
Lily was crying.
“I knew it was you.”
Michael knelt.
“You did.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
He looked at Bear.
Atlas walked to him.
Michael placed a hand against the dog's head.
For the first time, Bear looked peaceful.
Reyes appeared behind us.
His weapon was raised.
Michael immediately stepped back.
“Don't.”
Reyes's eyes narrowed.
“You're Michael Carter.”
“Yes.”
“You were declared dead.”
“Yes.”
“You knew your daughter was being targeted.”
“Yes.”
“And you left her at a school where the people hunting you had access?”
Michael looked at me.
“I thought the school was secure.”
I stared at him.
“It wasn't.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Because the person I trusted to protect it betrayed me.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the tunnel.
“Mercer is only the middleman.”
“Then who?”
Michael hesitated.
“Someone you already know.”
Before I could ask, a phone began ringing.
Michael looked terrified.
“Don't answer that.”
Reyes reached for it.
The phone stopped.
Then Lily spoke.
“I know who it is.”
We looked at her.
“The lady who gives me stickers.”
Mrs. Holloway.
The principal.
Reyes's face hardened.
“That doesn't prove anything.”
Michael shook his head.
“It does.”
He pulled out a file.
Inside were photographs.
Mrs. Holloway.
Thomas Hale.
Mercer.
And several other school administrators.
Dates going back years.
Michael whispered:
“Holloway recruited the staff.”
My pulse raced.
“No.”
“She chose the schools.”
“But why?”
Michael looked at Lily.
“Because she wasn't looking for children.”
He looked at me.
“She was looking for leverage.”
A gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
Michael spun.
“Down!”
We hit the floor.
Another shot.
Then a third.
Bear charged into the darkness.
Michael shouted:
“No!”
But the dog disappeared.
I heard growling.
A struggle.
Then silence.
Lily started crying.
“Bear!”
We followed.
The tunnel opened into an underground parking structure.
A black SUV waited.
The rear door was open.
Bear lay on the concrete.
Blood spread beneath him.
I screamed.
“Bear!”
Lily ran.
Michael grabbed her.
But a figure stepped from behind the SUV.
Mrs. Holloway.
She held a gun.
Her face was calm.
Almost sad.
“You should have listened to the dog,” she said.
Then she looked at Lily.
May you like
“You were never supposed to find your father.”
And before anyone could move, she pressed the gun against Lily's head.
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