CHAPTER 10 THE FINAL BROADCAST
Rain fell steadily over the city as night settled in.
Outside the hospital, two police cruisers sat at opposite entrances.
Additional officers patrolled every floor of the maternity wing.
No visitor entered without passing through three separate security checks.
Richard Kane had failed once.
Detective Brooks was determined he would not get a second chance.
Inside Room 417, the atmosphere was calmer than it had been in days.
Owen sat beside my bed reading aloud from a children's book someone had sent us.
He paused every few pages to invent ridiculous voices for the animals.
I laughed so hard my stomach tightened.
"You're going to embarrass our daughter before she's even born."
He grinned.
"I've accepted my destiny."
As if on cue...
Sadie kicked.
Hard.
Owen placed his hand on my belly.
Another kick answered him.
"She's voting in my favor."
"I think she's telling you to stop doing the squirrel voice."
The peaceful moment lasted only seconds.
Detective Brooks hurried into the room.
"We've located Richard Kane."
Owen stood immediately.
"Where?"
"An abandoned television studio on the east side of the city."
"How do you know?"
"He made a mistake."
She placed a tablet on the bed.
The screen showed a livestream countdown.
GOING LIVE IN 00:18:42
Below it, a title flashed across the screen.
THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT MAREN HAYES
My blood turned cold.
"He... he's planning to broadcast?"
Brooks nodded grimly.
"Our cyber unit traced the upload before it went public."
Across town...
The abandoned studio buzzed with activity.
Cameras.
Lights.
Computer monitors.
Everything looked worn, but functional.
Richard Kane stood in the center of the room, watching technicians prepare the broadcast.
He was calm.
Almost cheerful.
One assistant looked nervous.
"The police are getting close."
Richard didn't even look up.
"They're always close."
"What if they find us before we go live?"
"They won't."
He adjusted the knot of his tie.
"They'll arrive exactly when I want them to."
On the largest monitor, a video timeline stretched across the screen.
The opening scene...
Lorraine's edited garage footage.
The second...
Hospital recordings.
The third...
Headlines accusing Maren of drug abuse.
Then the final segment.
A blank space labeled:
ENDING
Richard smiled.
"The audience loves uncertainty."
"But they remember endings forever."
Back at police headquarters...
The tactical team assembled around a digital map of the studio.
Detective Brooks pointed toward the building.
"There are four exits."
"Snipers?"
"No."
"Too many windows."
She looked at the clock.
"We move in eight minutes."
One officer raised a hand.
"What if he's already streaming?"
Brooks answered without hesitation.
"Then we shut him down."
Meanwhile...
The livestream countdown reached five minutes.
Thousands of viewers had already joined.
Comments flooded the screen.
"Can't wait."
"Is she really a drug addict?"
"I saw the garage video."
"This is going to be huge."
Richard watched the numbers climb.
Ten thousand.
Twenty thousand.
Fifty thousand.
He smiled.
"Exactly."
At the hospital...
A nurse suddenly frowned at one of the monitors connected to my bed.
"Dr. Carter?"
The doctor looked up.
"What is it?"
"The baby's heart rate just increased."
Dr. Carter checked the screen.
Sadie's heartbeat remained strong.
But faster than before.
"Stress," she said quietly.
I looked confused.
"I'm just lying here."
Dr. Carter gently squeezed my hand.
"Babies often respond to their mother's emotions."
She looked directly into my eyes.
"You need to stay calm."
I nodded.
I tried.
But somewhere deep inside...
I knew the nightmare wasn't over.
Four minutes.
Three.
Two.
Richard Kane stepped in front of the camera.
The studio lights illuminated his face.
He smiled with the confidence of a television host.
"Good evening."
"My name is Richard Kane."
"Tonight..."
He glanced at the lens.
"...you're finally going to learn the truth."
At that exact moment...
The front doors exploded inward.
"Police!"
"Don't move!"
Flashbang grenades erupted with deafening cracks.
The studio filled with blinding white light.
Officers flooded the building.
People scattered in every direction.
One technician surrendered immediately.
Another dove beneath a desk.
Richard Kane didn't run.
He calmly pressed a single key on his keyboard.
The livestream began.
Millions of phones and computers around the world instantly started playing the broadcast.
Even as officers rushed toward him...
He smiled.
"You were thirty seconds too late."
Detective Brooks tackled him to the floor.
"Cut the stream!"
Cybercrime officers raced toward the control room.
One by one, cables were disconnected.
Servers powered down.
Monitors went black.
After less than a minute...
The broadcast ended.
But not before thousands of viewers had seen the opening footage.
The edited garage video.
The false accusations.
The manipulated narrative.
A young cyber investigator shouted from across the room.
"Detective!"
Brooks hurried over.
"What?"
The investigator stared at the central computer.
"It wasn't just a livestream."
"What do you mean?"
"He scheduled every file..."
He looked up, his face pale.
"...to automatically upload to dozens of websites if he was arrested."
Brooks's stomach dropped.
Richard Kane hadn't built a single broadcast.
He had built a trap.
Arresting him had triggered the release of every fabricated story he had ever created.
The nightmare was no longer confined to one hospital room.
May you like
It had just gone global.
End of Chapter 10
