Chapter 12: The Empty Room
For one impossible second, Michael couldn't move.
The words echoed inside his head.
"Lily and Ethan... have been kidnapped."
"No."
It came out as barely a whisper.
"No."
Then louder.
"NO!"
He was already running before anyone else reacted.
Up the steel staircase.
Through the hidden hatch.
Across the basement.
Ignoring the pain tearing through his wounded shoulder.
Sarah Bennett and Daniel Cross sprinted after him.
The living room was in chaos.
Two officers lay unconscious near the fireplace.
One paramedic was treating a head wound.
The blanket Lily had been wrapped in lay crumpled on the floor.
Ethan's favorite blue sneaker rested near the couch.
Just one.
Michael picked it up with trembling hands.
The tiny shoe still felt warm.
"They were just here..."
Officer Martinez nodded grimly.
"Less than three minutes."
Michael looked around frantically.
"How?"
"We don't know."
"The doors were locked."
"The windows were covered."
"No alarms."
Cross immediately barked orders.
"Seal the perimeter!"
"Every vehicle."
"Every road within five miles."
"Now!"
Agents and officers rushed into action.
Sarah crouched beside the unconscious guard.
"When he wakes up, I want every detail."
The paramedic looked up.
"He won't remember much."
"Why not?"
"Fast-acting sedative."
Cross frowned.
"Injected?"
The medic pointed to a tiny puncture mark behind the officer's ear.
Michael stared.
"They got close enough..."
"...to inject two armed officers..."
"...without anyone noticing?"
Cross's face darkened.
"Professionals."
Then Richard Donovan shouted from the hallway.
"Michael!"
He hurried over.
"You need to see this."
Pinned to the front door with a small silver knife...
Was another note.
Michael ripped it free.
Three lines.
Nothing more.
Stop chasing ghosts.
The girl is collateral.
The boy belongs to us.
Michael crumpled the paper in his fist.
His breathing became ragged.
"Lily..."
Sarah noticed something.
"Wait."
She carefully unfolded the note again.
On the back...
Someone had written a series of numbers by hand.
42.9173
-73.2458
Cross looked once.
His eyes widened.
"Coordinates."
Michael looked at him.
"Where?"
Cross hesitated.
"I know that location."
"What is it?"
He answered quietly.
"An abandoned research facility."
Sarah immediately pulled out her phone.
"It'll take us..."
She stopped.
Her expression changed.
"This isn't possible."
Michael frowned.
"What?"
"The building burned down..."
"...ten years ago."
Just then...
One of the technicians came running from the hidden surveillance room.
"Detective!"
Sarah turned.
"What is it?"
"We found an active hard drive."
"I thought everything had been wiped."
"So did I."
He held up a solid-state drive.
"It was hidden inside the server rack."
Cross immediately connected it to a forensic laptop.
One folder appeared.
LIVE
Michael frowned.
"Open it."
The technician clicked.
A video feed filled the screen.
Everyone froze.
Lily.
She was alive.
She sat tied to a chair inside a dimly lit room.
Terrified.
Crying.
But unharmed.
"Daddy..."
she whispered into the camera.
Michael stepped closer.
"Lily!"
Of course she couldn't hear him.
The recording wasn't interactive.
Or...
Was it?
Suddenly a distorted voice spoke from off-camera.
"Good."
"You're all watching."
Michael's blood ran cold.
The voice continued.
"I promised seventy-two hours."
"I've changed my mind."
A countdown appeared in the corner.
23:59:58
Twenty-four hours.
Not seventy-two.
The distorted voice laughed softly.
"You've made remarkable progress tonight."
"So here's your reward."
A second camera feed appeared beside Lily's.
This one showed Ethan.
He wasn't tied up.
He was asleep.
Connected to medical monitoring equipment.
An IV line entered his arm.
Michael slammed both hands onto the desk.
"What are they doing to him?"
The voice ignored him.
"You now have one day."
"Find us."
"Or choose."
The screen split again.
On the left...
Lily.
On the right...
Ethan.
The voice spoke one final sentence.
"You can only save one."
The video ended.
The screen went black.
The room remained silent for several seconds.
Then Michael quietly said,
"No."
Cross looked at him.
"There isn't time to argue."
Michael shook his head.
"They're lying."
Sarah frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Michael stared at the blank monitor.
"They've manipulated every step."
"They forged documents."
"They planted evidence."
"They watched us for years."
He slowly looked around the room.
"They want us divided."
Cross folded his arms.
"So?"
"So I refuse to believe they suddenly need me to choose."
Sarah considered that.
"It's psychological pressure."
Michael nodded.
"Exactly."
Richard added,
"If he spends the next twenty-four hours deciding..."
"...he won't spend them searching."
Cross gave a slow nod.
"They're buying time."
The technician suddenly gasped.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
He pointed at the frozen image of Lily.
"I enhanced the reflection."
"In what?"
"The window behind her."
He zoomed in.
At first...
Nothing.
Then...
A faint reflection appeared.
A man standing behind the camera.
Not wearing a mask.
Not hiding his face.
Cross's expression changed instantly.
"No..."
Sarah leaned closer.
"You know him?"
Cross whispered the name.
"Dr. Adrian Keller."
The room fell silent.
Michael stared at the screen.
"So he's alive."
Cross nodded once.
"Yes."
"And now..."
May you like
He looked at Ethan's sleeping face on the monitor.
"...he has your son."
