Chapter 7 - THE RINGI tore the ring from my finger.

My hands shook.

“What is inside it?”

Dad didn't answer.

Daniel did.

“A micro-etched storage capsule.”

I stared at him.

“You knew?”

“I found out months ago.”

“And you didn't tell me?”

“They were watching you.”

Samuel shouted:

“Give me the ring!”

Dad raised his gun.

“Back away.”

Samuel laughed.

“You can't stop what's already started.”

“What started?”

“The demolition.”

My heart froze.

“What demolition?”

Samuel looked toward the city.

“The hotel isn't the target.”

My father understood.

“The warehouse.”

Samuel smiled.

“Your family archive is beneath it.”

Dad turned toward me.

“We need to move.”

“But Mason…”

Samuel pointed toward the van.

“Your son comes with us.”

“No.”

“Then you come with him.”

My father nodded.

“Fine.”

Samuel frowned.

“You're surrendering?”

Dad looked at me.

“No.”

He spoke softly.

“I'm buying time.”

Then he threw a flare onto the pavement.

White light exploded.

Smoke swallowed the loading dock.

Gunfire erupted.

Dad grabbed me.

Daniel limped forward.

Three tactical medics stormed the area.

The black van accelerated.

I screamed.

“MASON!”

We chased it.

Dad jumped into the helicopter's support vehicle.

Daniel climbed after us.

I looked at him.

“You're bleeding.”

“Later.”

The vehicle tore through the service road.

Dad called the pilot.

“Track the van.”

A voice answered.

“We have it.”

“Air intercept?”

“Negative. Too many civilians.”

Dad slammed his fist into the dashboard.

“Then shut down the roads.”

I looked at him.

“How do you have this much authority?”

He glanced at me.

“I told you your grandfather's work was bigger than engineering.”

The van disappeared into traffic.

Then my ring began to vibrate.

I froze.

“What?”

Dad looked at it.

“Open it.”

I twisted the inner band.

A tiny panel popped loose.

Inside was a silver chip.

Dad took it.

The chip flashed.

A voice came from the dashboard.

“Authentication accepted.”

I nearly stopped breathing.

A holographic map appeared.

The city.

Then a red point.

The hotel.

A second red point appeared.

My parents' house.

A third.

The airport.

Dad stared.

Samuel had predicted every move.

But then a fourth point appeared.

The hospital.

I whispered:

“There's another location.”

Dad looked at it.

“No.”

“What?”

“That isn't a location.”

“What is it?”

He zoomed in.

A small symbol pulsed beneath Mason's name.

Dad's face drained of color.

“The chip isn't tracking a place.”

“What is it tracking?”

He looked at me.

“It's tracking Mason.”

My skin went cold.

“So Samuel can find him anywhere.”

Dad nodded.

“Unless…”

He stared at the screen.

“What?”

“Unless the signal is coming from somewhere else.”

Daniel suddenly spoke.

“Vanessa.”

We both turned.

“What about her?”

“She had a tracker on Mason.”

Dad looked at him.

“You're sure?”

“I saw her put it into his medical bag.”

My stomach dropped.

The bag.

The red beacon.

The moment I pulled it from beneath the rubble.

It had been the tracker.

I realized what had happened.

The beacon had never just called my father.

It had also told someone exactly where we were.

My father stared at the flashing symbol.

“That's why they found you.”

I felt sick.

“And Vanessa knew.”

Daniel nodded.

“She wanted us alive.”

“Why?”

He looked at me.

“Because she needed you to activate the archive.”

I thought of the key.

The ring.

Mason.

The warehouse.

Suddenly everything connected.

They didn't want to kill my son.

Not yet.

They needed him.

Then my phone rang.

Unknown number.

I answered.

A man's voice whispered:

“Bring the boy to the warehouse.”

I froze.

“Who is this?”

“You have one hour.”

“What happens after one hour?”

A pause.

Then:

“We start with your mother.”

The call ended.

Dad looked at me.

I whispered:

“They have Mom.”

He closed his eyes.

Then he said something I had never heard him say before.

“I'm sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because I built this monster.”

My blood turned cold.

“What did you do?”

He looked at the city.

May you like

My Daughter Drew a Faceless Father for Three Years—Then a Bullet Nearly...

 The Weight of a Diagnosis“How long?”Dr. Elena Maren held Adrian Moretti’s gaze.“Without treatment, I can’t tell you. Years. Month...

**A Man Who Lost His Daughter 28 Years Ago Met a Stranger on a Flight—Th...

For 28 years, he never stopped searching for his missing daughter.Then, on a flight, a young woman beside him fell asleep on his s...

**My Brother Tried to Destroy My Brain to Steal My Promotion—But When I...

My Brother Smashed A Computer Into My Head And Said, “If I Can’t Have Your Job, You Won’t Have A Brain”—Then My Father Helped Him...

“I created the Black Meridian.”

And suddenly the man I had trusted my entire life looked more terrifying than the men who had kidnapped my son.