Chapter 9 - The room shook.Dust fell from the ceiling.
Jax barked once.
Maya grabbed Evan.
“Not the elevator.”
I looked at her.
“What elevator?”
She pointed toward the wall.
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it was a freight elevator.
Voss had disappeared.
The countdown continued.
08:14
I scanned the room.
“Sarah, find another exit.”
She ran toward the computers.
I stayed with the children.
Maya looked at me.
“You really don't remember?”
“No.”
“You promised.”
“What did I promise?”
“That you'd come back.”
I crouched.
“When?”
“After the fire.”
“What fire?”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“The first hospital.”
My stomach tightened.
“What first hospital?”
“St. Luke's.”
I looked at the yellow band around Evan's ankle.
Maya continued.
“They moved us after the fire.”
“What fire?”
“The fire that killed the doctors.”
“What doctors?”
She whispered:
“Doctors who tried to tell the truth.”
I felt a chill.
This was bigger than kidnapping.
A network built across hospitals.
Missing children.
Fake records.
Doctors erased.
And somehow my father had been involved.
The countdown hit seven minutes.
Sarah shouted.
“I found something!”
I moved toward her.
She had opened a secure directory.
The files were encrypted.
She showed me a list of names.
Police.
Doctors.
Judges.
Hospital administrators.
Politicians.
People in different states.
All connected.
Then I saw one name.
My father's.
THOMAS REED
Status:
ASSET TERMINATED
I couldn't look away.
Beneath his name was another.
JONATHAN REED
Status:
ACTIVE
I froze.
Sarah looked at me.
“This isn't a case file.”
“No.”
“It's a personnel list.”
“Exactly.”
A sound came from the elevator.
Someone was coming down.
Jax moved.
The doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Dark suit.
Gray hair.
Badge.
I knew him.
Captain Daniel Mercer.
My commanding officer.
He smiled.
“Jonathan.”
I raised my weapon.
“Step away from the children.”
He sighed.
“You've made this unnecessarily complicated.”
“You're working with Voss.”
“No.”
He looked at Jax.
“I'm working with your father.”
Silence.
“My father is dead.”
“That's what you were told.”
Captain Mercer pressed a remote.
The main screen changed.
A live camera feed appeared.
A room.
A man seated in a chair.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
My heart stopped.
My father.
Alive.
Mercer smiled.
“Your father has been waiting nine years for you.”
I couldn't speak.
On the screen, the man slowly lifted his head.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he spoke.
“Jonathan.”
My knees nearly gave out.
He was alive.
And before the feed cut, he said four words:
“Don't trust the dog.”
Jax slowly turned toward me.
May you like
The countdown hit zero.
And the entire room went dark.
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