Chapter 11 - The Child Charles Wanted DeadWe split into three cars.
Michael took the hospital.
Petr took the port.
I took Ellie and Mara.
No one argued.
Every route to Northwestern was blocked by police.
Helicopters circled downtown.
The city had become a trap.
Charles Rennick had turned Chicago into a chessboard.
At the hospital entrance, the power went out.
Emergency lights flickered.
Doctors rushed through the halls.
People screamed.
I carried Ellie.
She buried her face against my shoulder.
“Are we going to find my brother?”
“I don't know.”
She nodded.
“Mommy always told me not to lie.”
“I won't.”
We reached the pediatric floor.
Empty.
Too empty.
A nurse lay unconscious beside the elevator.
Mara knelt beside her.
“Alive.”
“Good.”
A sound came from room 17.
I pushed the door open.
A boy lay on the bed.
Maybe seven years old.
The same eyes.
The same dark hair.
Ellie froze.
“That’s him.”
I stepped closer.
The boy opened his eyes.
He looked straight at me.
Then whispered one word.
“Grandfather.”
Mara gasped.
“No.”
The boy started coughing.
I pressed the call button.
Nothing.
The monitors went dark.
A shadow crossed the doorway.
Charles.
He stood there holding a pistol.
“You found him.”
I raised mine.
“Drop it.”
Charles smiled.
“You think you understand what's happening.”
“I'm done listening.”
He glanced at the boy.
“This child is the last piece.”
“What piece?”
“The one your family forgot.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Charles, enough.”
He looked at her.
“You should have stayed dead.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“I tried to protect myself.”
“From a six-year-old?”
“From what she carries.”
I looked at Ellie.
“What does she carry?”
Charles smiled.
“The original trust key.”
Ellie shook her head.
“It's not mine.”
Charles's expression sharpened.
“Yes, it is.”
He took one step forward.
I aimed at his chest.
“You'll have to go through me.”
“No.”
Charles looked at Mara.
“She'll go through you.”
Suddenly the hospital doors exploded.
Michael and his men entered.
Gunfire erupted.
Charles dove behind a wall.
I grabbed the boy from the bed.
Mara took Ellie.
We ran.
Down the stairwell.
Two floors.
Three.
Four.
At the bottom, a steel door blocked our way.
Michael hit it.
Locked.
The boy whispered, “Use the button.”
Ellie pulled one from her pocket.
Blackened brass.
Zero.
Michael stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mommy.”
He shook his head.
“That shouldn't exist.”
“What?”
“The zero button belonged to Gabriel.”
Everyone froze.
I looked at the boy.
“Who is Gabriel?”
The boy hesitated.
Then spoke.
“My father.”
I looked at Ellie.
She stared at him.
“You're my cousin?”
He nodded.
“Where is Gabriel now?”
The boy looked terrified.
“Under the lake.”
The steel door suddenly opened.
A man stood on the other side.
Victor.
My father.
He raised a gun.
Everyone froze.
He looked at me.
“Damon.”
I pointed mine at him.
“You lied about everything.”
“Yes.”
“You hurt my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You stole my memories.”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked at Ellie.
Then at the boy.
“Because they are the last two children.”
“Children of what?”
Victor's voice broke.
“The family line that can end this.”
I stepped forward.
“What did Grandpa build?”
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
Then he said:
“A criminal empire hidden inside the shipping network.”
Charles's footsteps echoed behind us.
Victor looked at me.
“And I was the man who was supposed to destroy it.”
Charles appeared at the end of the hallway.
“You failed.”
Victor turned.
For the first time in thirty years, father and son faced Charles together.
Victor raised his gun.
May you like
“Not yet.”
Then he shot himself.
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