Chapter 9 - I did not sleep.At 3:00 a.m., I sat in the study and watched the city through the windows.
Below, Chicago continued without me.
Cars.
Streetlights.
People leaving bars.
A train cutting through the dark.
Normal life.
It felt obscene.
At 4:11, Gabriel entered.
He placed a folder in front of me.
“We found the old Saint Orson Hotel.”
“Abandoned?”
“Officially.”
“Unofficially?”
“Owned by Crown Meridian.”
Of course.
I opened the folder.
Blueprints.
Security access.
Basement levels.
A private elevator.
Then something else.
A list of names.
Every name had one date beside it.
Some were crossed out.
Some were still active.
Victor had been running a system for years.
People were not merely employees.
They were assets.
Threats were not merely problems.
They were scheduled.
Gabriel pointed to one name.
“Look.”
My name.
Next to it:
Termination Event: Friday
Tomorrow.
The document had been created three months ago.
The plan had already been scheduled.
The pill was not an improvisation.
It was phase one.
I looked at Sophia's name.
Contingency: Remove.
Elena's name.
Witness: Neutralize.
I closed the folder.
“We go tonight.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“He expects you tomorrow.”
“Exactly.”
“You'll walk into a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because he thinks I am afraid of the trap.”
We prepared quietly.
No police.
No corporate security.
No outside team.
Too many compromised people.
Gabriel chose two men he personally trusted.
We entered the Saint Orson Hotel through the basement.
The building smelled of dust and old wood.
Every hallway was dark.
At the center of the basement was a steel door.
8:12 was written on it.
No other markings.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You first?”
“I own the building.”
“That doesn't mean you should open the door.”
I turned the handle.
Unlocked.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
Every monitor showed a different room in my house.
My bedroom.
My office.
My kitchen.
The red room.
Sophia's bedroom.
Then one screen changed.
It showed me sitting in this room.
From above.
A camera inside the ceiling.
Victor's voice filled the room.
“You're early.”
I looked around.
“Where is Sophia?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
The screen changed.
Sophia was sitting in a small bedroom.
Elena was beside her.
Both alive.
Victor sat opposite them.
“You see?”
I stared.
Then noticed something.
Sophia's hands.
She was drawing.
Always drawing.
She looked directly toward the camera.
Then she lifted the paper.
Three words.
NOT THE ROOM.
I frowned.
Gabriel whispered.
“What does that mean?”
The screen changed.
Victor appeared.
“You came for your daughter.”
“She isn't yours to take.”
“Nothing is yours.”
He smiled.
“You've spent your entire life believing ownership was permanent.”
“Let them go.”
“Give me the chip.”
I took it from my pocket.
Victor laughed.
“The original.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it contains?”
“No.”
“Everything.”
He leaned closer to the camera.
“Evidence.”
“Against you.”
“Against everyone.”
He paused.
“That chip contains the names of men who can destroy governments.”
I said nothing.
“Your wife thought she could use it.”
“She died.”
“Yes.”
“You killed her.”
Victor looked almost bored.
“I didn't.”
“Then who?”
He smiled.
“The same person who killed your family before her.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
Victor leaned back.
“You never wondered why your father died?”
I froze.
Victor smiled.
“You should.”
The screens suddenly went black.
Then a single message appeared.
8:12 IS NOT A TIME.
I stared.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at the monitor.
The message continued.
IT'S A ROOM.
Then the building shook.
An explosion.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Gabriel grabbed me.
“Move!”
We ran.
The hotel groaned around us.
Another explosion.
The corridor filled with smoke.
We reached the stairwell.
The fire doors slammed shut.
Trapped.
Then Gabriel looked at the wall.
A red number.
8:12
He touched it.
The wall opened.
A hidden elevator waited behind it.
I stared.
Victor had built another room.
May you like
Another secret.
And the elevator was already descending.
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