Chapter 17 - Three NamesAdrian looked at the three people around him.
Graham.
Lucas.
Sophia.
The voice repeated:
“One dies.”
Sophia whispered:
“Choose me.”
Adrian immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“Take me.”
Graham laughed.
“Very noble.”
Lucas looked at him.
“You're not helping.”
The voice returned.
“You have sixty seconds.”
A countdown appeared on the warehouse wall.
Adrian stared at Emma.
She was standing behind glass.
She wasn't crying.
Instead, she was looking directly at him.
Then she mouthed something.
The song.
Adrian's eyes widened.
She began tapping her fingers.
One.
Two.
Three.
Sophia understood first.
“She isn't telling us to choose.”
Adrian looked at her.
“She’s giving us numbers.”
Graham stepped closer.
“What numbers?”
“Five.”
Emma tapped again.
“Four.”
Then:
“One.”
Adrian looked at the wall.
There were five red lights.
Four blue.
One white.
The countdown continued.
Adrian suddenly understood.
“The locations.”
Sophia nodded.
“The rhyme.”
He remembered the line.
Five for the liar.
Four for the thief.
One for the man who knows where we sleep.
The lights changed.
The steel door opened.
Emma walked out.
No one touched her.
Adrian rushed toward her.
She jumped into his arms.
“I knew you'd understand.”
Adrian hugged her tightly.
“Who taught you this?”
“Daddy.”
Sophia began crying.
“Daniel?”
Emma nodded.
“He said grown-ups forget things.”
Adrian looked at Graham.
“Where is Daniel?”
Graham stared at Emma.
“He’s downstairs.”
Adrian's heart stopped.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
They opened the steel door.
A staircase descended.
The air smelled damp.
At the bottom was a concrete room.
Daniel Carter was sitting against the wall.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Sophia made a sound Adrian had never heard from another human being.
“Daniel.”
He looked up.
“Sophia.”
She ran to him.
They held each other.
Adrian stood frozen.
Daniel looked at him.
“You got my message.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Your daughter did.”
Daniel smiled.
“That's why I chose her.”
Adrian crouched beside him.
“What happened?”
Daniel looked toward Graham.
“Graham saved my life.”
Sophia stepped back.
“What?”
Daniel nodded.
“Vincent wanted me dead.”
“Then why were you gone for two years?”
“I was hiding the ledger.”
Adrian frowned.
“The real ledger?”
Daniel nodded.
“It contains everything.”
“Names?”
“Names.”
“Accounts?”
“Accounts.”
“Proof?”
“Enough to destroy the consortium.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Then why didn't you use it?”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“Because someone inside the consortium had already predicted I would.”
“Who?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Your mother.”
Adrian froze.
“My mother?”
Daniel nodded.
“She wasn't protecting you.”
“She was?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She was protecting the people who wanted you to become their king.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
A shot echoed.
Daniel collapsed.
Sophia screamed.
Adrian grabbed Emma.
Graham drew his weapon.
Lucas turned toward the stairway.
Someone was standing above them.
A woman.
Elegant.
Calm.
Holding a gun.
Adrian whispered:
“Mom?”
May you like
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
