Chapter 11 - WHERE IS LILY?
“No!”
Noah called Margaret.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
“Turn around!”
David gripped the wheel.
“That’s what Reyes wants.”
“My sister is there!”
“Think!”
“She’s eight!”
Evelyn grabbed Noah’s face.
“Listen to me.”
He was breathing too fast.
“Reyes wants you emotional.”
“I don’t care!”
“I do.”
Evelyn’s voice cracked.
“She already took years from me. I will not let her take you too.”
Sarah tapped rapidly on her laptop.
“I’m checking the mansion cameras.”
A feed appeared.
Empty hallways.
Broken glass.
Federal vehicles.
Then the nursery.
Lily sat under a table with her stuffed rabbit.
Alone.
Noah nearly cried from relief.
“She’s there.”
Then someone entered the room.
Dr. Pierce.
Noah’s relief vanished.
Pierce crouched.
Lily backed away.
The camera had no sound.
“What is he doing?”
Sarah zoomed in.
Pierce held out a phone.
Lily looked at the screen.
Then stood.
“What did he show her?”
David whispered, “Probably us.”
Pierce led Lily out.
Noah punched the seat.
“Turn around!”
This time David did.
They raced back.
Sarah contacted Margaret through another channel.
Finally, a response.
“I’m in the east wing,” Margaret said. “Reyes’s team locked us down.”
“Pierce has Lily,” Noah shouted.
Silence.
Then Margaret swore.
“Where is he taking her?”
Sarah tracked cameras.
“Garage.”
They arrived at the estate just as a black sedan sped away.
“That’s him!”
David followed.
The chase tore through narrow wooded roads.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Noah saw Lily through the rear window.
She was banging on the glass.
“Lily!”
Pierce accelerated.
David pushed harder.
Evelyn grabbed the dashboard.
“David!”
“I know!”
The road curved sharply.
Pierce’s sedan lost traction.
It spun.
Slammed into a barrier.
Noah was out before their SUV stopped.
He ripped open the back door.
“Lily!”
She threw herself into his arms.
“I knew you’d come.”
Pierce crawled from the driver’s side.
Blood ran down his face.
David pointed a gun.
“Don’t move.”
Pierce raised both hands.
“I was saving her.”
Noah turned.
“What?”
“Reyes ordered me to bring Lily to her.”
“So you kidnapped her?”
“I pretended to.”
He coughed.
“I was taking her to you.”
Sarah searched the sedan.
Then she found a small device under Lily’s seat.
Tracker.
Pierce stared.
“I didn’t put that there.”
A red light blinked.
Sarah looked toward the sky.
“Move!”
An explosion ripped through the sedan.
Everyone hit the ground.
Noah covered Lily.
Flames roared behind them.
Pierce stared at the burning wreck.
“She tried to kill us.”
Then his phone rang.
Reyes.
Pierce answered on speaker.
Her voice was calm.
“Doctor, you had one job.”
Pierce looked at Noah.
Then said, “I quit.”
Reyes laughed.
“No.”
A pause.
May you like
“You die.”
A laser dot appeared on Pierce’s chest.
