Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN THEY COULD NOT ERASE
The floor shook again.
A crack split the glass observation wall.
Celeste pulled at Margaret’s restraints.
The cuffs did not move.
“Where is the release?”
Margaret looked toward a keypad beside the door.
“Arthur changed the code.”
Celeste drew her pistol.
She fired at the metal lock securing Margaret’s right wrist.
The bullet sparked.
The cuff remained intact.
“Again,” Margaret said.
Celeste fired twice more.
The lock cracked.
She pulled it apart.
The left restraint opened after two shots.
Margaret’s legs gave way when she tried to stand.
Celeste caught her.
“You’re weak.”
“I’ve been drugged.”
“How long?”
“Today?”
Margaret almost smiled.
“Or in general?”
Another explosion sounded above them.
The ceiling lights went out.
Emergency lights came on.
Celeste lifted Margaret’s arm across her shoulders.
“Can you walk?”
“I can try.”
They reached the corridor.
Smoke drifted from the direction of the service lift.
The way they entered was gone.
Celeste looked toward the red control line.
“Thomas.”
Margaret stopped.
“Thomas is here?”
Celeste looked at her mother.
“Yes.”
Something moved across Margaret’s face.
Twenty-nine years of hope and fear.
“Does he know?”
“Yes.”
“Does he hate me?”
“No.”
The answer came easily.
Too easily.
Celeste realized she believed it.
Margaret closed her eyes briefly.
Then forced herself forward.
They followed the red line.
A figure appeared at the intersection.
Celeste raised her pistol.
Reed emerged through the smoke.
Blood ran from a cut across his forehead.
He saw Margaret.
He stopped.
The alarms continued.
The building continued shaking.
But for several seconds, none of them moved.
Margaret stared at him.
“Thomas.”
Reed lowered his weapon.
“Margaret.”
Her knees weakened.
Celeste held her upright.
Reed crossed the distance.
He stopped just before touching her.
As though he feared she might disappear.
Margaret raised one shaking hand.
She touched his face.
“You got old.”
Reed laughed once.
It broke into something close to a sob.
“So did you.”
“No.”
Margaret’s voice remained weak.
“I was old when they brought me here.”
Reed covered her hand with his.
Celeste looked away.
The moment belonged to them.
Then a deeper rumble moved through the floor.
Reed regained focus.
“The control room was empty.”
“Arthur triggered charges throughout the upper levels.”
“Emergency exit?”
“There is a maintenance tunnel beneath the patient wing.”
Margaret nodded.
“I know it.”
Celeste looked at her.
“You tried to escape?”
“Many times.”
“What stopped you?”
“Your father.”
Celeste glanced at Reed.
Margaret understood.
“Arthur,” she corrected.
“He always knew which person to threaten.”
“First you.”
“Then Julian.”
“Later Emma.”
Celeste’s face hardened.
“You knew about Emma?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Daniel brought her here once.”
Celeste stopped.
“Daniel came to W-17?”
Margaret nodded.
“He was trying to remove me.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Arthur had his wife.”
“Daniel believed she would be killed.”
“Did Arthur cause the plane crash?”
Margaret looked at her.
“Yes.”
The answer contained no hesitation.
Celeste felt the truth like a physical blow.
Reed touched her shoulder.
“We need to move.”
They continued toward the lower patient wing.
Doors had opened automatically during the alarm.
Some rooms were empty.
Others were not.
A man in his seventies stood inside one chamber.
He wore a hospital gown.
His wrists were scarred.
A woman sat on the floor of another room, covering her ears.
Three more patients appeared farther down the hall.
Celeste stared.
“How many people are here?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“Twelve when I last counted.”
Reed looked toward the ceiling.
“We cannot evacuate twelve drugged patients through a collapsing tunnel.”
Celeste opened the nearest door.
“We do not leave them.”
Margaret looked at her.
Pride and pain crossed her face.
“You always were mine.”
Celeste met her eyes.
“And his.”
She glanced at Reed.
Margaret gave the smallest smile.
Then an electronic voice sounded overhead.
“STRUCTURAL FAILURE IN EIGHT MINUTES.”
Reed moved toward the patients.
“We need everyone who can walk.”
Celeste entered the first room.
The older man backed away.
“I’m not taking the medication.”
“No medication.”
“We’re leaving.”
He stared at her uniform jacket.
Admiral Reed’s jacket still covered her torn gown.
The man focused on the insignia.
“Military?”
“Formerly.”
He looked at her face.
“Commander Vale?”
Celeste stopped.
“You know me?”
The man began crying.
“You pulled me out of Kandar.”
Celeste stared at him.
She remembered a diplomat with severe burns.
He had been reported dead two years after the mission.
Apparently, Arthur had moved him here.
“What is your name?”
“Henry Cole.”
Senator Paulson’s nephew.
The man whose family believed his rescuer had died.
Celeste took his arm.
“Your uncle is waiting for you.”
Henry laughed weakly.
“My uncle thinks I’m dead.”
“Not for much longer.”
They gathered nine patients.
Three could not walk.
Reed found wheelchairs.
Margaret led them toward a secure stairwell.
The lower levels were older than the facility above.
Concrete replaced white walls.
Rust covered exposed pipes.
Celeste kept looking back.
No guards.
No Arthur.
He had abandoned everyone inside.
That included his own prisoners.
It may also have included his own employees.
The emergency voice sounded again.
“SIX MINUTES.”
They reached a sealed door.
Margaret entered a code.
Denied.
She tried again.
Denied.
Reed examined the hinges.
“Explosive bolts.”
Celeste looked toward the patients.
“We cannot shoot through those.”
A voice came from the other side.
“Step back.”
Celeste recognized it.
Julian.
She moved everyone away.
A blast struck the door.
Smoke entered through the frame.
Julian pulled it open from the tunnel side.
Emma stood behind him.
Agent Grant and four federal officers waited farther back.
Celeste stared.
“How did you find us?”
Emma held up a small radio.
“Marcus showed us the tunnel.”
Celeste looked toward Julian.
“Where is Vivian?”
“With Isabelle.”
“Marcus?”
Julian hesitated.
“He stayed on the island.”
“Why?”
“He said someone needed to delay Arthur’s men.”
Celeste heard what Julian was not saying.
Marcus did not expect to survive.
Grant moved toward the patients.
“We have vehicles at the tunnel exit.”
“The tower is unstable.”
“We need to move now.”
They formed a line.
Federal agents pushed wheelchairs.
Julian carried a young woman who could not stand.
Emma stayed beside Margaret.
She looked up at her.
“Are you Celeste’s mom?”
Margaret looked toward Celeste.
“Yes.”
Emma smiled.
“You took a long time.”
Margaret laughed softly.
“I know.”
They moved through the tunnel.
The ground shook harder.
Concrete fell behind them.
One patient panicked and tried to return.
Celeste caught him.
“You go forward.”
“They’ll find me.”
“No.”
“They always find me.”
Celeste held his face between her hands.
“Look at me.”
His eyes focused.
“Arthur is running.”
“You are not.”
The man breathed slowly.
Then nodded.
They reached a metal staircase.
Daylight showed above.
Grant’s agents helped the patients climb.
Reed stayed near Margaret.
Celeste remained at the rear.
The emergency voice echoed faintly behind them.
“ONE MINUTE.”
The final patient reached the stairs.
Celeste started upward.
A hand grabbed her ankle.
She fell against the metal steps.
Arthur stood in the tunnel.
His shirt was soaked with blood.
His face was pale.
But his eyes remained cold.
He held the remote trigger.
“You always come back for strangers,” he said.
Celeste kicked his wrist.
The remote fell.
Arthur struck her across the face.
She hit the wall.
He pulled the pistol from her waistband.
Above them, Reed shouted her name.
Arthur aimed upward.
Celeste grabbed his arm.
The shot struck the ceiling.
Reed began descending.
Celeste shouted.
“Get them out!”
Arthur laughed.
“He won’t leave you.”
Celeste looked toward Reed.
“Go!”
Reed hesitated.
Margaret appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Thomas.”
He looked at her.
“Take them out.”
Reed’s face twisted.
Then he obeyed.
Arthur dragged Celeste backward into the tunnel.
“Still choosing everyone else.”
“You taught me what not to become.”
The countdown voice reached ten.
The lights flashed.
Arthur pulled her toward a side passage.
“Move.”
“Where?”
“There is another exit.”
“Only for you?”
“For people who plan.”
The facility shook.
The tunnel behind them collapsed.
A wave of dust swallowed the stairs.
Celeste covered her face.
Arthur forced her through a narrow steel door.
They entered an underground rail chamber.
A small maintenance vehicle waited on the tracks.
Arthur pushed Celeste inside.
The tower collapsed above them.
The sound was enormous.
Concrete thundered through the tunnels.
The rail vehicle lurched forward.
Celeste looked back.
The passage disappeared beneath debris.
Arthur sat opposite her.
His pistol remained aimed at her chest.
“You saved Margaret,” he said.
“Yes.”
“You think that means you won.”
“I think it means you lost her.”
Arthur smiled.
“She was never the prize.”
Celeste looked at him.
“What was?”
“You.”
The rail vehicle entered darkness.
May you like
Arthur leaned closer.
“You still do not know why Henry chose you before you were born.”
