CHAPTER 6 — DON’T SAVE ME
CHAPTER 6 — DON’T SAVE ME
Behind me, the metal door slammed shut.
The sound rolled through the warehouse like a gunshot.
I stopped ten feet inside.
Cold air hung beneath the rusted beams. Water dripped from broken pipes. The concrete floor shone under a single industrial light that swung slowly above Chloe’s chair.
Dr. Samuel Kerr stood behind her.
His gun remained pressed against the side of her neck.
The blue box sat on the steel table beside him.
“Hands where I can see them,” he said.
I raised them slowly.
“I came alone.”
Kerr smiled.
“No, you didn’t.”
His eyes moved toward the loading door.
“You brought police.”
I didn’t answer.
He grabbed Chloe’s hair and pulled her head back.
She gasped.
“Tell them to leave.”
“You know they won’t.”
“Then she dies.”
Chloe stared at me.
Her face was swollen. One wrist was bleeding beneath the plastic tie around it. Yet the fear in her eyes wasn’t for herself.
“Don’t save me,” she repeated. “Save your mother.”
Kerr tightened his grip.
“Quiet.”
Chloe ignored him.
“The hospital wasn’t the only plan.”
My stomach turned cold.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t.”
She looked at Kerr.
“He did.”
Kerr shoved the gun harder against her neck.
“Another word and you’ll never finish the sentence.”
I kept my voice calm.
“What happened to my mother?”
Kerr smiled again.
“She’s alive.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“You lawyers always think precision makes you powerful.”
“It makes liars uncomfortable.”
His smile faded.
Good.
I needed him angry.
Angry men talked.
He pointed toward the floor in front of me.
“Put the evidence there.”
“I don’t have it.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You said you brought what I asked for.”
“I brought access.”
“To what?”
“The state evidence portal.”
That was a lie.
But it was the kind of lie Kerr would believe because it fed his ego.
I slowly removed my phone from my pocket.
“The photographs, the recording, the forged documents, the toxicology request—all stored remotely.”
“Delete them.”
“I can’t.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I can delay the warrant release.”
He studied me.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand procedure. The evidence is sealed until a judge releases it to the prosecution team. I can request a temporary hold.”
Kerr glanced at the phone.
Chloe’s breathing changed.
She understood what I was doing.
Buying time.
For the tactical team.
For Wells.
For anyone listening through the wire beneath my blouse.
Kerr stepped away from Chloe.
“Show me.”
I unlocked the phone.
The screen displayed a fake login page prepared by the digital unit.
A red banner read:
SEALED INVESTIGATION — RELEASE PENDING
Kerr moved closer.
His gun lowered slightly.
Not enough.
But enough for Chloe to shift one foot beneath the chair.
“Thirty-minute hold,” I said. “That’s all I can give you.”
“And after thirty minutes?”
“The system releases everything.”
“Then stop it permanently.”
“That requires Judge Thorne’s authorization.”
His jaw tightened.
“You called her first.”
“Yes.”
“Just like your father.”
The words caught me.
“What does that mean?”
“He always thought judges could save him too.”
“You were there when he died.”
Kerr’s eyes flickered.
A tiny movement.
Guilt.
Or pride.
“I was there when he made a bad decision.”
“What decision?”
“He refused to cooperate.”
“Did you drug him?”
Kerr smiled.
“Your brother drugged him.”
“You supplied it.”
“I prescribed many things.”
“To people who didn’t need them?”
“To families who needed peace.”
The disgust rose in my throat.
“You made elderly people look incompetent so their relatives could steal from them.”
“I solved problems.”
“You murdered them.”
“I never killed anyone.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
Kerr struck her across the face with the back of his hand.
The sound snapped through the building.
She bent forward.
I took one step.
His gun swung toward me.
“Stay back.”
I stopped.
Chloe slowly raised her head.
Blood touched the corner of her mouth.
“You did kill them,” she said.
Kerr’s expression hardened.
“How many names were in the blue box?” I asked.
He looked at it.
That was the answer.
Enough names to destroy him.
Enough families to expose years of crimes.
“I want the box,” I said.
“You’re in no position to want anything.”
“I’m the only reason the police haven’t entered yet.”
He laughed softly.
“They won’t enter while you’re standing between me and the door.”
I looked past him.
At the floor.
At Chloe’s foot.
She was tapping twice.
Pause.
Twice again.
Our childhood signal had been two sugar cubes.
Wait.
Chloe was telling me the same thing.
Wait.
She had seen something.
Kerr moved to the table and opened the blue box.
Inside were papers, old cassette tapes, a leather notebook, and a sealed envelope bearing my father’s handwriting.
My breath caught.
For Elena.
Kerr noticed.
“Your father always expected you to come home someday.”
He lifted the envelope.
“He left you quite a confession.”
“What does it say?”
“You’ll never know.”
He held it over a small metal barrel.
A flame burned inside.
I moved without thinking.
Kerr raised the gun.
Then the warehouse lights went out.
Total darkness swallowed us.
Chloe screamed.
May you like
A shot exploded.
And someone fell.
