Chapter 12 - THE TRADE
I screamed so loudly my throat tore.
Police poured outside.
Ryan grabbed the phone.
“No.”
I snatched it back.
“He has my daughter.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know anything!”
He flinched.
Claire took my face in both hands.
“Sarah. Look at me.”
I couldn’t.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“We are getting Madison back.”
“He said alone.”
“You are not going alone.”
“If he sees police—”
“He already expects police.”
Another text came.
OLD CARTER PLANT.
3:30 A.M.
The Carter plant was an abandoned fabrication warehouse Daniel and Ryan’s father had owned decades earlier.
It sat forty minutes outside town.
Police prepared a plan.
I hated every second of it.
At 3:22, I pulled into the warehouse parking lot.
Alone.
At least that was how it looked.
A flash drive sat in my coat pocket.
Not the original.
A copy.
The real one was safe.
Police teams were hidden half a mile out.
No sirens.
No visible cars.
I entered through the loading bay.
“Madison!”
My voice echoed.
A light turned on.
Trevor stood on the second-floor walkway.
One arm around Madison.
A gun in his other hand.
My daughter’s face was wet with tears.
“Mom!”
Every part of me wanted to run to her.
I didn’t.
Trevor smiled.
“Good. You can follow instructions.”
“Let her go.”
“Drive.”
I held it up.
“First her.”
He laughed.
“No.”
Evelyn appeared behind him.
Her hands were tied.
Blood streaked one side of her forehead.
“Sarah, don’t—”
Trevor hit her with the gun.
Madison screamed.
“STOP!”
Trevor looked down at me.
“The drive.”
I placed it on a metal table.
“Come get it.”
“No.”
“Then you don’t want it.”
His smile vanished.
“Don’t play games.”
“I’m not.”
I looked at Madison.
“Honey, remember what Daddy taught you when we went hiking?”
She stared at me.
Trevor frowned.
“What?”
Madison’s breathing changed.
Slow.
Controlled.
Daniel had taught her one rule if she ever got separated from us.
Don’t run blindly.
Wait for the moment.
Then move fast.
Madison stomped on Trevor’s foot.
He cursed.
She ducked.
Evelyn threw herself sideways into him.
The gun fired.
I screamed.
Madison ran down the metal stairs.
“GO!” Evelyn shouted.
Trevor struck her across the face.
I grabbed Madison at the bottom.
Then the warehouse doors exploded open.
“POLICE!”
Trevor fired twice.
Officers returned fire.
He ran across the catwalk.
Ryan suddenly appeared from behind a support beam.
I stared at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t stay outside.”
“Ryan!”
Trevor saw him.
Raised the gun.
“Perfect.”
Ryan shoved Madison and me behind a steel column.
A shot cracked.
Ryan jerked backward.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Madison screamed.
Trevor ran.
Police chased him toward the roof access.
I pressed my hands against Ryan’s wound.
“You idiot.”
He laughed through pain.
“Daniel used to say that.”
Then a roar came from above us.
An engine.
Claire shouted from the door:
“Trevor’s on the roof!”
I looked up.
“How?”
Ryan’s face went pale.
“The old crane platform.”
A second later, metal screamed overhead.
May you like
Trevor wasn’t trying to escape.
He was trying to bring the entire roof down.
