Chapter 12 - MARGARET’S LAST LIE
“Give me the folder.”
Margaret’s voice shook.
I stared at her.
“You’re supposed to be dying.”
“Not yet.”
Ethan raised his gun.
She aimed at Daniel.
“Don’t.”
Ethan froze.
Daniel whispered, “Margaret?”
Her eyes filled with pain.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
He flinched.
“Don’t call me that.”
She looked like he had slapped her.
I held the formula against my chest.
“Why do you want it?”
“Because Victor can’t have it.”
“Neither can we if you shoot me.”
“Give it to me.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Margaret. Look at me.”
“No.”
“You protected Daniel for seven years.”
“I poisoned Noah for seven years.”
“You can stop now.”
Her face twisted.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think Victor kept Daniel to control me?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Her gun lowered slightly.
“He kept my son.”
Ethan frowned.
“What son?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Michael.”
Daniel looked confused.
“I never met him.”
“No.”
Margaret’s eyes went distant.
“He was seventeen when Victor took him.”
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“That’s why you worked for him.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
She nodded.
“Then Michael died.”
Silence.
“So why keep helping Victor?” I asked.
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“Because after Michael died, I wanted everyone responsible to suffer.”
Ethan stared.
“My family.”
“Yes.”
“You blamed me.”
“I blamed all of you.”
She started crying.
“Your father created the program. Victor expanded it. You built the money machine that funded everything, even if you didn’t know where the money went.”
Ethan said nothing.
That silence told me she had hit something real.
Margaret looked at Noah’s formula.
“I wanted the Caldwells to watch their children suffer the way I watched mine.”
Daniel’s face broke.
“You used me.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Did you ever love me?”
She lowered the gun.
“Yes.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t do this to people you love.”
That destroyed her.
Her hand dropped completely.
“I know.”
A shot exploded behind us.
Margaret jerked.
A bullet hit her chest.
Victor stood at the entrance of the tunnel.
“Emotional women,” he said. “Always disappointing.”
Ethan fired.
Victor disappeared behind the wall.
Margaret collapsed.
Daniel ran to her.
“No!”
He dropped beside her.
I pressed my hands against the wound.
Too much blood.
She looked at Daniel.
“I’m sorry.”
He sobbed.
“I hate you.”
She nodded.
“You should.”
Then he grabbed her hand.
“But don’t die.”
Margaret smiled.
For the first time, she looked like a mother.
Not an administrator.
Not a criminal.
Just tired.
She looked at me.
“Locker twelve.”
“We have the formula.”
“No.”
She coughed.
“Not the antidote.”
“What?”
“Evidence.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“What evidence?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Doctors. Judges. donors. hospitals.”
My skin went cold.
“How many?”
“Everyone.”
Her eyes moved toward the chapel.
“Victor isn’t running.”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s burning the network.”
Ethan stood.
Then Margaret whispered, “And Noah is the match.”
Her hand went limp.
Daniel screamed.
At that exact moment, Ethan’s phone rang.
Mercer.
Ethan answered.
“What?”
Mercer was shouting.
“Get back here!”
“Why?”
“Noah’s gone!”
I nearly dropped.
“What do you mean gone?”
“Someone took him.”
“Who?”
Mercer paused.
May you like
Then said the one name none of us expected.
“Mason.”
