Chapter 14 - THE FIRE UNDERGROUND
Arthur wanted the Rebecca files.
Every copy.
Every hard drive.
Every name.
In exchange, Noah.
Ethan stood in the rain, gun lowered.
“You think I’m giving you anything?”
Arthur looked at Noah’s shaking hand.
“You have roughly seven minutes before his fingers cramp.”
Noah cried harder.
“Dad…”
I stepped forward.
“Let me hold it.”
Arthur smiled.
“No.”
“He’s seven.”
“Then perhaps his father should decide quickly.”
Ethan looked at me.
I knew that look.
He was preparing to trade everything.
All the evidence.
All the victims.
For Noah.
I didn’t blame him.
That was the worst part.
Daniel suddenly opened the SUV door behind us.
Arthur saw him.
“My other grandson.”
Daniel stared.
“You hurt Margaret.”
Arthur shrugged.
“She was weak.”
“She said you started everything.”
Arthur smiled.
“She was finally honest.”
Daniel looked at Noah’s hand.
Then at me.
I saw something in his face.
A thought.
Before I could stop him, he ran.
“Daniel!”
Arthur turned.
Daniel slammed into Noah.
The device flew.
Everyone moved.
Ethan caught Noah.
I caught the trigger.
My thumb landed on the button.
Pressed.
For one second, nobody breathed.
Arthur stared at me.
“Well.”
I held the trigger tightly.
“Everybody seems very interested in my hands tonight.”
Arthur’s smile vanished.
Ethan grabbed both boys.
“Back to the SUV.”
Arthur’s men raised weapons.
Then headlights appeared behind us.
Dozens.
Police.
Federal tactical units.
Medical vehicles.
Arthur looked genuinely surprised.
I smiled.
“Remember the watch?”
Ethan stared at me.
“You called the FBI?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“You had FBI contact?”
“I worked pediatric rehab.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“It’s a long story.”
Gunfire erupted.
Arthur’s men fired first.
Federal agents returned fire.
Ethan pushed the boys behind the SUV.
I stayed down, thumb on the trigger.
Arthur tried to reach his car.
Mason, still bleeding in the ditch, lifted his gun.
One shot.
Arthur fell.
Ethan looked at Mason.
Mason smiled weakly.
“Fifteen years.”
Then his head dropped.
Ethan shouted his name.
No response.
Arthur crawled through the mud.
“You idiot,” he hissed. “You don’t understand what you destroyed.”
Ethan walked toward him.
“No.”
He took Arthur’s gun.
“I understand exactly what you built.”
Arthur smiled through blood.
“You think the network dies with me?”
Ethan crouched.
“No.”
He looked at the approaching federal agents.
“That’s why they’re here.”
Arthur’s face finally changed.
Fear.
The lab below the mansion began flashing on remote monitors in the FBI command vehicle.
Bomb technicians took the trigger from me and installed a clamp.
“Pressure stable.”
I released my hand.
My fingers shook uncontrollably.
Noah ran to me.
I dropped to my knees.
He hugged me.
“You came back.”
“I promised.”
Mercer arrived with the antidote team.
He looked at Noah.
“We need to treat him now.”
Ethan carried him to the ambulance.
Daniel followed.
I turned back.
Arthur Caldwell was being handcuffed.
Alive.
Furious.
Victor was still missing.
A federal agent approached me.
“We found the evidence locker.”
“Names?”
“Thousands.”
“Children?”
He nodded.
“Locations too.”
For the first time all night, I felt hope.
Then another agent shouted.
“We have an incoming call from inside the mansion!”
The command screen lit up.
Victor appeared.
He was standing in Noah’s bedroom.
Holding a gas can.
Behind him, flames were already climbing the curtains.
He looked into the camera.
“Little brother.”
Ethan stopped beside the ambulance.
Victor smiled.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
May you like
“This house has always belonged to me.”
Then he dropped the match.
