Chapter 9 - THEY CAME FOR MATEO
Elena ran back toward the building.
Kim called ahead.
No answer.
Her face changed.
“Move!”
They sprinted across the street.
The lobby was empty.
Too empty.
A security guard lay unconscious near the desk.
Elena screamed.
“MATEO!”
She ran upstairs.
Daniel was on the floor.
Blood on his forehead.
Elena dropped beside him.
“Where is he?”
Daniel blinked.
“Elena?”
“WHERE’S MATEO?”
Daniel sat up suddenly.
“They took him.”
Her world tilted.
“Who?”
“Two men.”
“And Vanessa.”
Elena froze.
“Vanessa?”
“She’s alive.”
Daniel touched his head.
“She came in crying.”
“She said she escaped.”
Kim cursed under her breath.
Daniel continued.
“I believed her.”
Elena’s eyes burned.
“She hit me.”
He looked disgusted with himself.
“Then they took Mateo through the service stairwell.”
Elena stood.
“I’m going after them.”
Kim grabbed her.
“No.”
Elena whirled.
“Don’t tell me no!”
“We find them intelligently.”
“They have my son!”
“And running blind gets him killed.”
Elena shoved away.
Marisol entered behind them.
Daniel saw her.
“You.”
Marisol looked ashamed.
“No time.”
Daniel stood unsteadily.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“She knows where they’re going.”
Marisol looked at Elena.
“I might.”
“Then speak.”
“Horizon owns a closed pediatric clinic south of the city.”
Kim asked:
“Address?”
Marisol gave it.
Daniel grabbed his keys.
Kim pointed at him.
“You’re not driving anywhere with that head injury.”
“I’m going.”
“You can go in an ambulance.”
Daniel stared at her.
“My son was taken.”
Elena looked at him.
For the first time, she didn’t correct the words.
Their son in different ways.
A terrible truth.
A shared fear.
Kim called tactical units.
Marisol pulled Elena aside.
“There’s something else.”
Elena almost laughed.
“There’s always something else.”
“Pierce believes Mateo’s code only works if he’s under sedation.”
“What?”
“It’s connected to an old biometric sequence Matthew created.”
Elena’s face drained.
“Will it hurt him?”
Marisol didn’t answer.
“Will it hurt him?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena grabbed her coat.
“You better pray it doesn’t.”
They reached the clinic twenty-two minutes later.
Dark windows.
Boarded entrance.
No obvious movement.
Police surrounded the property.
Kim ordered everyone back.
Elena ignored her.
A scream came from inside.
A child’s scream.
Mateo.
Elena ran.
Daniel ran with her.
Kim swore and followed.
They entered through a broken side door.
The hallway smelled like antiseptic and dust.
Mateo screamed again.
“Mommy!”
Elena followed the sound.
At the end of the corridor, they found Vanessa.
She stood behind a locked glass door.
A gun in one hand.
Mateo in the other.
Dr. Pierce stood beside a medical chair.
Vanessa shouted:
“Back up!”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You lied to me.”
Vanessa’s face broke.
“I loved you.”
“You stole a child and made me raise him.”
“I gave you a family!”
“You gave me someone else’s pain.”
Vanessa flinched.
Elena stared at Mateo.
“Baby, look at me.”
Vanessa pulled him tighter.
“Don’t.”
Mateo cried.
“Mommy.”
Elena’s voice softened.
“I’m right here.”
Pierce shouted:
“Enough.”
He held up a syringe.
“We get the code, then everybody leaves.”
Elena looked at him.
“You killed my husband.”
Pierce smiled.
“No.”
He glanced at Marisol.
“Your sister handled that.”
Marisol went pale.
Pierce laughed.
“Family loyalty is beautiful.”
Kim’s tactical team moved into position.
Pierce saw a red laser dot appear on the wall.
His expression changed.
He grabbed Mateo.
Elena screamed.
Vanessa fired.
May you like
The glass shattered.
And Mateo disappeared from Elena’s view.
