Chapter 11 - NOAH
I don’t remember getting into the vehicle.
I remember Ortiz driving.
I remember Bell on three phones.
I remember thinking of Noah saying, Are you scared?
Yes.
This time I was terrified.
Avery had taken my son.
The hospital cameras showed Noah walking beside him.
No struggle.
Of course not.
Noah trusted him.
“Uncle James,” he called Avery.
That hurt almost as badly as watching my parents drive away.
Ortiz pushed the vehicle to ninety.
“We have a plate.”
“Where?”
“Heading north.”
“Toward Beatty?”
“Possibly.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Noah?”
Avery’s voice.
“Claire.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Let me speak to him.”
“He’s fine.”
“Let me hear him.”
A pause.
Then Noah.
“Mom?”
“Baby.”
“Uncle James says we’re playing a game.”
I closed my eyes.
“You’re doing great.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
Avery took the phone.
“He’s safe as long as you cooperate.”
“If you hurt him—”
“I’m not Walter.”
“You kidnapped my child.”
“Because you forced me.”
“No. You chose.”
Silence.
That one landed.
People like Avery hated responsibility.
They preferred necessity.
Orders.
Circumstances.
Anything that made evil sound unavoidable.
“What do you want?”
“The original drive.”
“Why? You already know copies may exist.”
“Not everything was copied.”
“What’s missing?”
“Encryption keys.”
Robert had never mentioned encryption keys.
Which meant the drive contained something even he didn’t know about.
“Where do you want me?”
Avery gave an address.
An old family cabin outside Beatty.
The cabin.
The blue ledger.
Everything was converging there.
“You come alone.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“You don’t negotiate well when your son is involved.”
“I’m still not coming without proof he’s alive when I arrive.”
“You’ll see him.”
The line ended.
I looked at Ortiz.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“That cabin belongs to my parents.”
“We know.”
“My mother said the ledger is under the floor.”
Ortiz nodded.
“So Avery may be going there for two things.”
“The drive and the ledger.”
“And Walter?”
I stared out the window.
“If Dad heard Mom say where the ledger was, he’s going there too.”
Bell looked up.
“That means three armed suspects may converge on one location.”
“Four.”
“Who’s four?”
“Nolan Price.”
The fake hospital worker.
“What makes you think he’ll be there?”
“Because Dad uses him to clean up problems.”
Ortiz’s jaw tightened.
Police units were dispatched quietly.
No lights.
No sirens.
We stopped two miles from the cabin.
I wore a transmitter.
No weapon.
That was my choice.
If Noah ran toward me, I didn’t want a gun anywhere near him.
The cabin sat between black hills.
One porch light burned.
I walked toward it.
The front door opened.
Avery stepped outside.
No uniform.
Noah stood beside him.
My son saw me.
“Mom!”
He ran.
Avery grabbed his shoulder.
I stopped.
“Let him go.”
“Drive first.”
I reached into my coat.
Held up the USB.
Avery smiled.
Then a gunshot cracked from the trees.
The porch light exploded.
Noah screamed.
Avery pulled him down.
I hit the ground.
Another shot.
Then my father’s voice came from the darkness.
“Everybody inside!”
May you like
Walter had arrived.
And he wasn’t alone.
