Chapter 8 - The Trap at the Train Yard
Adrian showed the message to Detective Brooks.
She immediately called for a tactical response.
Mia overheard Rosa’s name.
“What happened to her?”
Adrian tried to guide her away.
Mia snatched the phone from his hand.
She stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“Rosa helped me.”
“Mia, listen to me.”
“He wants me.”
“You are not going anywhere.”
“She will die.”
“The police will save her.”
Mia looked at him with anger.
“That’s what people say before someone dies.”
Adrian knelt in front of her.
“I am not trading one child for another life.”
“I’m not your child.”
The words struck him harder than she intended.
Mia’s anger faded.
But she did not apologize.
Adrian stood.
“You are under my protection.”
“And that makes you my responsibility.”
Mia looked toward Evelyn’s room.
“What does he want from me?”
Detective Brooks answered.
“He believes you have something.”
Mia opened her backpack.
She removed a small metal key.
“I found this inside Noah’s blanket.”
Adrian stared at it.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t know who I could trust.”
A number had been engraved into the key.
314.
Brooks examined it.
“It might open a locker.”
Adrian remembered the old Union Station storage area near the abandoned train yard.
Julian used to keep a private locker there when they were teenagers.
Its number had been 314.
Nathan was not asking for Mia.
He was asking for the key.
Police created a plan.
Adrian would go to the train yard carrying a fake key.
Mia would remain at the hospital under armed protection.
At midnight, Adrian entered the abandoned rail depot alone.
Broken windows allowed cold wind to sweep through the building.
A single light burned above the center platform.
Rosa sat tied to a chair beside the tracks.
Nathan stood behind her with a gun.
His expensive suit was covered in dust.
“You came alone?”
Adrian raised his hands.
“Let her go.”
“Where is the girl?”
“She isn’t coming.”
Nathan smiled.
“Then Rosa isn’t leaving.”
Adrian held up the fake key.
“I have what you want.”
Nathan’s eyes locked onto it.
“Throw it.”
“Release Rosa first.”
Nathan pressed the gun against Rosa’s head.
“You were never good at negotiation.”
Adrian threw the key.
It landed several feet away.
Nathan stepped toward it.
Rosa suddenly kicked backward.
The chair struck Nathan’s knees.
Adrian ran toward them.
Nathan fired.
The bullet struck Adrian’s shoulder.
He fell beside the tracks.
Police stormed the depot.
Nathan grabbed Rosa and dragged her toward an underground maintenance tunnel.
Adrian forced himself up.
Blood soaked his jacket.
He followed them.
The tunnel was narrow and dark.
Nathan abandoned Rosa near a rusted gate.
Then he continued deeper underground.
Adrian cut Rosa’s restraints with a piece of broken metal.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“Where is he going?”
Rosa pointed ahead.
“There’s another exit.”
Adrian followed the tunnel.
It ended beneath Union Station.
Rows of old storage lockers covered one wall.
Nathan stood in front of locker 314.
He held a drill against the lock.
Adrian raised the gun he had taken from a fallen officer.
“Step away.”
Nathan turned.
He laughed when he saw Adrian’s injury.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“You helped murder my brother.”
“I helped build your empire.”
“You stole from it.”
“I protected it.”
Nathan pointed toward the locker.
“Julian was going to expose everyone.”
“He would have destroyed the company.”
“He would have destroyed criminals.”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Your father knew about the hospital.”
Adrian froze.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Julian wasn’t collecting evidence against Celeste.”
“He was collecting evidence against your father.”
A sound came from inside the locker.
A mechanical timer began counting down.
Nathan looked at it.
Then he ran.
Adrian saw wires inside the lock.
There was a bomb behind the door.
May you like
And the timer showed twelve seconds.
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