Chapter 5 - THE ROOM WITHOUT CAMERAS
Mason was found inside a maintenance room beneath the operations center.
He was conscious, locked behind a reinforced door, and furious.
Someone had lured him there by sending a false message from Victor Hale’s account. The room’s electronic system then sealed itself and disabled his radio.
“They wanted you separated from Ryker,” Darius said after releasing him.
Mason checked his wrist where the door had trapped his sleeve.
“They also wanted access to my security token.”
“Did they get it?”
“No.”
A loud announcement echoed through the corridor.
Flight 406 was now boarding first-class passengers.
Ryker looked toward the nearest clock.
Seven minutes had passed since Celeste sent her message.
He ordered Mason to find Victor Hale and Darius to monitor every exit from Gate 17.
Then he went alone.
The twins sat together beneath the departure board.
Owen held the teddy bear.
Lily watched every passing adult.
Celeste stood near the boarding desk with the man in the dark coat.
This time, Ryker saw his face clearly.
The resemblance to Adrian was extraordinary.
Same height.
Same gray-green eyes.
Same slight bend in the bridge of the nose.
Same damaged finger.
But Ryker noticed one difference.
Adrian always wore his watch on his right wrist because of nerve damage in his left hand.
This man wore his watch on the left.
Celeste stepped toward Ryker.
“You should not have come.”
“You told me to.”
“I expected you to bring the police.”
“They are already here.”
Her composure slipped.
“You don’t understand what they will do.”
“Who?”
The man beside her turned away.
Ryker did not take his eyes from Celeste.
“You left two five-year-old children sitting beneath a departure board.”
“I was protecting them.”
“By abandoning them?”
“By keeping them off that aircraft.”
Ryker glanced at the man.
“Then why are you boarding?”
Celeste’s eyes filled with fear rather than guilt.
“Because if I don’t, the people controlling this will take them somewhere I can never find them.”
“Who is he?”
The man finally faced Ryker.
“You know who I am.”
The voice was close to Adrian’s, but not perfect.
It lacked the roughness caused by a childhood throat injury.
Ryker stepped nearer.
“No. I know who you studied.”
The man smiled faintly.
“You still believe your systems can tell you the truth.”
“I believe Adrian would have gone to his children before he went to you.”
The man’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
Ryker saw anger.
Not grief.
Not affection.
Possession.
Celeste moved between them.
“This was not the agreement.”
“There is no agreement now,” the man replied.
His Adrian-like voice disappeared.
The accent beneath it was Eastern European.
He seized the handle of Celeste’s suitcase and walked toward the boarding desk.
Ryker did not stop him.
The suitcase was not what mattered.
Owen’s teddy bear was.
Celeste looked down at the twins.
“Give me the bear.”
Owen shook his head.
“Owen,” she said more firmly. “We need to go.”
“You said we were staying.”
“I changed my mind.”
Lily moved in front of her brother.
“He doesn’t want to.”
Celeste reached out, then stopped when Ryker stepped between them.
“Do not touch them.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You think you can appear after two years and pretend to care?”
“I stayed away because you showed me a letter saying Adrian wanted me gone.”
“He did want you gone.”
“The signature was forged.”
Celeste looked toward the man approaching the boarding gate.
Her fear deepened.
“You know nothing.”
“Then tell me.”
She glanced at the cameras.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
“There is a family assistance room behind the gate offices. No cameras. Three minutes.”
Ryker signaled Darius with a subtle movement of his hand.
Darius understood and remained with the children.
Celeste led Ryker into a small room containing a table, four chairs, and a wall painted with faded cartoon clouds.
The door closed behind them.
Celeste immediately searched beneath the table and inside the air vent.
“What are you looking for?”
“A microphone.”
Ryker placed his phone on the table and activated signal detection.
The room was clean.
Celeste sat down.
For the first time, she looked exhausted.
“The man outside calls himself Lucien Voss.”
“Who is he?”
“Adrian’s half-brother.”
Ryker stared at her.
“Adrian had no brother.”
“That is what their father wanted everyone to believe.”
Celeste explained that Adrian’s father had maintained a second family in Europe. Lucien was born eighteen months before Adrian but was never publicly acknowledged.
He spent years following the success of the legitimate son who inherited the Hart name, company, and fortune.
Eventually, Lucien approached Adrian.
He did not ask for money.
He asked for access to Project Orpheus.
“Adrian refused,” Celeste said. “Lucien decided to take his life instead.”
“The yacht explosion?”
“I don’t know who caused it.”
“You were on shore that night.”
“Yes.”
“Did Adrian survive?”
Celeste looked away.
“I saw him after the explosion.”
Ryker leaned forward.
“When?”
“Three days later.”
“Where?”
“In a private clinic. He was injured and terrified. He said Orpheus had been compromised and someone close to both of you was involved.”
“Why did you let the world believe he was dead?”
“Because he ordered me to.”
“Why did he abandon his children?”
“He didn’t intend to. He said he needed ten days to find the person behind Lucien.”
“Twenty-two months passed.”
Celeste’s voice broke.
“He never came back.”
Ryker remained silent.
“Six weeks ago, Lucien contacted me,” she continued. “He said Adrian was alive. He showed me a recent video.”
“Was it real?”
“I believed it was.”
“What did Lucien want?”
“The two encryption keys.”
“You gave him access to the children.”
“He promised to take me to Adrian.”
Ryker’s anger rose.
“And when did you realize he was lying?”
“This morning. Owen said the man did not smell like his father.”
Ryker thought of all the biometric systems, signatures, passports, and facial scans that Lucien had defeated.
A five-year-old recognized the truth instantly because the stranger smelled wrong.
“Why abandon the twins at the gate?”
“Lucien changed the plan. He said the children were coming with us. I knew once they crossed that door, I would never see them again.”
“So you left them where security would find them.”
“I left the handbag. I knew Lily would understand.”
“You could have come to me.”
Celeste gave a bitter laugh.
“I was told you arranged Adrian’s death.”
“By Lucien?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The electronic door locked.
Ryker heard a hiss from the ventilation system.
Celeste covered her mouth.
“Gas.”
Ryker pulled his coat over her face and struck the emergency release panel with the metal edge of a chair.
The panel cracked.
No manual lever appeared beneath it.
His phone had lost all signal.
Outside the sealed room, the final boarding announcement began.
May you like
Celeste’s eyes widened.
“He’s taking the children.”
