Chapter 7 - THE OFFICER WHO KNEW ETHAN
For one suspended instant, everyone stared at the gun.
Then Richard moved.
He turned sideways, placing his body between Corwin and Ethan. The shot struck the stone wall where the child’s head had been.
The chamber exploded into motion.
The younger officer seized Corwin’s arm. The second officer reached for his radio. Vivian screamed. Marta pulled Amanda behind a support pillar as another shot shattered a light above the staircase.
Richard dropped to one knee and covered Ethan with his body.
“Run!” he shouted.
Amanda did not run away from them. She ran toward them.
She slid across the stone floor, caught Ethan under the arms, and dragged him behind the central cabinet. Richard followed as the two officers wrestled Corwin against the wall.
“You don’t understand!” Corwin roared. “The boy is evidence!”
“He is a child,” the younger officer shouted back.
Corwin drove his elbow into the officer’s throat and broke free. He reached for the silver bell lying near Vivian’s feet.
Vivian kicked it toward him.
Richard saw the movement.
“No!”
Corwin rang the bell three times.
Richard collapsed.
His body struck the floor with terrifying force. Ethan screamed for him, but Amanda held the boy back as Richard convulsed, hands clawing at his throat.
Corwin raised the gun again.
Marta threw herself against his knees.
The second officer fired a stun device. Wires struck Corwin’s chest. He jerked, fell backward, and the weapon skidded toward the red door.
The ambulances arrived above them. Heavy footsteps flooded the mansion.
Amanda crawled to Richard.
His eyes were open but unfocused. A line of blood ran from his nose.
“Richard, look at me.”
His lips moved.
She leaned closer.
“Seven bells,” he whispered. “Never let her ring seven.”
Paramedics entered the chamber. One lifted Ethan from Amanda’s arms while another checked Richard’s pulse.
“My son was drugged,” Amanda said. “There is a puncture mark. Unknown substance.”
The paramedic’s expression sharpened. “We’re transporting both.”
Corwin lay handcuffed near the wall, breathing hard. He looked at Ethan as the child was carried upstairs.
“You think the hospital is safe?” he said.
Amanda stopped.
“You called him evidence. Evidence of what?”
Corwin smiled through blood on his teeth. “Ask your husband why his DNA does not match the boy.”
“I already know about the report.”
“No. You know about one report.”
The younger officer pulled him upright.
Corwin leaned close enough for Amanda to smell metal and sweat.
“The second report does not say Richard isn’t Ethan’s father,” he whispered. “It says Richard is Ethan’s uncle.”
Amanda’s mind went blank.
Richard had no brother.
Unless the missing child H-17 had survived.
Unless Samuel Hart’s stolen son had grown up.
Unless Amanda had unknowingly met him.
Corwin was dragged toward the stairs.
Amanda followed the paramedics into the mansion. Rain had blown through the open front doors, streaking the marble. Flashing emergency lights painted the walls red and blue.
Vivian walked behind her under police supervision, yet she still carried herself like the owner of every person present.
At the ambulance, Ethan reached for Amanda.
“I’m coming with you.”
A paramedic helped her inside. Richard was placed in a second ambulance, unconscious beneath an oxygen mask.
Before the doors closed, Vivian called Amanda’s name.
Amanda looked out.
Vivian stood in the rain between two officers.
“You believe Samuel is saving you,” she said. “But he chose Ethan before Ethan was born.”
The doors slammed shut.
During the drive, Ethan drifted in and out of sleep. Amanda held his hand while the monitor tracked his heart. She tried Richard’s phone, but it was locked. She tried the Hart Archive notification again. The link now requested a voice phrase.
A clue appeared beneath the box.
WHAT DID THE BIRD SEE?
Amanda looked at Ethan.
“Sweetheart, the wooden bird Richard gave you—where is it?”
Ethan’s eyes opened halfway. “Daddy didn’t give it.”
“Who did?”
“The man by the lake.”
Amanda’s heart stopped.
“What man?”
“The man with your eyes.”
“Grandpa?”
May you like
Ethan shook his head.
“He said he was your brother.”
