Chapter 7 - Midnight at Ashford Manor
Beck wanted to evacuate the hotel.
Emily wanted to use the threat.
“They believe we will bring the card,” she said. “That gives us leverage.”
“It gives them a target.”
“They already have one.”
Emily looked through the glass door at Maisie.
Nora had drawn the curtains and was checking every entrance.
Beck contacted a federal tactical team he trusted personally.
No electronic communications were used after that.
At eleven thirty, Emily placed a blank memory card inside the plastic capsule and returned it to the stuffed fox.
The original stayed inside a secure evidence pouch against Beck’s chest.
They approached Ashford Manor from the wooded north boundary.
Rain had begun to fall.
Through binoculars, Emily counted at least six guards.
“This is not a family gathering,” she whispered.
Beck scanned the driveway.
“Several vehicles belong to Orison executives.”
“Why meet here?”
“Because Helen believes the house will legally belong to her in the morning.”
Emily studied the guest cottage beyond the trees.
One upstairs window showed a faint light.
“There.”
Beck followed her gaze.
Two guards stood near the cottage door.
The federal team moved into position, but Beck raised his hand.
“Not until we confirm a hostage.”
Emily removed the brass key from her pocket.
“There is a tunnel from the wine cellar to the cottage.”
“How do you know?”
“I found it when I was twelve.”
“You seem to have spent an unusual childhood exploring secret passages.”
“My parents spent an unusual amount of time hiding things.”
They entered through an old drainage channel beneath the garden wall.
The wine cellar door was unlocked.
Inside, rows of expensive bottles lined the stone walls.
Emily moved toward the rear rack and pulled a dusty bottle forward.
A section of shelving released.
The tunnel beyond smelled of damp earth and disinfectant.
Halfway through, they found medical supply boxes.
Syringes.
Sedatives.
Intravenous equipment.
Beck photographed everything.
At the cottage entrance, they heard someone coughing.
Emily pushed open the concealed door.
An elderly man sat in a wheelchair beneath a blanket.
Harrison Vale.
He was thinner than his old photographs, but unmistakably alive.
His eyes widened when he saw Emily.
“Elaine?”
“No. I’m Emily.”
Harrison began to cry.
“You have her eyes.”
Emily knelt beside him.
“Where is my mother?”
Harrison pointed upstairs.
Before Emily could move, Beck stopped her.
A camera was mounted above the staircase.
The red indicator light blinked.
“They know we’re here.”
Doors slammed outside.
Harrison grabbed Emily’s sleeve with surprising strength.
“Listen to me. They want Maisie’s blood.”
“Why?”
“The Eos marker.”
“What is it?”
“Your mother altered the storage compound after the trials. She encoded the final formula into a hereditary protein sequence.”
Emily stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not the formula itself. A biological key required to activate it.”
“Maisie has that key?”
“She may.”
A voice sounded through a speaker in the ceiling.
Helen.
“Thank you, Harrison. You have always explained things more clearly than necessary.”
The cottage lights went out.
Gunshots cracked outside.
The federal team had engaged the guards.
Beck drew his weapon.
“Stay with Harrison.”
Emily ignored him and ran upstairs.
She found three locked rooms.
The first contained medical records.
The second contained surveillance equipment.
The third held a narrow bed beneath a barred window.
A woman lay beneath a white blanket.
Her hair was almost entirely gray.
Emily approached slowly.
“Mom?”
The woman opened her eyes.
For a moment, there was no recognition.
Then her lips moved.
“Emily?”
The sound broke twelve years of grief.
Emily fell beside the bed.
Elaine raised a trembling hand and touched her face.
“My little girl.”
Emily pressed her mother’s hand against her cheek.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I was supposed to be.”
Footsteps sounded in the hall.
Peter appeared in the doorway holding a gun.
Emily stood between him and the bed.
Peter’s hand shook.
“You need to come with me.”
“Put the gun down.”
“I can’t.”
“Your mother kept mine prisoner for twelve years.”
“I only found out last month.”
“And you still helped her.”
“She has Maisie.”
Emily’s blood stopped.
“No. Maisie is with Nora.”
Peter looked devastated.
“Not anymore.”
He turned his phone toward Emily.
A live video showed Nora’s hotel room.
May you like
Nora lay unconscious on the floor.
The crib was empty.
