Chapter 10 - Celia’s Version of the Truth
Maya watched the tracking signal stop underground.
Jonah studied the map on his tablet.
“The signal is stationary.”
“How far below?”
“At least four levels.”
The officers requested backup.
Maya looked at the isolated building.
“We don’t have time.”
“We also don’t have a warrant to storm a private medical facility.”
“My husband is inside with the woman who poisoned my child.”
Jonah’s phone rang.
He answered and listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He ended the call.
“The ownership records were just transferred.”
“To whom?”
“A company registered overseas. The previous files are being deleted in real time.”
“They know we’re here.”
Jonah looked toward the facility.
“Yes.”
Maya opened the car door.
He caught her arm.
“You cannot go in.”
“Then arrest me after I bring Ryan out.”
Before Jonah could respond, an explosion sounded beneath the ground.
Smoke rose from vents near the building.
The iron gates began closing.
The officers drove forward and blocked them with the vehicle.
Maya ran to the entrance.
Inside, emergency lights flashed.
A security guard lay unconscious near the elevator.
Jonah checked his pulse.
“Alive.”
The elevator controls were disabled.
Maya noticed a stairwell door.
Locked.
She used the silver key Anna had given her.
It opened.
Jonah stared at the key.
“How did she know?”
Maya did not answer.
They descended.
On the fourth underground level, they found Ryan trying to break the reinforced door with a fire extinguisher.
Maya ran toward him.
“Ryan!”
He pulled her into his arms.
“Celia is inside.”
Smoke filled the corridor behind the glass.
Jonah found a manual release panel.
The door opened.
They entered the medical room.
Evelyn was gone.
A hidden exit stood open behind one of the machines.
Celia remained inside the enclosure.
Ryan found the release mechanism.
The glass lifted.
Celia collapsed into his arms.
She was lighter than he expected.
Almost weightless.
“My mother escaped,” he said.
Celia coughed.
“She’ll go for Oliver.”
Maya knelt beside her.
“Why?”
“Because he isn’t only a donor.”
“What is he?”
Celia looked at Ryan.
“Ask him about the night Father died.”
Ryan frowned.
“I was eight.”
“You were there.”
“I was asleep.”
“No.”
Celia gripped his wrist.
“You saw Evelyn push him.”
Ryan pulled away.
“My father died in a car accident.”
“That’s what she told you.”
The alarms grew louder.
Jonah helped lift Celia onto a wheelchair.
“We need to move.”
As they reached the stairwell, Celia whispered to Maya.
“Oliver’s blood contains a marker connected to the Mercer inheritance.”
“What inheritance?”
“Not money.”
Maya leaned closer.
Celia’s voice was barely audible.
“A legal identity.”
Smoke rushed through the corridor.
They climbed the stairs.
Celia stopped twice because she could not breathe.
Ryan carried her the final level.
Outside, paramedics placed her in an ambulance.
Before the doors closed, Celia caught Maya’s hand.
“Do not let them test Oliver again.”
“Who?”
“The people who paid Evelyn.”
“Who are they?”
Celia’s eyes moved toward Jonah.
“The ones he used to work for.”
Maya turned.
Jonah stood near the entrance speaking to an officer.
When he looked at her, she saw something new in his expression.
May you like
Not surprise.
Recognition.
