Chapter 11 - The Exchange at Black Water
A monitor switched on by itself.
Lena Vale appeared on the screen.
Her scar made the left side of her mouth appear permanently tense. She held Sophie against her chest.
My daughter was awake.
The crescent-shaped mark beneath her collarbone was visible.
“Sophie,” I whispered.
Lena looked directly into the camera.
“Emily, listen carefully. The room is being watched.”
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
“Bring me my daughter.”
“I will, but not until Marcus shows me the archive.”
Marcus approached the monitor.
“You know the drive is encrypted.”
“You have Daniel’s fragment.”
“And Evelyn’s fragment is missing.”
Lena shook her head.
“No. Evelyn gave her fragment to the institute twelve years ago.”
“Then Sebastian has two.”
“He has all three.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“My fragment?”
“Was copied from your computer before you stole the drive,” Lena said. “Sebastian can open the archive whenever he wants.”
“Then why hasn’t he?” I asked.
“Because the archive contains a dead-man release. Once opened, every file is transmitted to hundreds of journalists, courts and medical boards.”
Marcus stared at her.
“I didn’t create that.”
“No. I did.”
Lena shifted Sophie carefully.
“I added it after Daniel stole the drive.”
“Why?”
“Because evidence hidden forever is no better than evidence destroyed.”
“Then open it,” I said.
“The drive is here beneath the lake.”
A map appeared on the screen.
It showed tunnels connecting the cabin laboratory to a submerged vault.
“Sebastian’s people are coming,” Lena said. “They believe Marcus brought the archive.”
“Did he?” Daniel asked.
Marcus removed a small metal case from inside his jacket.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“You said the drive was somewhere safe.”
“It was safer with me than anywhere else.”
Lena continued.
“At midnight, we make the exchange on the eastern dock. Sophie for Grace.”
My arms tightened around the newborn.
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“We won’t surrender Grace.”
“Then they kill Sophie,” Lena said.
“You expect me to trade one baby for another?”
“I expect you to pretend.”
Marcus opened a cabinet and removed a lifelike medical training doll.
He dressed it in Grace’s sleeper and wrapped it in a blanket.
“That may work from a distance,” he said.
Lena’s face tightened.
“They will scan for body heat.”
Daniel placed a warming pad beneath the doll.
“And heartbeat?”
Marcus attached a small electronic simulator.
At eleven fifty-five, we walked toward the eastern dock.
Fog covered the lake.
Marcus carried the bundle. Daniel walked beside him.
I remained hidden near the tree line with Grace and Noah. The laboratory monitor had shown Sophie alive, but every instinct in me feared another trick.
A boat emerged from the fog.
Two armed men stood at the bow.
Lena sat behind them holding Sophie.
An older woman stood at the center of the boat.
Her white hair moved in the wind.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Mother.”
Evelyn Cross smiled.
“My son.”
She looked toward Marcus.
“And the husband who tried to bury me.”
The boat stopped beside the dock.
Evelyn extended one hand.
“Give me Grace.”
“Give us Sophie,” Marcus replied.
Evelyn laughed.
“You still imagine this is a negotiation.”
One of the armed men placed a gun against Lena’s head.
The other aimed at Sophie.
Daniel stepped forward.
“She is your great-granddaughter.”
“They both are.”
“Then why threaten them?”
“Because blood has value only when properly used.”
I felt Noah move beside me.
He slipped away before I could stop him.
He ran onto the dock.
“Noah!” I screamed.
Every head turned.
Noah pointed at one of the armed men.
“That’s the man from the hospital.”
The man aimed his weapon at my son.
Daniel lunged.
Gunfire exploded across the lake.
Marcus threw the false bundle toward Evelyn. The warming device burst against the side of the boat, releasing smoke.
Lena jumped into the water with Sophie.
I ran toward the dock as Daniel tackled the gunman.
Marcus fired at the boat’s engine.
Flames erupted near the stern.
Evelyn disappeared into the smoke.
Lena surfaced, struggling to hold Sophie above the freezing water.
I dropped to my knees and reached for them.
My fingers closed around the yellow blanket.
Then something pulled Lena backward beneath the surface.
May you like
Sophie slipped from her arms.
I caught my daughter one second before she fell into the lake.
