Chapter 11 - The Choice Wren Thought She Would Make
Rebecca did not choose a child.
She chose the power.
She seized a metal champagne stand and swung it into the control panel.
Sparks erupted.
The enclosure doors unlocked simultaneously.
Wren screamed.
“No!”
Marcus pulled Emma free.
Rebecca reached Elise and pressed her ear against the child’s chest.
A heartbeat.
Weak but present.
Madison opened Rose’s enclosure and lifted the girl into her arms.
Harold aimed the remote again, but Josh tackled him across the table.
The device skidded toward the wheelchair.
Wren caught it.
Before he could press another button, Rose threw the yellow blanket over his hand.
Madison kicked the remote away.
Agent Reed fired at the ceiling when armed guards moved from the balcony.
Federal tactical teams breached the ballroom from both tunnels.
Guests dropped to the floor.
Several attempted to destroy phones or swallow data capsules. Officers restrained them.
Rebecca carried Elise toward the exit.
Dr. Shaw and an emergency team waited in the service tunnel. They placed Elise on a stretcher and began assisted ventilation.
Emma clung to Marcus.
Rose stood alone, staring at Rebecca.
Rebecca knelt.
The child had been trained not to approach without permission.
“You can come with me,” Rebecca said.
Rose looked toward Wren.
He sat surrounded by agents.
His expression remained calm.
“Rose,” he called, “finish the song.”
The girl’s lips parted.
Rebecca took her hands.
“You do not have to sing for him.”
Wren leaned forward.
“She belongs to the program.”
“She belongs to herself.”
Rose began humming.
Emma covered her ears.
Agent Reed shouted for everyone to move.
Wren smiled.
The hotel lights turned red.
Explosive charges had been hidden beneath the ballroom.
A digital countdown appeared on the central screen.
Two minutes.
Wren had designed the room to bury all evidence if capture became likely.
Tactical officers rushed prisoners toward the tunnels.
Harold tore free from Josh and ran toward a private elevator.
Marcus followed.
“Let him go!” Reed shouted.
Marcus ignored him.
Harold entered the elevator and pressed the button.
Marcus forced the doors apart before they closed.
They struggled inside.
“You let them experiment on your granddaughter,” Marcus said.
Harold struck him with the silver cane.
“She was never my granddaughter.”
Marcus grabbed the cane.
“She called you Grandpa.”
“She was a container.”
Marcus drove Harold against the wall.
“Where does this elevator go?”
Harold laughed.
“To the life you were never strong enough to inherit.”
He pressed a hidden switch.
The elevator shot downward.
Above them, Rebecca ran with Rose through the service tunnel. Emma remained in Josh’s arms. Elise’s stretcher moved ahead.
The countdown reached one minute.
Rebecca looked back.
“Where is Marcus?”
Josh stopped.
“He followed Dad.”
Reed spoke into his radio.
No response.
The underground ballroom began sealing itself.
Rebecca tried to return, but Reed blocked her.
“You have three children depending on you.”
“My husband is still down there.”
“And he needs you alive.”
The words cut through her panic.
They reached the laundry exit as the countdown displayed twelve seconds.
Everyone threw themselves behind armored vehicles.
The explosion lifted part of the hotel ballroom into the air.
Glass and fire burst across the courtyard.
Rebecca screamed Marcus’s name.
For several minutes, no one could approach.
Then a service hatch opened near the river behind the hotel.
Marcus crawled out carrying Harold’s silver cane.
He was bleeding from the forehead.
Rebecca ran to him.
“Where is Harold?”
Marcus looked back at the dark tunnel.
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
“I don’t know.”
The elevator had descended to an underground rail system. Harold escaped into a motorized cart before Marcus could stop him.
The tunnel led away from the city.
Wren was transported under federal guard, along with Evelyn, Dr. Voss, and twenty-seven investors.
Madison asked to remain near Rose.
The child refused to speak to her.
At the hospital, Elise survived.
Emma’s breathing stabilized.
Rose underwent examination and showed signs of prolonged confinement, repeated sedation, and severe psychological conditioning.
Rebecca spent the night moving between three beds.
At sunrise, Rose reached for her hand.
“Are you the mother who lost me?”
Rebecca fought tears.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you find me?”
“I did not know where to look.”
Rose considered this.
“Will you lose me again?”
“Never.”
Across the room, Emma opened her eyes.
“Grandpa is not gone.”
Marcus stood near the window.
“How do you know?”
Emma pointed to Harold’s silver cane resting against the wall.
May you like
A faint red light blinked beneath its handle.
The cane was transmitting their location.
