Chapter 14 - The House of Secrets Burns
Emergency lights flashed along the corridor.
Daniel pulled Mercer away from the console.
“Where is the shutdown?”
Mercer smiled despite the pain.
“There isn’t one.”
A second explosion echoed through the ward.
Ceiling panels fell.
Sarah ran toward the surgical chambers.
Noah followed.
Daniel called after her.
“Sarah!”
“Get Margaret!”
She did not look back.
Smoke filled the observation room.
Ethan’s chamber stood open.
Margaret had removed his restraints and was trying to lift him.
Sarah rushed to help.
Across the room, Subject Seven’s chamber was empty.
“Where is he?” Sarah asked.
Margaret coughed.
“He woke up and ran.”
Sarah looked toward the open service door.
Her son had disappeared into the burning facility.
Noah lifted Ethan onto his back.
They moved toward the tunnel exit.
A figure emerged through the smoke.
The hood had been removed.
Subject Seven stood before Sarah.
He was twenty-one years old, lean and scarred, with dark hair falling across his forehead.
His face did not resemble hers as strongly as she had imagined.
But his eyes did.
Around his neck hung half of the silver heart.
Sarah raised her hand.
He stepped back.
“What do they call you?” she asked.
“Adrian.”
“Did you choose that name?”
He nodded.
“My name is Sarah.”
“I know.”
Her breath caught.
“You remember me?”
“I remember your voice.”
A beam collapsed behind them.
Adrian flinched and reached for a metal bar as a weapon.
Sarah did not move closer.
“We have to leave.”
“You work for them.”
“No.”
“You came with Daniel.”
“He is my husband.”
Adrian’s expression turned cold.
“Then you are with them.”
“He lied to me.”
“They all lie.”
Noah stepped forward carrying Ethan.
“She helped us.”
Adrian looked at Ethan.
A complicated emotion crossed his face.
“He took my life.”
Sarah understood who he meant.
Ethan had been raised in the home Adrian should have known.
Ethan had received Sarah’s love, Daniel’s name, and fourteen years of freedom.
But Ethan had not chosen any of it.
“He is innocent,” Sarah said.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“So was I.”
Another explosion shook the floor.
Sarah met his eyes.
“You are right.”
Adrian seemed surprised.
“No apology can return what was stolen from you. But I will not leave you here.”
“You don’t know me.”
“You’re my son.”
“That is a fact, not a relationship.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Sarah nodded.
“Then let me earn the rest later.”
Adrian stared at her for a long second.
Then he pointed toward a side passage.
“The main tunnel is blocked. There’s a drainage route.”
They followed him.
Behind them, Daniel appeared carrying Margaret while dragging Mercer by the collar.
“Leave him,” Sarah said.
Daniel shook his head.
“He knows where the backup servers are.”
Mercer laughed weakly.
“You still believe information will save you?”
“No,” Daniel said. “But it may destroy you.”
They reached a steel ladder leading to the surface.
Adrian climbed first and forced open the access cover.
Cold rain poured down.
Noah carried Ethan out.
Sarah and Margaret followed.
Daniel emerged last.
He had left Mercer below.
“Where is he?” Sarah asked.
“He escaped through another tunnel.”
“Or you let him go.”
Daniel did not answer.
Sirens approached from several directions.
Sarah looked toward the hospital.
Smoke poured from the research wing.
Police vehicles surrounded the building.
Elena ran across the parking lot.
“The files came through,” she shouted.
Sarah stared at her.
“The upload failed.”
“Not all of it. Your phone sent the first archive package before the system shut down.”
“Was it enough?”
Elena held up her phone.
News alerts appeared across the screen.
MERCER BIOTECH ACCUSED OF ILLEGAL CHILD EXPERIMENTS
HALCYON FILES REVEAL INSURANCE FRAUD NETWORK
FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS RAID MERCER FACILITIES
Sarah looked at Daniel.
Police officers moved toward him.
He did not run.
For the first time in fourteen years, Daniel appeared to understand that he could no longer control the story.
An officer placed him in handcuffs.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
“I did love you.”
Sarah wiped rain and blood from her face.
“You loved owning me.”
The officer led him away.
May you like
As Daniel reached the police vehicle, a gunshot came from the hospital roof.
Daniel collapsed.
