Chapter 9
Richard covered Elizabeth’s face with his jacket.
Caroline helped Mason to his feet.
The detective’s shoulder wound was painful but not life-threatening.
“We need to evacuate,” Mason said.
“The exits are sealed,” Richard answered.
Caroline examined the mist.
“This is not the same gas from the laboratory. It’s an aerosol form of the cardiac compound.”
“How long do we have?”
“Minutes.”
Richard carried Elizabeth into the hallway.
His father’s voice came through the speakers.
“The study. Now.”
Mason contacted the officers outside.
They were preparing to force the doors, but the steel barriers were designed to withstand explosions.
Richard knew another route.
“The ballroom has a service chimney.”
“It was closed during renovation,” Caroline said.
“Vanessa reopened the old passages.”
Richard gave Elizabeth to Caroline.
“Take her and Mason toward the ballroom.”
“Where are you going?”
“To end this.”
Elizabeth’s eyes opened slightly.
“Richard.”
He knelt beside her.
“I’m here.”
“Charles wants Adam.”
“I won’t let him have either child.”
“You don’t understand.”
Her fingers closed around his wrist.
“Adam isn’t sick.”
“What?”
“He carries the treatment.”
Caroline stared at her.
Elizabeth fought to stay conscious.
“His blood produces the antibody Evelyn used. Charles wants to control it.”
Richard understood.
His father had not stolen Adam merely for an experiment.
Adam was the experiment.
“What about Sophie?”
“Same marker. Stronger response.”
Richard’s anger became cold and absolute.
His children had never been family to Charles.
They were resources.
He stood.
“Get Elizabeth out.”
Caroline nodded.
Richard moved through the mist toward the study.
He entered to find Charles Sterling sitting behind the desk where Richard had signed his first company papers at sixteen.
The old man’s hair was white.
An oxygen tube rested beneath his nose.
Vanessa stood beside him.
Thomas was on the other side of the room, tied to a chair.
Maria lay unconscious near the wall.
Richard stopped.
“How did they get here?”
“While you were playing hero at the hospital,” Charles said.
Richard looked at Vanessa.
“You kidnapped Maria twice?”
“She kept becoming inconvenient.”
Richard’s father gestured toward the desk.
“Sit down.”
“I prefer standing.”
“You always confused defiance with strength.”
“And you confused fear with respect.”
Charles smiled.
“At least you finally sound like my son.”
“You stole my child.”
“I preserved him.”
“You let me believe he was dead.”
“You were too emotional to understand what was required.”
“He was a premature baby.”
“He was the key to a treatment worth billions.”
Richard moved closer.
Vanessa raised a gun.
“Stop.”
He looked at her.
“You said you wanted a family.”
“I wanted a life no one could take from me.”
“So you chose the man who takes everything.”
Charles tapped one finger on the desk.
“Vanessa has always understood survival.”
Richard noticed that his father’s hand was trembling.
The disease Evelyn described had reached him too.
“You need Adam’s blood.”
“I need the formula Elizabeth hid.”
“And if she dies?”
“We still have Caroline.”
“You don’t have anyone.”
Charles smiled.
“I have your company.”
Richard almost laughed.
“No.”
“You signed control of the Sterling medical trust to me when you were twenty-five.”
“The trust was dissolved.”
“Publicly.”
Thomas lifted his head.
“Richard, the documents in the red ledger—”
Vanessa struck Thomas with the gun.
“Quiet.”
Richard kept his eyes on Charles.
“You controlled Thomas.”
“I controlled everyone.”
“Not anymore.”
He pressed the emergency button on his watch.
Charles looked amused.
“Your signal cannot leave this room.”
“It doesn’t need to.”
Richard had connected the watch to the estate speakers through his home system.
Every word had been transmitted throughout the house.
And through Sophie’s police radio outside.
Charles’s confession was being recorded.
Richard heard Mason’s voice faintly from the hallway.
“Police are in the ballroom.”
Charles heard it too.
His smile disappeared.
Vanessa turned toward the door.
Richard lunged.
He knocked the gun from her hand.
It slid beneath the desk.
Vanessa struck him across the face.
He caught her arms before she could reach the weapon.
Thomas threw himself sideways, knocking the chair into Charles.
The old man fell.
Maria stirred near the wall.
Vanessa kicked Richard’s injured arm and broke free.
She grabbed the gun.
Before she could raise it, Maria seized her ankle.
Vanessa fell.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Richard pulled Maria away.
Mason and two officers entered.
“Drop the weapon!”
Vanessa stared at the surrounding officers.
This time there was no balcony.
No hidden vehicle.
No false legal document.
She released the gun.
Officers handcuffed her.
Charles remained on the floor, breathing hard.
Richard stood over him.
“Where is the formula?”
Charles smiled weakly.
“Ask your wife why she came home.”
Richard turned.
Caroline had brought Elizabeth to the study doorway.
She leaned against the frame, barely able to stand.
“You should be leaving,” Richard said.
“I needed to hear him admit it.”
Charles looked at her.
“You always were dramatic, Elizabeth.”
She entered slowly.
“Where is my son?”
“Safe outside.”
“Both of them?”
“Yes.”
Relief crossed her face.
Then she looked at Charles.
“The formula is already public.”
His expression changed.
“You’re lying.”
“I released it eighteen months ago under twelve different names. No company can own it.”
“You destroyed its value.”
“I saved its purpose.”
Charles tried to rise.
His legs failed.
“You ungrateful little fool.”
“You took my babies.”
“I gave the boy a purpose.”
“You stole his childhood.”
Charles looked toward Richard.
“Your wife deceived you from the day she met you.”
Richard faced Elizabeth.
“Is that true?”
She did not look away.
“Yes.”
Pain moved through him.
“I approached you because of the laboratory. I needed access to your father’s financial records.”
“Did you ever plan to tell me?”
“I tried the night I collapsed.”
“Before that.”
“No.”
The answer hurt, but he respected its honesty.
“Did you love me?”
Elizabeth’s voice broke.
“More than I was supposed to.”
Charles laughed from the floor.
Richard turned toward him.
“You find this funny?”
“I find you predictable. You will forgive her because she gave you children. Then you will pretend your marriage was real.”
Elizabeth stepped back as if struck.
Richard looked at her.
“Our marriage was real to me.”
“To me too,” she whispered.
“But you were already married.”
“Daniel and I separated before I met you. We kept the certificate active to protect evidence.”
“That does not make it right.”
“I know.”
For the first time, Richard saw no secret defense in her eyes.
Only regret.
Officers lifted Charles onto a stretcher.
He reached toward Richard.
“The illness will come for you.”
Richard did not move.
“You will beg for my research.”
“If it comes, I’ll face it without sacrificing my children.”
Charles’s hand fell.
The police took him away.
Caroline began coughing.
The compound in the air was growing stronger.
Mason ordered everyone toward the ballroom.
Officers had opened the chimney passage.
Richard untied Thomas and helped Maria.
When they reached the ballroom, firefighters guided them through the service tunnel.
Outside, Sophie ran toward him.
Richard caught her.
Then she saw Elizabeth.
The child stopped.
Elizabeth stood beneath the flashing emergency lights, pale and unsteady.
Sophie’s lips trembled.
“Mommy?”
Elizabeth sank to her knees.
“My sweet girl.”
Sophie ran into her arms.
Elizabeth held her and sobbed.
Richard watched them from a few feet away.
Adam stood beside him.
“That’s really her?”
“Yes.”
Adam did not move.
Elizabeth looked up.
Their eyes met.
She slowly released Sophie and rose.
“Adam.”
He stepped backward.
“You knew I was alive.”
“I searched for you.”
“You found me.”
“Not until you were twenty-two.”
“That was six years ago.”
“Evelyn threatened to kill you if I approached.”
“So you watched?”
Elizabeth’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
“You watched me live in that place.”
“I was trying to find a way to free you.”
“You freed the research.”
“I thought making it public would destroy their power.”
“But you left me there.”
Adam turned away.
Richard reached for him.
Adam pulled back.
“Don’t.”
He walked toward the road.
Sophie called after him.
“Adam!”
He paused but did not turn.
A dark car came around the curve.
It accelerated toward him.
Richard saw Vanessa’s attorney behind the wheel.
“Adam, move!”
Richard ran.
The car struck the edge of a police barricade, broke through, and headed directly for Adam.
Elizabeth screamed.
At the last second, Richard tackled his son into the grass.
The car missed them and crashed into a stone wall.
Officers surrounded it.
Richard rolled onto his back, gasping.
Adam lay beside him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Adam looked at Richard.
“You came back for me.”
Richard’s eyes filled with tears.
“I will spend the rest of my life coming back for you.”
Adam’s expression softened.
He gripped Richard’s hand.
Behind them, Elizabeth collapsed.
Caroline rushed toward her.
Richard and Adam ran back.
Elizabeth’s pulse was fading again.
“The compound damaged her heart,” Caroline said. “She needs the antibody.”
Everyone looked at Adam.
He understood immediately.
“My blood.”
Caroline nodded.
“It could save her.”
Adam stared at the mother who had watched him from a distance for six years.
The mother who had never held him.
Richard would not pressure him.
Neither would Elizabeth.
Her eyes opened weakly.
“No.”
Caroline leaned closer.
“Elizabeth?”
“Don’t take anything from him.”
“It’s his choice.”
Elizabeth looked at Adam.
“You owe me nothing.”
Adam’s face twisted with pain.
“You’re my mother.”
“I should have been.”
“You can still try.”
He held out his arm to the paramedic.
“Take what you need.”
As they prepared the emergency transfusion, a federal agent approached Mason.
“We searched Charles Sterling’s vehicle.”
“What did you find?”
“A list of patients scheduled for transfer.”
Mason read the first page.
Then he looked at Richard.
“What is it?”
“There are twelve children on this list.”
Richard’s relief disappeared.
“Where are they?”
“The transfer location is coded.”
Elizabeth heard him.
May you like
She reached inside her coat and removed a small brass key.
“I know where.”
