Chapter 6
The old Carter warehouse stood beside the river.
It had been abandoned for twelve years, but the electricity was still active.
Ryan had chosen it because he knew Dad would remember every hallway.
He had also chosen it because Dad’s grief would make him careless.
We arrived with Marcus and two trusted officers.
Dad carried a black case containing what Ryan believed was the master key.
The real key was hidden somewhere else.
Only Dad knew where.
“Ryan will search us,” Marcus said.
“He’ll separate us,” I replied. “He wants Dad emotional and me frightened.”
Dad looked at me.
“You stay beside Marcus.”
“No. Ryan expects me with you.”
“I won’t use you as bait.”
“You aren’t using me. I’m choosing.”
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Dad nodded.
We entered through the loading bay.
A single light hung over the center of the warehouse.
Mom was tied to a metal chair beneath it.
Diane stood behind her with a gun.
Ryan stepped out of the darkness.
He had changed clothes, but Victor’s blood still marked one cuff.
“Where’s Sophie?” I demanded.
“Safe for now.”
Dad lifted the black case.
“Release Margaret first.”
Ryan smiled.
“You don’t give orders here.”
Four armed men appeared on the upper walkway.
Marcus quietly counted them.
Dad placed the case on the floor.
Ryan ordered him to slide it forward.
Dad did.
Diane opened it.
Inside was a small encrypted drive.
Ryan’s eyes filled with hunger.
“With this, every Ruby transmitter becomes ours.”
“You don’t understand the system,” Dad said.
“I don’t need to. I have buyers who do.”
“This technology saves lives.”
“It also finds people who don’t want to be found.”
That was the real plan.
Ryan wanted to sell a network capable of tracking emergency transmitters around the world.
Soldiers.
Government officials.
Families of military leaders.
Anyone carrying the technology could become a target.
Diane inserted the drive into the control unit.
Nothing happened.
A message appeared on her laptop.
Biometric authorization required.
Ryan looked at Dad.
“You knew.”
“Of course I knew.”
Ryan grabbed me and pressed his gun against my temple.
“Authorize it.”
“No.”
Ryan pulled back the hammer.
Mom screamed.
Dad did not move.
“You won’t shoot her,” he said.
“You really want to test that?”
“If Emily dies, the system permanently locks. Her ring registered her as the active emergency user last night.”
Ryan’s confidence cracked.
It was a lie.
But he believed it.
I felt his grip loosen.
I stepped down hard on his foot, drove my head backward into his face, and pulled away.
Dad drew his weapon.
Gunfire erupted from the upper walkway.
Marcus dragged Mom’s chair behind a steel support.
Dad fired toward the railing.
I crawled behind a crate.
Ryan disappeared into the shadows.
Diane ran after him with the control unit.
One of the armed men came down the stairs.
I wrapped Ryan’s belt around my hands.
When the man passed, I caught his ankle with the leather and pulled.
He hit the floor.
I kicked his gun away.
Marcus rushed forward and restrained him.
The other men fled when police sirens approached.
Dad had transmitted the warehouse location before we entered.
Ryan’s corrupt contact inside the department had delayed the response, but not long enough.
Dad freed Mom.
“Where is Sophie?”
Mom was crying so hard she could barely speak.
“The video showed a blue door. There was a train behind her.”
Marcus searched the captured man.
He found a key card from a storage facility beside the eastern railroad line.
Then a scream came from the far side of the warehouse.
We ran toward it.
Diane was on the floor.
Blood covered her forehead.
The control unit was gone.
“He hit me,” she whispered.
“Ryan?”
“My son took it.”
Even Diane looked shocked.
“He said I was slowing him down.”
Ryan had abandoned his own mother.
Dad ordered police to secure her.
Then my phone rang.
Sophie’s name appeared on the screen.
I answered.
For several seconds, I heard only breathing.
Then my sister whispered, “Emily?”
“Sophie, where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“He said he was coming back.”
A train horn sounded through the phone.
Marcus showed me the storage facility on his map.
We had her location.
Then Sophie began crying.
“There’s someone outside the door.”
“Sophie, listen to me. Move away from it.”
The lock clicked.
A man entered the room.
May you like
Sophie screamed.
The call ended.
