Chapter 14: The Choice
Emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Daniel grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.””
Celia stepped backward.
“I didn't know they were coming.””
Thomas's voice came through the speaker.
“You have three minutes.””
“For what?”” Daniel asked.
“To get Lily out.””
A gunshot cracked somewhere upstairs.
Lily screamed.
I ran toward the door.
Daniel caught me.
“Not that way.””
Another gunshot.
Closer.
Officer Grant wasn't there.
He had stayed behind at the house.
We were alone.
Except for Celia, Eleanor, and Dr. Voss.
Dr. Voss pointed toward a narrow corridor.
“There's another exit.””
Daniel looked at her.
“How do you know?””
“I helped build this place.””
Celia stared at her.
“You helped them?””
“I thought I was helping children.””
“You erased their identities.””
“I saved some of them.””
“Not Anna.””
Dr. Voss looked down.
“No.””
Daniel opened the corridor door.
“Move.””
We ran.
The corridor ended at a steel staircase.
Above us came footsteps.
Fast.
Heavy.
Someone shouted:
“Check every room!””
Daniel pushed us into a storage closet.
We squeezed inside.
Lily's voice came through my phone.
“Mommy?””
I nearly cried.
“Baby, I'm here.””
“I can't see you.””
“Listen to me. We're coming.””
“I'm scared.””
“I know.””
“Mr. Bunny is scared too.””
I smiled despite everything.
“Then you hold him tight.””
Daniel leaned toward the phone.
“Daddy's coming.””
A tiny voice answered.
“Daddy?””
“Yes.””
“Are you mad at me?””
“No, sweetheart.””
“You promise?””
“I promise.””
He closed his eyes.
“I should never have let them make you afraid.””
Footsteps stopped outside the closet.
We froze.
A man's voice said:
“She's here.””
The door handle moved.
Daniel stepped in front of me.
Then Celia struck the door with her shoulder.
The man stumbled backward.
Daniel pulled it open.
A struggle erupted in the hallway.
Celia grabbed the man's wrist.
“Run!””
Daniel dragged me toward the stairs.
Eleanor stayed behind.
I turned.
“Eleanor!””
“Go!””
She slammed the security door between us.
A second later, the lock engaged.
We reached the upper floor.
A classroom door opened.
Lily was inside.
I ran to her.
She threw herself into my arms.
“Mommy!””
I held her so tightly my chest hurt.
Daniel crouched beside us.
“I told you I'd come.””
Lily touched his face.
“Daddy, you're crying.””
He laughed through his tears.
“Apparently I am.””
She hugged him.
Then she looked at me.
“Mommy, I know something.””
“What?””
“The lady said I wasn't supposed to tell.””
“Tell me.””
Lily whispered:
“She put something in my necklace.””
I stared at the tiny silver pendant around her neck.
“Who?””
“Aunt Celia.””
Daniel's face changed.
“Take it off.””
Lily handed it to me.
Daniel examined it.
The pendant had a hidden seam.
He pressed it.
It opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Thomas's voice came through my phone.
“That's the evidence.””
Daniel stared at the pendant.
“Why did Celia give this to Lily?””
The answer came from behind us.
“Because she wanted Lily to survive.””
Celia stood in the doorway.
Her blouse was torn.
Blood streaked one side of her face.
But she was smiling.
“I've been trying to get that card to you for seven years.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your father was watching.””
“Why scare Lily?””
“I needed you to believe I was the villain.””
I looked at her.
“You could have killed her.””
“I would never hurt her.””
“You held a golf club.””
“I wanted Daniel to come home.””
Daniel shook his head.
“You could have just called me.””
“I did.””
His expression changed.
“How many times?””
“Every time I called, your father's people answered your phone.””
Silence.
Celia looked at me.
“They were already inside your life.””
She pointed at the memory card.
“Everything is on there.””
“What everything?””
“Payments. Names. Doctors.
Judges. Politicians. Every child.””
Daniel looked at Lily.
“And Michael?””
Celia nodded.
“His confession too.””
Suddenly, the building shook.
A deep explosion echoed through the corridor.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Celia grabbed Lily.
“Move!””
We ran.
Behind us, flames climbed the staircase.
Someone had set the building on fire.
Daniel looked back.
“The evidence.””
Celia shouted:
“Forget the building!””
She pointed toward the exit.
“Save the child!””
We reached the courtyard.
Sirens screamed in the distance.
Fire spread across the roof.
I looked down at Lily.
She was safe.
Alive.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
From Thomas.
*You have the evidence.*
A second message appeared.
*But you still don't know who ordered your mother's death.*
Then a third.
*Look at the memory card.*
Daniel inserted it into his phone.
One video appeared.
The screen showed a hospital room.
My mother stood beside a newborn baby.
Me.
Then the camera moved.
Someone stepped into view.
Daniel's father.
Beside him stood Celia.
And behind them was a third person.
I recognized her immediately.
My breath stopped.
It was Eleanor.
May you like
But the video was dated twenty-seven years earlier.
Before Daniel had ever met her.
