Chapter 12: The Shot
For one terrible second, I couldn't see anything.
Smoke filled the air.
Someone crashed into the railing.
Then Lily screamed through the phone.
“Daddy!””
I ran toward the sound.
“Lily!””
Sarah grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, wait!””
Another shot rang out.
Metal sparked above us.
I dropped behind a machine.
“Everybody down!””
My father crawled toward me.
“You're hit.””
Blood ran from his shoulder.
“I've had worse.””
Sarah crouched beside him.
“Who fired?””
He pointed upward.
“Ethan.””
A flashlight flickered across the platform.
Ethan was moving toward Vivian.
She shouted, “You idiot!””
He raised the gun.
“You promised me my money.””
“You'll get it.””
“You promised me Rebecca would disappear.””
Rebecca stepped out from behind a column.
“I heard that.””
Ethan turned.
She slapped him.
“You almost killed me.””
He grabbed her wrist.
I charged.
We collided against a steel support.
The gun fell.
Ethan punched me across the jaw.
I stumbled.
Sarah screamed.
“Daniel!””
I swung back.
He blocked it.
Then my father tackled him from behind.
All three of us crashed onto the concrete.
The gun skidded beneath a machine.
Vivian ran.
Sarah chased her.
“Stop!””
Vivian reached the stairs.
Sarah caught her coat.
They fell together.
Vivian clawed at Sarah's scar.
Sarah shoved her away.
“You took everything from me!””
Vivian spat, “You were never supposed to survive!””
Sarah froze.
Vivian ran again.
I heard Lily crying through the phone.
I grabbed it.
“Lily?””
“Daddy!””
“Where are you?””
“I don't know.””
Margaret's voice came through.
“Daniel, we're in a locked office upstairs.””
I looked up.
A small office overlooked the mill.
“I'm coming.””
Ethan kicked my father away and ran toward the stairs.
I followed.
He reached the office door first.
“Ethan!””
He turned.
“You should've signed.””
I lunged.
He fired.
The bullet struck the wall inches from my head.
I tackled him.
The gun dropped again.
This time I kicked it across the floor.
Ethan tried to crawl toward it.
I grabbed his collar.
“You're done.””
He laughed.
“You think this ends with me?””
I pulled him upright.
“Where is Vivian?””
“Gone.””
Sarah appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“No, she isn't.””
She held up a phone.
“She left this.””
On the screen was a live video.
Vivian stood outside the mill.
Behind her was Rebecca.
Vivian held a knife against Rebecca's throat.
“Daniel,” she said through the phone.
I froze.
“Let Ethan go.””
“No.””
“Then Rebecca dies.””
Rebecca's eyes met mine.
For the first time, she looked genuinely terrified.
“Daniel, don't listen to her.””
Vivian pressed the blade closer.
“Sign the transfer.””
I looked at the document on the table.
Then at Lily's office.
Then at Rebecca.
My father whispered behind me.
“There's another way.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He pointed toward the floor.
“Under the mill.””
Sarah understood immediately.
“The vault.””
I nodded.
“Can we get there from here?””
My father shook his head.
“Not us.””
He looked at Ethan.
“He can.””
I stared at him.
“Why?””
“Because Ethan built the second entrance.””
Ethan's face changed.
“You don't know what you're talking about.””
My father smiled faintly.
“I know exactly what I taught you.””
I turned toward Ethan.
“Open the vault.””
“No.””
I grabbed his arm.
“You're going to help me save my daughter.””
Ethan looked at the phone.
Vivian shouted, “Daniel!””
Then the video changed.
Lily's face appeared.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
She was holding something.
A small blue key.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Daddy, I found another door.””
Sarah's face went pale.
“What door?””
Lily turned the camera.
Behind her was a steel door covered in old photographs.
One photograph showed my father.
Another showed Vivian.
Another showed Sarah.
And the last one showed me as a child.
Underneath my photograph were four words:
*THE ORIGINAL BENEFICIARY.*
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Then Lily whispered,
“Daddy… there's somebody inside.””
