Chapter 9 - Eight Minutes
The floor jumped beneath Adrian’s feet.
Glass shattered.
Marco slammed against the wall.
Elena cried out as the gurney rolled sideways.
Adrian caught it.
Smoke rushed through the corridor.
“Move!”
Daniel’s voice broke through the radio.
“Lower stairwell is gone.”
“Roof route?”
“Blocked by fire doors.”
“Override them.”
“System’s dead.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
She was conscious but barely.
An IV line hung from her arm.
Michael’s words returned.
Subject A.
Final dose.
Adrian ripped the IV from the stand and examined the bag.
Clear fluid.
Unmarked.
“Marco.”
Marco took a photo and sent it to Michael.
“Find another exit.”
They pushed Elena’s gurney through the hidden room.
No second door.
Smoke thickened.
Elena reached for Adrian’s wrist.
“Samuel.”
“We’re getting him.”
“Not here.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She coughed.
“You don’t.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Where?”
Elena struggled to breathe.
“River.”
Then her eyes closed.
“Stay with me.”
Marco examined the wall.
“Ventilation shaft.”
Too small for the gurney.
Large enough for a person.
Daniel’s voice crackled.
“Chemical fire spreading from basement. Six minutes, maybe less.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
No time.
He lifted her.
She weighed almost nothing.
That angered him.
Twelve years.
Victor had kept this woman alive just enough to remain useful.
Adrian carried her into the shaft.
Marco crawled first.
Adrian followed with Elena against his chest.
Smoke chased them.
The shaft descended sharply toward the fourth floor.
Then opened into a mechanical room.
Marco kicked out the grate.
Adrian passed Elena through.
Two of Daniel’s men reached them.
“Roof access on the east side is clear!”
They ran.
Another explosion shook the building.
The lights died.
Adrian carried Elena up two flights.
Behind them, flames entered the stairwell.
At the roof, a helicopter descended through smoke.
Daniel had arranged it while entering the building.
The pilot hovered because structural conditions were unstable.
Adrian carried Elena across the roof.
Glass burst from below.
Fire climbed the exterior.
The helicopter landed for less than thirty seconds.
They loaded Elena.
Adrian climbed in.
Marco followed.
As they lifted away, the fifth-floor windows exploded outward.
The Kane building became an orange wound against the morning sky.
Adrian looked down.
Victor had burned his own property.
Destroyed evidence.
Nearly killed Elena.
All to keep control.
But Elena was alive.
Barely.
Michael met them at a private medical facility Adrian controlled north of downtown.
Claire stood behind him.
The moment the helicopter door opened, she saw her mother.
Everything else disappeared.
“Mom.”
She ran.
Elena’s eyes opened as paramedics transferred her.
Claire touched her face.
“Mom?”
Elena stared at her.
For several seconds, there was no recognition.
Claire’s expression shattered.
Then Elena whispered, “You cut your hair.”
Claire began sobbing.
She had cut twelve inches off two months after her mother’s supposed death.
Nobody else would remember.
Elena lifted one weak hand.
Claire pressed her face into it.
“You’re alive.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Claire followed the stretcher until Michael stopped her outside the treatment room.
“We need space.”
“That’s my mother.”
“I know.”
“She’s been poisoned.”
“I know.”
“Then fix it.”
Michael met her eyes.
“I’m going to try.”
Claire’s face collapsed.
Adrian stepped closer.
“She survived twelve years.”
Claire looked at him.
“She’ll survive today.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
He held her gaze.
“But neither does Victor.”
Michael disappeared into the treatment room.
Claire stood in the hallway with her arms wrapped around herself.
Adrian’s phone buzzed.
Marco.
He answered.
“Samuel?”
“We found the river connection.”
“What?”
“Kane owns a decommissioned cargo vessel registered through a Panamanian shell. Docked eleven miles south of the facility.”
Adrian looked through the glass at Elena.
“Security?”
“Unknown.”
“Victor?”
“Possible.”
Claire approached.
“What did he say?”
“Samuel may be on a ship.”
“I’m coming.”
Adrian stared.
She lifted a hand.
“Do not start.”
“Your mother needs you.”
“My mother is unconscious.”
“She may wake.”
“And my father has been imprisoned for nearly three decades.”
Her voice cracked.
“I have already missed my entire life with him.”
Adrian saw something in her expression he recognized.
The refusal to lose one more person while standing still.
“Fine.”
Claire blinked.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“What else?”
“You stay behind me.”
She almost smiled.
“I’m beginning to hate that phrase.”
“You may survive long enough to continue hating it.”
At 10:43 a.m., they reached the river.
The ship was an old commercial freighter renamed three times in seven years.
Rust streaked the hull.
No company markings.
No visible crew.
Adrian’s men approached from the dock while another team came by boat.
Claire wore a ballistic vest beneath a dark coat.
It felt absurd.
Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Adrian noticed.
“Fear is useful.”
She gave him a look.
“You said that already.”
“Then use it.”
“To do what?”
“Notice things.”
She scanned the dock.
Containers.
Crane.
Two parked vans.
A forklift.
Then something.
“That van.”
Adrian looked.
“What?”
“The tires are wet.”
“So?”
“It hasn’t rained here for twenty minutes.”
Daniel frowned.
Claire pointed.
“The other vehicles are drying. That one just arrived.”
Marco moved toward it carefully.
Inside they found fresh medical supplies.
Restraints.
Empty IV bags.
And one shipping manifest.
Destination: Milwaukee.
Departure: 11:15 a.m.
Victor had planned to move Samuel.
Adrian looked at the ship.
“Go.”
They boarded.
The first deck was empty.
Second deck contained storage.
Third deck—
Gunfire.
Adrian shoved Claire behind steel cover.
His men returned fire toward the ceiling catwalk.
Two attackers retreated.
Marco advanced.
Daniel moved left.
Adrian stayed with Claire.
She looked furious.
“I can help.”
“You can stay alive.”
“That is not helping.”
“It helps me.”
The words came out before he considered them.
Claire looked at him.
Adrian looked away first.
Gunfire stopped.
Marco called, “Clear.”
They moved.
Below deck, they found a medical bay.
Empty.
Then a locked steel room.
Adrian forced it open.
Samuel Moretti sat inside.
Alive.
He looked up.
For the first time, Claire saw her father outside a photograph.
His eyes moved to her.
He froze.
“Elena?”
Claire’s breath caught.
“No.”
Samuel stared.
Then he understood.
“Claire.”
She began crying before reaching him.
Samuel tried to stand.
His legs failed.
Claire dropped beside him.
“I thought you were dead.”
Samuel touched her face as if afraid she would disappear.
“You were a baby.”
“I know.”
“Your mother—”
“She’s alive.”
His eyes closed.
“Thank God.”
Adrian stood in the doorway.
Samuel looked past Claire.
His expression changed.
“Anthony?”
Adrian’s throat tightened.
“No.”
Samuel stared.
Then pain filled his face.
“You’re Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“You look like him.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Samuel lowered his eyes.
“Is my brother—”
“Dead.”
Samuel swallowed.
“How long?”
“Fourteen years.”
The old man closed his eyes.
Claire held his hand.
Then Samuel looked at Adrian.
“Sofia?”
Adrian said nothing.
Samuel’s face collapsed.
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I knew Graham threatened her.”
“You knew what he did?”
“Not until years later.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You were alive.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Yes.”
“For twenty-nine years.”
“Yes.”
“And you never came back.”
Samuel’s eyes hardened despite his weakness.
“You think I had a choice?”
“I think everyone keeps saying that.”
Claire looked between them.
Samuel pulled up his sleeve.
Numbers had been tattooed along his forearm.
Dates.
Places.
Names.
“My entire life became a lock Victor could open whenever he needed information.”
He looked at Adrian.
“I tried to escape seven times.”
Adrian saw the scars.
Samuel continued.
“The eighth time, Victor showed me a photograph of Claire at fourteen.”
Claire went pale.
“The ninth time, one of Elena.”
His eyes filled.
“He always knew where they were.”
Adrian’s anger shifted.
Not gone.
Redirected.
Samuel whispered, “If I escaped, they died.”
Claire squeezed his hand.
A siren sounded.
Daniel appeared.
“We have movement on the dock.”
“Victor?”
“Unknown.”
Then the ship’s engine roared.
Everyone looked toward the floor.
Marco shouted into the radio.
“Who started the engines?”
No answer.
The vessel pulled away from the dock.
Adrian moved toward the window.
A black SUV sat onshore.
Victor Kane stood beside it.
Watching.
He raised one hand.
Then pressed a remote.
Samuel’s face changed.
“No.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
Samuel looked toward the engine room.
“He used the ship before.”
“For what?”
Samuel whispered, “Disposal.”
An alarm began blaring.
Daniel looked at his device.
“Fuel pressure spike.”
Samuel grabbed Adrian’s sleeve.
“There are explosives beneath us.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“How long?”
Samuel looked at the clock.
“Victor likes symbolism.”
Adrian followed his gaze.
11:03 a.m.
Victor’s deadline had been noon.
Samuel whispered, “Fifty-seven minutes.”
Then the digital clock changed.
11:04.
And a red countdown appeared.
00:10:00.
May you like
Samuel stared.
“He changed his mind.”
