Chapter 9 - The Empty Warehouse
Blackline Storage Facility 6 stood beside an abandoned freight yard in Queens.
Rain had begun falling over the city.
From a command vehicle two blocks away, I watched the live camera feeds with my father and Detective Ortiz.
The doctors had forbidden me to leave the hospital.
I signed myself out anyway.
My wrist remained braced.
Every movement pulled at the injuries across my back.
My father argued until he realized I would go without him.
Then he brought an armored vehicle and three medical specialists.
Lauren sat in another car wearing a hidden microphone.
She had agreed to deliver a false ledger to Pier 19 while officers entered the storage facility.
At 11:43 p.m., she stepped onto the pier carrying a leather case.
Matthew did not appear.
Instead, two Blackline contractors approached.
One searched Lauren.
The other took the case.
“Where is my son?”
She demanded.
“You’ll receive instructions.”
The first man said.
Ortiz gave the arrest signal.
Officers closed in from both sides.
At the same moment, the warehouse team breached Facility 6.
The first rooms were empty.
The fourth contained a child’s blanket, a half-empty bottle of milk, and a portable heater.
Owen was gone.
A laptop sat open on a folding table.
The screen showed a live video feed.
Matthew appeared inside a dark vehicle with Owen asleep beside him.
“I knew Clare would find the reflection.”
He said.
My blood turned cold.
He was watching us.
“This is not about Lauren anymore.”
Matthew continued.
“It’s about my wife.”
My father leaned toward the microphone.
“This is Richard Sterling.”
Matthew smiled.
“I know.”
“You spent seven years pretending your daughter did not exist.”
“Now you want to play the protective father?”
Richard’s face remained motionless.
“Release the child.”
“Send Clare to the East River helipad.”
“Alone.”
“No police.”
“No security.”
“And bring the patent termination document.”
He wanted me to restore NexusCore’s license and sign control of the technology to him.
“What happens after I sign?”
I asked.
Matthew’s smile widened.
“You finally become useful again.”
The video ended.
Ortiz ordered technicians to trace the signal.
It bounced between six mobile towers and disappeared.
Lauren stared at the empty screen.
“He’s going to kill Owen.”
“No.”
I said.
“He needs you obedient.”
“He needs me afraid.”
My father looked at me.
“You are not going to that helipad.”
“I am.”
“Clare.”
“He expects the woman he left bleeding on the floor.”
I stood slowly.
“I’m not that woman anymore.”
My father moved closer.
“You were never that woman.”
I looked toward the dark warehouse where Matthew had staged another performance.
“He counted twenty times because he needed an audience.”
May you like
“Tonight, we give him one.”
“But this time, he won’t control what they see.”
