Chapter 12 - BLOOD DOES NOT MAKE A FATHER
Charles denied making the call.
He was still recovering in a secured hospital room.
Ethan confronted him in person.
“You told Victor to kill Amelia.”
Charles shook his head.
“That recording is fake.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to use your brain.”
Charles leaned forward despite the pain in his shoulder.
“If I wanted Amelia dead, why would I tell you where she was?”
Ethan said nothing.
Charles continued.
“Victor has samples of my voice from forty years of recorded meetings.”
“He can fabricate anything.”
Samuel confirmed it was possible.
But possible did not mean innocent.
Ethan had stopped giving Charles the benefit of doubt.
“What do you know about Terminal 12?”
Charles’s expression darkened.
“It was never a shipping terminal.”
“What was it?”
“A private transfer site.”
“For what?”
“Cash.”
“Documents.”
“People.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You built a private detention facility beneath a Blackwood warehouse?”
“I built a secure room.”
“Victor expanded it.”
Charles looked ashamed for perhaps the first time.
“He always took everything further than I intended.”
“That sentence could be the Blackwood family motto.”
Charles accepted the insult.
Then he reached beneath his pillow.
Security immediately moved.
“It’s only a key.”
He placed it in Ethan’s hand.
A brass key marked B12.
“There is a flood-control chamber beneath the eastern loading dock.”
“It connects to the tunnel Lily remembers.”
“Victor does not know I kept the original access key.”
Ethan examined it.
“Why help me?”
Charles looked toward the window.
“Because I spent my life convincing myself that protecting Blackwood Holdings justified anything.”
“It cost me my son.”
“My daughter-in-law.”
“My granddaughters.”
“And perhaps it should cost me my freedom too.”
Ethan’s voice remained cold.
“It will.”
Charles nodded.
“I know.”
He gave Ethan one final piece of information.
“Victor has one weakness.”
“What?”
“He thinks everyone values power as much as he does.”
“Use that.”
At 11:45 p.m., Ethan arrived at Terminal 12.
A figure beside him wore Lily’s yellow coat.
From a distance, Victor’s men would believe the child was Lily.
It was actually a small security officer disguised beneath the hood.
The real Lily remained two miles away in a command vehicle.
Ethan entered the terminal alone.
Victor stood on the upper platform.
Amelia and Rose were restrained below.
Ethan’s heart nearly stopped when Amelia lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
Seven years vanished.
Amelia whispered his name.
“Ethan?”
He could barely breathe.
Victor smiled.
“Touching.”
Then he looked at the hooded figure outside.
“Bring Lily in.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Amelia and Rose first.”
Victor raised a gun.
“You are not negotiating.”
Suddenly Rose looked at Ethan.
For the first time, emotion appeared on her face.
She screamed.
“Daddy, run!”
May you like
The lights went out.
Gunfire exploded through the terminal.
