Chapter 16: Sixty Seconds
Chapter 16: Sixty Seconds
00:00:59
The red emergency lights pulsed across the underground chamber.
Every flash made the room look like it was drowning in blood.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
A loud metallic groan echoed through the bunker.
The computerized voice repeated:
"Final detonation sequence activated."
Emily grabbed my arm.
"Mr. Sterling..."
I looked at Maya.
Then at Emily.
Neither child deserved to die in that place.
Not after everything they had endured.
The Hidden Truth
Victor suddenly stood.
"No..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"This isn't my countdown."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"I never connected the estate to the explosives beneath the mill."
"You expect me to believe that?"
He shook his head desperately.
"I built two separate systems."
"The person who killed Sarah..."
"...combined them."
My heart stopped.
There had always been another player.
Someone patient.
Someone who had remained hidden while Victor became the obvious villain.
Someone who wanted all of us dead.
The Control Room
Grace suddenly pointed toward the far wall.
"There!"
Behind one of the Harrington family portraits, a steel panel had slid open.
Inside was another room.
Covered with monitors.
Computers.
Control panels.
And...
A large red switch.
The bomb technician's voice exploded through my earpiece.
"That's the master override!"
Marcus shouted from somewhere above.
"Richard!"
"We're almost to you!"
I ran toward the control room.
Victor ran beside me.
For one surreal moment...
We were no longer enemies.
We were simply two men trying to save innocent children.
Locked
I grabbed the red switch.
It wouldn't move.
A biometric scanner lit up beside it.
AUTHORIZED USER REQUIRED
The technician cursed through the radio.
"It's fingerprint protected!"
"Whose?"
"We don't know."
Victor slammed his hand against the scanner.
ACCESS DENIED
Mine failed too.
Grace stepped forward.
"It isn't yours."
She looked at the old Harrington family portrait.
"It belongs to..."
Before she could finish...
The control room door slammed shut.
Automatic locks engaged.
We were trapped inside.
The Voice
A speaker crackled overhead.
Then...
A woman's voice filled the room.
Calm.
Cold.
Familiar.
"Goodbye, Richard."
Every muscle in my body froze.
I knew that voice.
So did Daniel.
"No..."
His voice came through the radio.
"It can't be."
The woman laughed softly.
"You always underestimated me."
I whispered,
"...Nurse Allison."
The smile disappeared from Victor's face.
"You."
The speaker continued.
"For four years..."
"I watched all of you blame each other."
"It was almost entertaining."
The Real Mastermind
The monitors flickered on.
A woman wearing a dark coat appeared.
She stood inside another underground room somewhere beneath the estate.
It was Allison Reed.
The oncology nurse who had cared for Sarah.
The woman I had trusted.
The woman who had hugged Maya at the funeral.
She smiled at the camera.
"Victor..."
"You were always useful."
Victor stared in disbelief.
"You worked for me."
She laughed.
"No."
"I worked around you."
She looked directly at me.
"I worked for myself."
Her Confession
"I grew up in poverty."
"I watched wealthy families decide who mattered."
"The Harringtons."
"The Sterlings."
"You all believed money could solve everything."
She shrugged.
"So I decided to take everything."
My hands clenched.
"You murdered Sarah."
"Yes."
"You kidnapped children."
"No."
She smiled.
"Victor did that."
"I simply waited."
She turned toward Victor.
"You created the perfect distraction."
Victor looked sick.
"You manipulated me."
"I encouraged you."
She laughed quietly.
"And you made it incredibly easy."
Maya Steps Forward
Before anyone could stop her...
Maya walked toward the monitor.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She looked directly at Allison.
"My mommy said bad people always lose."
Allison smiled.
"Your mother also believed everyone could change."
Maya shook her head.
"She never said everyone."
The room fell silent.
Even Allison stopped smiling for a moment.
The Key
Grace suddenly gasped.
"The locket!"
I looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed toward Sarah's silver locket still hanging around my neck.
"The second compartment."
I opened it.
Hidden beneath the memory card...
Was another tiny object.
A transparent fingerprint film.
Grace smiled through tears.
"Sarah."
I looked closer.
The print wasn't Sarah's.
It belonged to...
Old Mr. Harrington.
Victor's father.
Grace whispered,
"He designed the override."
The technician shouted through the radio.
"Press the film against the scanner!"
I did.
The scanner glowed green.
ACCESS GRANTED
The red switch unlocked.
Thirty Seconds
The countdown flashed.
00:00:30
I wrapped my hand around the switch.
Allison's voice became frantic.
"No!"
Victor looked at me.
"Do it."
I hesitated.
"What about you?"
He looked toward Maya.
Then toward Emily.
Finally...
He smiled sadly.
"My sister deserved better."
"So do they."
He shoved me backward.
"I'll hold the door."
Victor charged toward the steel entrance as automatic security bolts began sliding into place.
He wedged his body against the mechanism.
The heavy door slowed...
Just enough.
Marcus burst through with the FBI rescue team.
"Everyone out!"
I pulled the switch.
The room went dark.
The countdown froze.
00:00:17
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then the bomb technician screamed through the radio.
"The explosives have been disabled!"
Cheers erupted upstairs.
But before anyone could celebrate...
A single gunshot echoed through the bunker.
I turned.
Victor staggered backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Standing in the far hallway...
Holding a pistol...
Was Allison Reed.
She smiled coldly.
May you like
"You should have let the house burn."
End of Chapter 16
