CHAPTER 10 — THE MAN WHO OWNED THE POLICE
CHAPTER 10 — THE MAN WHO OWNED THE POLICE
The lullaby continued.
Soft.
Slow.
Almost beautiful.
And completely terrifying.
I stood frozen in the darkness, listening to the voice of a woman who was supposed to have been dead for thirty years.
My mother was crying.
Edward looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Adrian had stopped moving.
Even Jonathan seemed unable to breathe.
Then the lights returned.
For one second, everything was visible.
Then they went out again.
The voice whispered through the speakers.
“Lena.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
“Show yourself.”
A soft laugh echoed through the chamber.
“You're not ready.”
I clenched my fists.
“I've been hearing that my entire life.”
The voice became colder.
“Then perhaps it's time you learned.”
A door opened at the far end of the chamber.
White light spilled into the darkness.
A woman appeared.
She was old.
Elegant.
Her silver hair fell over her shoulders.
She wore a long black dress.
And around her neck was a necklace I recognized.
My mother had one just like it.
I stared.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“Your grandmother.”
My mother whispered:
“Margaret.”
The woman looked at her.
“Isabella.”
My mother's face hardened.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“So are many people in this family.”
Margaret looked at Edward.
“You failed.”
Edward lowered his head.
“I know.”
I looked between them.
“You two know each other.”
Margaret smiled.
“Of course.”
“You were married.”
“Yes.”
“And you created M-17.”
“No.”
Edward looked at her.
“You did.”
Margaret's expression didn't change.
“I designed the first phase.”
My stomach turned.
“The children?”
“No.”
“The bloodline?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
She looked directly at me.
“The selection system.”
I didn't understand.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I decided which children would matter.”
My blood went cold.
“Why?”
“Because someone had to decide who would inherit the future.”
I shook my head.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I'm practical.”
Richard Hale's face appeared on one of the monitors.
He was standing in the police command center.
Behind him were dozens of officers.
Some wore tactical gear.
Others sat at computer terminals.
I stared.
“That's the police.”
Margaret nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why is he there?”
She smiled.
“Because he owns it.”
I looked at Jonathan.
“What does that mean?”
Jonathan answered quietly.
“Richard has spent decades buying influence.”
“Politicians.”
“Judges.”
“Police chiefs.”
“Prosecutors.”
“Anyone who could interfere with M-17.”
Margaret corrected him.
“Not influence.”
“Control.”
The screen showed Richard walking through the command center.
Every officer moved aside.
Nobody questioned him.
He picked up a phone.
“Seal the city.”
A police commander hesitated.
“Sir, on what authority?”
Richard looked at him.
“The same authority I've always had.”
The commander immediately turned toward his team.
“You heard him.”
“Lock down every major exit.”
“Deploy tactical units.”
“Arrest anyone matching the Blackwood profiles.”
My blood ran cold.
Richard looked directly into the camera.
“Especially Elena Vale.”
I stepped toward the screen.
“You don't own the police.”
Richard smiled.
“I don't need to.”
He gestured toward the officers.
“They believe I do.”
The screen went black.
Sirens began rising in the distance.
One.
Then five.
Then dozens.
My mother looked at me.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Jonathan checked his weapon.
“How many exits?”
“Three.”
“Can we reach them?”
Margaret shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
I turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you so calm?”
“Because this was always going to happen.”
“What was?”
“You becoming the first heir.”
“I don't want to be an heir.”
“You don't get to choose.”
“I choose everything about my life.”
Margaret smiled.
“That's what your father said.”
The words hurt.
I looked away.
Then something occurred to me.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what Richard was doing.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was going to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
Margaret's expression became distant.
“Because Alexander had already made his choice.”
“What choice?”
“He chose you.”
A loud crash came from above.
The building shook.
Marcus looked up.
“They're inside.”
Gunfire erupted somewhere above us.
Jonathan grabbed Eva.
“Move.”
We ran toward the underground corridor.
Edward followed.
Margaret walked calmly behind us.
I couldn't understand how she wasn't afraid.
Then I realized.
She wasn't afraid because she had already won.
We reached a secure room.
Jonathan closed the steel door.
Marcus barricaded it.
Daniel stood beside me.
His hands were shaking.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
“I'm scared.”
“So am I.”
He looked at me.
“You don't look scared.”
I almost smiled.
“I'm terrified.”
“Then why don't you show it?”
“Because you're watching.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
Then the door shook.
Everyone froze.
A voice came through the intercom.
“ELENA!”
Richard.
“Open the door.”
I didn't answer.
“You know I can come in.”
Still nothing.
“I have warrants.”
Jonathan laughed bitterly.
“For what?”
Richard answered:
“For everything.”
He began listing charges.
“Murder.”
“Kidnapping.”
“Conspiracy.”
“Domestic terrorism.”
“Biological theft.”
“Forgery.”
“Assault.”
“Blackmail.”
“Take your pick.”
I walked toward the speaker.
“You don't have evidence.”
Richard laughed.
“I don't need evidence.”
“You need a court.”
“I own the courts.”
“You need a judge.”
“I own them too.”
“You need police.”
He paused.
Then answered:
“I own those as well.”
I looked at my mother.
She nodded.
He was telling the truth.
Richard continued.
“You've spent your entire life believing the law protects innocent people.”
His voice became colder.
“It doesn't.”
“It protects whoever controls it.”
The door shook again.
“You have ten seconds.”
I looked at Jonathan.
“Can we get out?”
“No.”
Marcus checked the rear exit.
“Blocked.”
Margaret smiled.
“Then perhaps it's time.”
I turned.
“Time for what?”
She walked toward me.
“To stop running.”
Margaret removed her necklace.
She handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“The key.”
I stared.
“The key to what?”
“The police.”
I almost laughed.
“What?”
She pointed toward the necklace.
“Inside that pendant is a security chip.”
“For what?”
“The original evidence archive.”
“Where?”
“National Police Headquarters.”
I froze.
“You're saying the evidence is inside police headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard never believed anyone would look there.”
I looked at Jonathan.
“Can we access it?”
“With the chip?”
“Yes.”
“Possibly.”
Margaret smiled.
“Not possibly.”
She turned toward the door.
“Definitely.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
“Because I designed the system.”
The door exploded.
Men in tactical armor flooded the room.
Marcus fired.
Jonathan pulled me behind a pillar.
My mother dragged Daniel down.
Eva disappeared into the shadows.
Margaret didn't move.
A police officer approached her.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
She smiled.
“Commander.”
He raised his weapon.
“You're under arrest.”
Margaret laughed.
“You still salute me.”
The officer hesitated.
Then lowered his gun.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
Richard's voice came through the officer's radio.
“Kill them.”
The officer froze.
Margaret looked at him.
“Do it.”
He stared.
“Ma'am?”
“Do it.”
The officer turned his weapon toward Richard's men.
“Stand down!”
Chaos erupted.
Police officers began pointing weapons at each other.
Some followed Richard.
Others followed the commander.
The room became a battlefield.
I pulled Daniel toward the exit.
“Go!”
We ran.
The corridor was filled with smoke.
Sirens screamed.
Officers shouted.
We reached an emergency stairwell.
Jonathan closed the door behind us.
“Down.”
“How many floors?”
“Twenty.”
Daniel groaned.
“That's a lot.”
I almost smiled.
“Stay with me.”
We started descending.
Five floors.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Then the door below opened.
A man stepped inside.
Richard Hale.
He stood calmly on the landing.
No weapon.
No bodyguards.
Just him.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Elena.”
I stopped.
Daniel moved behind me.
Jonathan raised his weapon.
Richard smiled.
“You won't shoot.”
“Try me.”
“You're not a killer.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“I am.”
Richard's eyes moved toward him.
“You're right.”
He smiled.
“That's why I hired you.”
Jonathan froze.
I looked at him.
“What?”
Richard laughed.
“Didn't he tell you?”
Jonathan lowered his weapon.
“Don't.”
Richard continued.
“Your protector has worked for me for fourteen years.”
I stared at Jonathan.
“No.”
Jonathan's face was devastated.
“It's not what you think.”
Richard smiled.
“Of course it isn't.”
I stepped backward.
“You worked for him?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Fourteen years.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Richard laughed.
“Still lying.”
Jonathan looked at me.
“I was assigned to monitor your family.”
“By Richard?”
“Yes.”
“And you betrayed him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night your father died.”
Richard smiled.
“That's when he became a traitor.”
I looked at Jonathan.
“Did you kill my father?”
“No.”
Richard answered for him.
“He helped.”
Jonathan closed his eyes.
“I tried to save him.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
Richard stepped closer.
“And now you're going to fail again.”
He raised a hand.
The stairwell doors opened.
Police officers appeared behind him.
Dozens.
Weapons raised.
Richard looked at me.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
“Then they die.”
He pointed toward Jonathan.
Then my mother.
Then Daniel.
I looked at him.
“You said you owned the police.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you afraid of me?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
I held up Margaret's necklace.
His expression changed.
For the first time...
he looked afraid.
“You found it.”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don't know what that contains.”
“I know exactly what it contains.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
I smiled.
“Make me.”
He stopped.
Because the police behind him suddenly lowered their weapons.
Richard turned.
“What are you doing?”
The commander stepped forward.
“Sir.”
Richard stared.
“You were ordered to arrest her.”
The commander shook his head.
“No.”
Richard's face hardened.
“Who changed the order?”
The commander pointed toward me.
“She did.”
Richard looked at me.
“How?”
I touched the pendant.
The tiny light turned green.
Every police radio in the building crackled simultaneously.
A woman's voice spoke.
My mother's voice.
“Attention.”
“By order of the original Blackwood trust...”
“All assets, warrants, and emergency authorities controlled by Richard Hale are hereby suspended.”
Richard's face went white.
I smiled.
“You don't own the police anymore.”
He stared at me.
“Who gave you authority?”
I looked toward my mother.
She whispered:
“Your father.”
Richard's eyes widened.
I turned back to him.
“My father knew you'd control the police.”
“So he built a way to control the controller.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
I stepped toward him.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed power belonged to whoever held the badge.”
I lifted the pendant.
“It belongs to whoever controls the system behind it.”
Richard's expression became furious.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at the officers.
“But they do.”
The commander stepped toward Richard.
“Richard Hale, you're under arrest.”
Richard laughed.
“You think this changes anything?”
He looked directly at me.
“You still don't know who Subject 000 really is.”
I froze.
“What?”
Richard smiled.
“Ask your grandmother.”
I turned toward Margaret.
She looked terrified.
Richard continued.
“Ask her why she chose you.”
Then he leaned closer.
“Ask her what happened to the child who came before you.”
The smile returned.
“The real first heir.”
Before the officers could restrain him, Richard pressed something inside his sleeve.
An alarm sounded.
The building shook.
Jonathan shouted:
“DOWN!”
The stairwell wall exploded.
Smoke filled the air.
I fell.
Daniel screamed.
When I looked up again...
Richard was gone.
And Margaret was missing.
My mother stood beside me, bleeding from her forehead.
“Where's Grandma?”
Nobody answered.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Richard's voice whispered:
“You want your grandmother?”
My heart stopped.
“Yes.”
“Then come to the old police headquarters.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where the first heir was born.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Jonathan looked at me.
“Don't go.”
I shook my head.
“I have to.”
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
I looked at Daniel.
At my mother.
At Eva.
Then toward the smoke-filled stairwell where Richard had disappeared.
“Because this time, I'm not going there to find answers.”
I closed my hand around the pendant.
“I'm going there to take back my family.”
And somewhere across the city...
a police siren began to scream.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The city was going into lockdown.
But this time...
May you like
the order wasn't coming from Richard Hale.
It was coming from me.
