Chapter 12 — Reed’s Last Defense
Chapter 12 — Reed’s Last Defense
The first thing Reed heard was the alarm.
The second was Maren screaming his name.
The third was the sound of steel doors locking throughout Beacon Crest Medical Center.
He looked at the nearest security monitor.
Every screen displayed the same message:
WHITAKER SUCCESSION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.
Below it:
TRUST RELEASE: 09:41:17
Nine hours.
Forty-one minutes.
Seventeen seconds.
And counting.
Reed looked at Maren.
She was pale, exhausted, and shaking.
But she was standing.
That was what frightened him.
Maren had spent the entire night discovering that almost everyone she loved had lied to her.
Yet somehow, she remained focused on one thing.
Elise.
"Where are they?" she asked.
Reed knew immediately who she meant.
"Gabriel and Amelia."
"And my daughter."
"Yes."
"Can you find them?"
"I can try."
"No."
Maren moved closer.
"You will."
Reed stared at her.
She wasn't asking.
She was giving him the only order that mattered.
He nodded.
"I'll find them."
Marcus stepped forward.
"You're not going alone."
Reed looked at him.
"With respect, you've been lying to everyone for twenty-seven years."
Marcus flinched.
"You don't know what I did."
"I know enough."
"Reed."
"Don't call me that."
Marcus stopped.
Reed's voice became quieter.
"If I'm Gabriel, then you're my uncle."
"If I'm not..."
He looked toward Maren.
"...then I'm still the man who married your daughter."
Marcus said nothing.
Reed turned away.
"Either way, I'm not trusting you."
Maren looked between them.
"Then I'll go with you."
"No."
"Don't start."
"This is dangerous."
"So is leaving my daughter with people who have spent twenty-seven years kidnapping children."
Reed stared at her.
She was right.
He hated that she was right.
"Fine."
Daniel stepped forward.
"I'll take a security team."
Reed shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because someone inside the hospital is helping them."
Daniel frowned.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"How?"
Reed looked at the cameras.
"Because every locked door opened before the alarms began."
He pointed toward the monitor.
"Someone gave them access."
Daniel's face tightened.
"And you think they're still inside."
"I know they are."
Three floors below them, Gabriel was running.
Elise was wrapped against his chest.
Amelia followed.
"Faster."
"I am."
"She's waking."
Gabriel looked down.
The baby stirred.
Her tiny face tightened.
Then she began crying.
Amelia immediately covered her mouth with a blanket.
"Quiet."
Gabriel stared at her.
"She's a baby."
"I know."
"She can't be quiet."
"They'll hear her."
"Who?"
Amelia didn't answer.
A gunshot echoed behind them.
Gabriel stopped.
"Isabelle."
Amelia grabbed his arm.
"Keep moving."
They reached an old maintenance door.
Gabriel entered a code.
The lock opened.
Inside was a narrow room filled with old medical equipment.
He laid Elise on a table.
"Where are we?"
"Safe."
"This doesn't look safe."
"It is."
Amelia closed the door.
Then locked it.
Gabriel looked at her.
"Tell me the truth."
"I've told you everything."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You told me what you wanted me to know."
Amelia stared at him.
"That's how this family survived."
"I'm tired of surviving."
He looked at Elise.
"I want to live."
Amelia's eyes softened.
"So do I."
Gabriel turned.
"Who am I?"
Amelia hesitated.
"You're Gabriel Whitaker."
He closed his eyes.
"I've heard that name my entire life."
"It's your name."
"Then why did Richard call me Reed?"
"Because he needed you to believe you were his."
"Why?"
"Because he wanted control over the Whitaker succession."
Gabriel stared.
"And Maren?"
"Your sister."
"And Isabelle?"
Amelia looked away.
"Your sister."
"All three of us."
"Yes."
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
"A family."
He looked down.
"What a beautiful word."
Above them, Maren and Reed entered the security command center.
Daniel had already isolated the hospital network.
"We have thirty-seven cameras offline," he said.
"Which ones?"
"Lower levels."
Reed looked at the map.
"Show me."
Daniel brought it up.
A series of underground corridors appeared.
Reed pointed.
"Here."
"What?"
"That corridor."
Daniel zoomed in.
"Old pathology."
"No."
Reed shook his head.
"That's not where they'd go."
"How do you know?"
"Because Richard wouldn't hide a child somewhere obvious."
Maren looked at him.
"Then where?"
Reed pointed farther east.
"The old chapel."
Daniel frowned.
"That building was sealed twenty years ago."
"Exactly."
Maren stared at the map.
"Why would they go there?"
Reed looked at her.
"Because the chapel has no cameras."
Daniel immediately began typing.
"You're right."
Maren's heart raced.
"Then that's where we're going."
Reed stopped her.
"Not yet."
"What?"
"There's a trap."
"What kind?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
Reed looked at the map.
"Because I built one."
Maren stared.
"You?"
"I designed the original security system."
"With Richard?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he wanted to know how to protect the hospital."
Reed's expression darkened.
"He actually wanted to know how to break into it."
The chapel was dark.
Dust covered the wooden pews.
A single candle burned near the altar.
Isabelle stood beside it.
She looked almost peaceful.
Then she heard footsteps.
She smiled.
"You're late."
Celeste stepped inside.
Isabelle turned.
"You."
Celeste's face was bruised.
Her hair was disheveled.
But she carried herself differently now.
"Where's Elise?"
Isabelle smiled.
"Why?"
"Because I'm taking her."
"You're not."
Celeste stepped forward.
"I helped you."
"You helped yourself."
"I know."
"And now?"
"I want to fix it."
Isabelle laughed.
"You think you can fix twenty-seven years?"
"No."
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
"But I can save one child."
Isabelle stared at her.
"You really love Maren."
Celeste swallowed.
"She was my sister."
"Was?"
"I don't deserve to call her that."
Isabelle's expression softened for half a second.
Then hardened.
"Neither did I."
Celeste looked at her.
"You're not evil."
"Don't."
"You were abandoned."
"Stop."
"You were lied to."
"I said stop."
"And they blamed you for what they did."
Isabelle raised the gun.
"One more word."
Celeste stopped.
Isabelle's hand trembled.
Celeste noticed.
"You don't want to kill me."
"Don't test me."
"You want Maren to understand."
Isabelle's eyes filled with tears.
"She never will."
"Then let her."
Celeste stepped closer.
"Let her see what they did to you."
Isabelle lowered the gun slightly.
Then a voice came through the chapel.
"She's right."
Both women turned.
Maren stood at the entrance.
Reed beside her.
Daniel behind them.
Isabelle stared.
"Maren."
Maren stepped forward.
"Give me my daughter."
Isabelle shook her head.
"She's not yours."
Maren's face tightened.
"She is."
"You think blood makes you a mother?"
"No."
Maren looked at her.
"Love does."
Isabelle laughed bitterly.
"You don't know anything about love."
"I know what it feels like to lose it."
Isabelle stared.
Maren continued:
"I lost my parents."
"I lost my marriage."
"I lost my brother."
"I lost my trust."
She looked at Celeste.
"I lost my sister."
Celeste began crying.
Maren's voice softened.
"But I never stopped loving my children."
Isabelle's gun lowered.
Just slightly.
Then Reed stepped forward.
"Isabelle."
She looked at him.
"Don't."
"I remember you."
Her expression changed.
"What?"
"I remember the nursery."
Isabelle froze.
"You were there."
"I was a baby."
"You were there."
Reed nodded.
"I remember someone holding my hand."
Isabelle's eyes filled.
"It was me."
Reed stared.
"You?"
"I was six."
"You were there."
"I watched them take you."
She began crying.
"I tried to stop them."
Reed stepped closer.
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I was six."
Silence.
Isabelle wiped her face.
"They told me you were dead."
Reed whispered:
"And I was told you were never born."
Maren stared at them.
"Then we're all victims."
Isabelle looked at her.
"No."
Her expression hardened again.
"You're the survivor."
Maren shook her head.
"No."
She pointed toward the empty space beside her.
"We survive together."
Isabelle laughed.
"That's not how the Whitakers work."
"Then we'll change it."
A gunshot shattered the chapel.
Daniel fell.
Maren screamed.
Reed pushed her behind a pillar.
Celeste dropped to the floor.
Isabelle fired toward the doorway.
Another gunman appeared.
Then another.
Reed recognized the first immediately.
"Richard."
The older man smiled.
"Hello, son."
Reed stared.
"You."
Richard pointed toward Maren.
"Step away from her."
"No."
"You don't understand."
"I understand exactly."
Richard smiled.
"Then you understand what happens next."
Reed raised his weapon.
"You're not taking her."
Richard laughed.
"You still think you're in control."
He snapped his fingers.
The chapel doors locked.
The lights went out.
A voice came through the speakers.
Eight hours, thirty-two minutes.
Maren looked at Reed.
"What's happening?"
Reed whispered:
"The hospital is being transferred."
"To whom?"
Richard answered:
"Me."
A massive screen descended behind the altar.
A legal document appeared.
The Whitaker succession trust.
Three names.
Maren.
Gabriel.
Isabelle.
Richard smiled.
"Three heirs."
He looked at them.
"But only one can control the empire."
Maren stepped forward.
"Then why do you need me?"
Richard's smile widened.
"Because you're the only one who can activate it."
Maren froze.
"What?"
"The biometric inheritance system."
Marcus's voice came through the speakers.
"Don't."
Maren turned.
Her father was standing at the back of the chapel.
He had arrived without anyone noticing.
Richard laughed.
"There he is."
Marcus raised his weapon.
"Let them go."
Richard shook his head.
"You still think this is about revenge."
"Then what is it about?"
"Correction."
Richard looked at Maren.
"Your grandfather made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He chose you."
Maren's expression hardened.
"He chose all three of us."
Richard smiled.
"Yes."
Then he pressed a button.
A live video appeared.
Elise.
Alive.
Sleeping.
In Gabriel's arms.
Maren gasped.
"Where are they?"
Richard said nothing.
Instead, another image appeared.
A hospital room.
A woman stood beside Gabriel.
Amelia.
And behind her was a man Maren had never seen.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Holding a file.
Richard's voice became cold.
"That man is the only person who knows how to unlock the trust."
Maren stared.
"Who?"
Richard smiled.
"Your grandfather's attorney."
Maren frowned.
"He's dead."
Richard laughed.
"No."
The man looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
"Not yet."
The chapel doors opened.
Security rushed in.
Richard disappeared through a hidden passage.
Isabelle chased him.
Reed ran toward the monitor.
"Where is Elise?"
The screen went black.
Maren grabbed his arm.
"Find them."
"I will."
"You promised."
"I know."
He looked at her.
"This time, I'm not leaving you."
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Reed answered.
A man's voice said:
"You're running out of time."
"Who are you?"
"The man who has your brother."
Reed froze.
"Gabriel?"
A pause.
"You're looking at the wrong brother."
Reed's face changed.
"What?"
The voice continued:
"Gabriel is with me."
Reed looked at Maren.
"Then who is with Elise?"
The man laughed.
"Your sister."
"Isabelle?"
"No."
"Then who?"
The answer came softly.
"Celeste."
Reed turned.
Celeste was gone.
Maren rushed into the corridor.
"Celeste!"
No answer.
The chapel was empty.
Only one thing remained.
A piece of paper.
Maren picked it up.
Written across it were six words:
I KNOW WHERE REED'S REAL FATHER IS.
Maren stared.
Reed's face went pale.
"My father?"
She looked at him.
"You never knew him?"
"No."
"Then who raised you?"
"Richard."
"Who was your real father?"
Reed shook his head.
"I don't know."
Maren looked toward the hidden passage.
"Then that's where we're going."
Reed grabbed her hand.
"No."
She looked at him.
"This isn't your fight alone."
"It is now."
"Why?"
Reed looked at her.
"Because whoever my father is..."
He glanced at the message.
"...he may be the only person who can save Elise."
Maren nodded.
"Then let's find him."
They entered the passage.
Behind them, the chapel lights went out.
And somewhere far below the hospital, Celeste opened a steel door.
Inside stood a man connected to machines.
He slowly lifted his head.
Celeste stared at him.
"No."
The man smiled.
"Hello, Celeste."
She backed away.
"You can't be alive."
He removed the oxygen mask.
"I've been alive for twenty-seven years."
Celeste whispered:
"Who are you?"
The man looked toward the door.
"Reed's father."
Celeste's face went white.
Then he said:
"And Maren's grandfather's murderer."
The door slammed shut.
The hospital lights flickered.
And the countdown continued.
07:58:44.
May you like
Reed and Maren were moving deeper into the tunnels.
But neither knew that they were walking directly toward the man who had started the entire war.
