Chapter 16 - THE FINAL THIRTEEN PERCENT
Federal agents moved Nathan, Sarah, Lily, Rosa, and the twins to a protected medical residence outside Seattle.
Victor remained in a high-security detention center.
Marcus, Creed, Reed, Nora, and Miriam were placed under separate protection.
Caleb Voss disappeared.
The incomplete archive suggested he still controlled active confinement sites.
Seventeen women had been identified through the bracelet.
Federal teams located fourteen.
Two had died.
One remained missing.
The eighteenth patient had been Margaret Pierce.
The folder labeled SUCCESSION contained only fragmented references to another target.
Elena believed Caleb intended to continue Victor’s scheme.
Nathan believed the target was someone close to him.
The forged insurance policy proved Caleb had planned Nathan’s death for years.
Sarah reviewed the document from her hospital bed.
“He copied my signature from the trust transfer.”
“Why make you the apparent signer?”
Nathan asked.
“To make it look like I wanted you dead.”
“Victor wanted us divided.”
“Caleb wanted one of us blamed when the other died.”
Lily sat on the carpet beside Owen.
Ethan remained in a medical bassinet near the window.
His heart was recovering.
He still required oxygen, but his doctors believed he would eventually breathe without support.
Lily placed a toy stethoscope against his chest.
“His heart sounds loud.”
Nathan smiled.
“That is good.”
“Yours sounds sad.”
She pressed the toy against Nathan’s shirt.
“Does it?”
“Yes.”
“Can you fix it?”
“Not with surgery.”
“What fixes it?”
Nathan looked at Sarah.
“Time.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Truth.”
Elena entered carrying a recovered file.
“Caleb made a mistake.”
She placed a map on the table.
“The aircraft’s navigation system stored his previous routes.”
One route appeared repeatedly.
It led to an island in Puget Sound owned by a shell corporation.
Satellite images showed a large private residence, a dock, and underground structures.
The property had once belonged to Caleb’s father.
“Who was his father?”
Nathan asked.
“Dr. Samuel Voss.”
Nathan recognized the name.
Voss had been a senior research physician at Pierce Medical Center.
He died during a laboratory accident twenty-two years earlier.
Nathan’s father had approved the project.
Sarah read the report.
“Was it really an accident?”
“We do not know.”
Elena opened another file.
“Samuel Voss developed the experimental drug used in Victor’s early trials.”
“He objected when patients began dying.”
“Victor blamed him.”
“Your father signed the termination order.”
Nathan looked at Robert’s signature.
“Caleb believed my father caused his death.”
“Possibly.”
“So he entered Victor’s network for revenge.”
Sarah said.
“He did not want only money.”
“He wanted the Pierce family destroyed.”
Elena nodded.
“The active-patients folder may be stored on the island.”
Nathan looked toward the twins.
“We send a federal team.”
“We already did.”
“What happened?”
“Their boat lost communication three miles from shore.”
“Weather?”
“The engine-control system was hacked.”
Nathan understood Caleb’s warning.
The island was prepared for intrusion.
A phone rang inside the residence.
It was a secure line known only to law enforcement.
Elena answered.
Caleb’s voice filled the room.
“You found the island.”
“Where are the federal agents?”
“Floating safely in the sound.”
Caleb sounded amused.
“I am not Victor.”
“I do not kill unnecessarily.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You arranged my parents’ deaths.”
“Victor arranged them.”
“You helped hide the evidence.”
“I was nineteen.”
Caleb’s voice hardened.
“Your father destroyed mine.”
“My father made mistakes.”
“Your father protected Victor.”
“He tried to stop him.”
“Too late.”
Nathan looked at Sarah.
“What is inside the SUCCESSION folder?”
Caleb laughed.
“You.”
“The insurance policy?”
“That was Victor’s idea.”
“He wanted your death to appear financially motivated.”
“Then what did you want?”
“To prove that power always chooses itself.”
Nathan waited.
Caleb continued.
“At the gala, you were supposed to choose between Sarah and the evidence.”
“You tried to save both.”
“At the courthouse, Judge Price chose justice over her daughter.”
“She saved both.”
“At the hospital, Nora chose her son over Sarah.”
“She stopped before injecting the poison.”
Caleb’s voice lost its amusement.
“People keep disappointing you.”
“No.”
Nathan said.
“They keep disappointing you.”
Silence followed.
“You built every test believing fear would make people selfish.”
Nathan continued.
“But fear did not win every time.”
“Lily carried two babies through a blizzard.”
“Sarah fought Victor while wounded.”
“Marcus saved Lily even though he knew prison was waiting.”
“Miriam took a bullet after choosing to help.”
“You do not understand why.”
Caleb’s breathing changed.
Nathan had found the wound beneath the plan.
“You needed everyone to become Victor.”
Caleb ended the call.
Elena traced the signal.
It did not come from the island.
It came from the protected residence.
Every officer drew a weapon.
The building went into lockdown.
Nathan looked around.
Caleb was inside.
A fire alarm sounded.
Sprinklers activated.
Smoke filled the west corridor.
Elena ordered Sarah and the children moved to the secure basement.
Nathan carried Ethan.
Rosa carried Owen.
Lily stayed between Sarah and Elena.
They reached the stairwell.
The lights failed.
A gunshot echoed above them.
An officer fell.
Caleb appeared through the smoke wearing a federal uniform.
He grabbed Lily.
Nathan placed Ethan into Rosa’s arms and lunged.
Caleb fired.
The bullet struck the railing beside Nathan.
Sarah hit Caleb from behind with a fire extinguisher.
Lily twisted free.
Elena fired toward Caleb’s leg.
He disappeared through a service door.
Nathan chased him into the maintenance corridor.
Caleb reached a waiting motorcycle in the underground garage.
Nathan caught the rear of his jacket.
Caleb turned and struck him.
They fought beside the moving bike.
Caleb pulled a knife.
Nathan trapped his wrist against the concrete wall.
“You are not leaving with another child.”
Caleb smiled through blood.
“I did not come for Lily.”
He pressed a button on the motorcycle.
An explosion shook the basement.
The secure medical room doors slammed shut.
Nathan turned.
Sarah, Rosa, Elena, and the children were trapped behind reinforced steel.
Gas began flowing through the ventilation system.
Caleb kicked Nathan backward and climbed onto the motorcycle.
Nathan grabbed the knife from the floor.
“Unlock the room.”
Caleb started the engine.
“The code is inside the missing thirteen percent.”
He drove into the smoke.
Nathan reached the sealed medical room.
Sarah pounded against the glass.
Ethan’s oxygen monitor began alarming.
A message appeared on the security screen.
May you like
TO SAVE THEM, FINISH WHAT YOUR FATHER STARTED.
COME TO THE ISLAND ALONE.
