Chapter 9 - THE TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR CLOCK
Lily forced herself to breathe slowly.
Panic would not free her.
Fear would not help Ethan.
She studied the warehouse.
Two exits.
Four visible guards.
One camera above the loading door.
Mercer sat ten feet away, speaking quietly on his phone.
The other officers who transported her had removed their uniforms.
They now wore dark civilian jackets.
That confirmed what Lily already knew.
She had not been transferred.
She had been kidnapped.
The tablet continued showing Ethan’s nursery.
Serena moved around the room as though she already owned it.
A court-appointed monitor stood near the door.
Lily recognized the woman from child services.
Not Dana Brooks.
Someone new.
Someone Serena had chosen.
Victor was absent.
Lily wondered whether he knew Ethan had been returned to the nursery.
Perhaps the live video was old.
Perhaps everything on the screen was designed to frighten her.
Then Ethan rolled toward the camera.
The clock on the monitor showed the current time.
It was live.
Mercer ended his call.
“Victor has until nine to surrender Amelia’s recorder.”
“If he does, you return to jail.”
“If he refuses, the hearing proceeds without your testimony.”
“And Ethan leaves the mansion with Serena.”
Lily looked at him.
“You think Adrian will let Serena keep control?”
Mercer’s expression shifted.
It was slight.
But she saw it.
“You are useful to them,” she continued.
“Until you aren’t.”
Mercer smiled.
“You believe you understand people after working in a nursery.”
“I understand what happens when cruel people no longer need witnesses.”
His smile faded.
Lily looked at the raven tattoo.
“Adrian gave you that symbol.”
“He gives it to every man he owns.”
Mercer pulled down his sleeve.
“No one owns me.”
“Then why are you hiding it?”
He struck the table with his palm.
Lily did not flinch.
The guards looked over.
Mercer leaned closer.
“Your courage is borrowed.”
“From a man who will not save you.”
“No.”
“From a child who cannot save himself.”
Mercer stood abruptly.
He ordered one guard to watch her and left through the loading door.
Lily waited.
The remaining guard was young.
Perhaps twenty-five.
A nervous habit made him tap his thumb against his index finger.
Lily recognized him from the mansion.
He had worked the north gate twice.
“Your name is Daniel,” she said.
He looked at her.
“You have a daughter.”
His tapping stopped.
“I heard you talking about her first birthday.”
“Be quiet.”
“What happens when Adrian decides you know too much?”
“I said be quiet.”
“You watched Serena drag a baby.”
Daniel looked toward the camera.
“I did not see anything.”
“You helped Mercer take me.”
“You know this is not a legal transfer.”
His jaw tightened.
“They said you poisoned the child.”
“Then why bring me here instead of county jail?”
He had no answer.
Lily lowered her voice.
“You still have time to decide what kind of father your daughter has.”
Daniel turned away.
Lily studied the restraints around her wrists.
The metal ring was bolted to the chair.
The chair itself was not secured to the floor.
If she could move it near the exposed machinery beside the wall, she might cut the plastic restraints.
But four guards remained.
She needed distraction.
On the tablet, Serena lifted Ethan from the crib.
The child immediately began crying.
Serena’s smile vanished when the monitor turned away.
Her fingers tightened around his injured arm.
Lily surged against the restraints.
“Stop.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
He saw it.
Serena noticed the camera angle and relaxed her grip.
The monitor returned.
Her gentle expression reappeared.
Daniel’s face changed.
Lily whispered.
“That is who you are helping.”
A telephone rang in the office above them.
One guard went upstairs.
Another walked outside.
Only Daniel and one older man remained on the warehouse floor.
Daniel approached Lily.
For one moment, she thought he might release her.
Instead, he placed a bottle of water on the table.
“Drink.”
“I can’t with my hands restrained.”
He hesitated.
Then he loosened one wrist enough for her to reach the bottle.
The older guard shouted.
“What are you doing?”
“She needs water.”
“She needs nothing.”
The older man approached.
Lily dropped the bottle.
Water spread across the concrete.
The man cursed and bent to pick it up.
Lily swung the metal chair sideways.
The chair leg struck his knee.
He fell.
Daniel froze.
Lily pulled her loosened hand free.
She grabbed the older guard’s radio and struck the emergency alarm button on the wall.
A siren began screaming.
Warehouse sprinklers activated.
Water poured from the ceiling.
The remaining guards rushed back inside.
Daniel made his decision.
He unlocked Lily’s other wrist.
“Loading door.”
“Go.”
Lily ran.
Her abdomen burned.
Her bare prison shoes slipped on the wet concrete.
A guard grabbed her sleeve.
Daniel tackled him from behind.
Lily reached the loading door and pushed through.
Mercer’s black van stood outside.
The keys were gone.
She heard freight cars moving beyond a chain-link fence.
A narrow alley ran toward the tracks.
She ran into it.
Mercer appeared at the far end.
He raised his weapon.
“Stop.”
Lily turned toward a stack of shipping containers.
A shot struck metal above her.
She ducked between two containers.
Mercer followed.
Lily reached the tracks just as a freight train began crossing the alley.
She climbed the ladder of a slow-moving maintenance car.
Mercer caught the back of her jacket.
The fabric tore.
She pulled herself onto the platform.
Mercer ran beside the train for several seconds.
Then he fell behind.
Lily remained crouched until the warehouse disappeared.
The train slowed near a switching yard.
She jumped onto the gravel.
Pain shot through her knees.
She kept moving.
A railroad worker found her near the control building.
She used his phone to call Mara.
The attorney answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“I escaped.”
“Mercer took me.”
“Victor is in danger.”
Mara’s voice sharpened.
“Listen carefully.”
“The guardianship hearing was moved to eight-thirty.”
“Serena’s lawyers claim you fled custody.”
“Victor is at a safe house preparing evidence.”
“Do not return to the mansion.”
“Tell me where he is.”
“I cannot over an unsecured line.”
Lily looked toward the worker.
“Then call Dominic.”
Silence followed.
Mara answered carefully.
“Dominic disappeared.”
“What?”
“He was transporting evidence from the bank.”
“The vehicle was found empty.”
Lily remembered Amelia’s warning.
Do not trust Dominic until you learn what happened in Prague.
“Where is Ethan?”
“Still at the mansion.”
“Victor has guards around him.”
“Serena obtained supervised access under the temporary order.”
“The hearing decides whether she takes custody.”
“What time is it?”
“Six forty-two.”
Less than two hours remained.
Mara arranged a secure pickup.
Lily waited inside the railroad office.
The television showed morning news.
Victor’s face appeared beside Serena’s.
The headline read BLACKWOOD HEIR IN CUSTODY BATTLE.
Serena stood outside the courthouse.
She spoke through tears.
“I only want Ethan to be safe.”
“I love him as if he were my own.”
Lily stared at the screen.
The reporter continued.
A source close to the family claims Victor Blackwood suffered a violent breakdown following the death of his wife.
Authorities are also searching for nanny Lily Hart, who escaped custody early this morning.
Serena lowered her eyes.
“I hope Lily receives the help she needs.”
“She became deeply attached to Ethan.”
“Perhaps too attached.”
Lily turned off the television.
A black SUV arrived outside.
Mara stepped out.
Lily entered the vehicle.
Victor sat in the back seat.
For one second, neither spoke.
Then he saw the marks around her wrists.
His face hardened.
“Mercer.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked toward Mara.
“I told you the station was compromised.”
“You also had no legal authority to storm it,” Mara replied.
Lily leaned forward.
“The guardianship order was signed before the hearing.”
“I saw it.”
Mara looked at her.
“Are you certain?”
“Serena showed it on a live video.”
“Halvorsen’s signature was at the bottom.”
Victor’s expression became cold.
“Then the hearing is theater.”
Lily told them about Mercer’s phone message.
Use her to bring Victor.
Victor opened Amelia’s medical envelope.
Inside the prenatal waveform was a second folded page they had overlooked.
It contained a sequence of numbers.
Mara examined it.
“Not medical data.”
Victor recognized the pattern.
“Coordinates.”
They entered the numbers into the navigation system.
The location pointed to an abandoned lakeside emergency station near Amelia’s crash site.
Lily looked at Victor.
“Amelia left something there.”
Victor checked the time.
“We have ninety minutes.”
Mara objected.
“The hearing matters.”
“If we miss it, Serena takes Ethan.”
“If we attend without proof, she takes him anyway.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“The final recording may identify everyone.”
“It also sends a signal.”
“Then we play it somewhere they expect.”
Mara understood.
“You want to draw them out.”
Victor nodded.
“We activate it at the lake station.”
“Record whoever comes.”
“Then reach the courthouse before the ruling.”
It was dangerous.
It was also their only path.
They drove north.
The emergency station stood near a frozen stretch of shoreline.
It had been closed for years.
Victor carried the recorder inside.
Lily followed with Amelia’s letter.
Mara remained in the vehicle coordinating with federal contacts she trusted.
The station contained an old radio console and a wall map.
Victor placed the recorder on the desk.
“You should stay outside.”
Lily shook her head.
“Amelia included me for a reason.”
Victor looked at her.
“If this goes wrong, Ethan loses both of us.”
“Then we make sure it doesn’t.”
Victor selected the third file.
IF I AM DEAD.
The recorder asked for confirmation.
He pressed PLAY.
A signal light began flashing.
Amelia’s voice filled the room.
Victor, if you hear this, my death was not an accident.
Serena and Adrian planned to force my car from the road.
Detective Mercer disabled the highway camera.
But none of them created this plan.
They answer to someone inside the Blackwood organization.
Someone you trust with your life.
Victor looked toward Lily.
Amelia continued.
I heard Serena call him D during the meeting.
I believe the name is Dominic.
The door behind them opened.
Dominic entered holding a weapon.
His face was pale.
Rain darkened his coat.
He aimed at Victor.
“I told you not to play that recording.”
Victor raised his own weapon.
“Were you afraid I would learn the truth?”
Dominic looked toward Lily.
“No.”
“I was afraid the signal would tell Adrian exactly where you were.”
A red laser dot appeared on Victor’s chest from the window.
Dominic fired first.
May you like
The glass shattered.
Victor fell.
