Chapter 6 - The Last Door
I drove faster than I had ever driven in my life.
Dominic tried to keep pace.
Julian sat beside me, calling every guard still at the estate.
Nobody answered.
Thomas had planned for this.
He had used the airfield to pull everyone away.
The mansion was nearly empty.
Except for Theo.
Caleb.
Ranger.
And now Ruby.
My phone remained connected.
I could hear Theo breathing.
Then nothing.
“Theo.”
No answer.
“Theo!”
A whisper.
“We’re hiding.”
“Where?”
“Elena’s room.”
Of course.
The hidden passage.
“Lock the door.”
“It doesn’t lock from this side.”
I swore.
“What about Ranger?”
“He’s with us.”
“Listen carefully. Take Caleb into the hidden passage behind the fireplace.”
“How do you know—”
“Warren will show you.”
Silence.
“Warren’s gone.”
I gripped the steering wheel.
“What?”
“He escaped.”
Of course he had.
Or someone had released him.
Then a sound came through the phone.
Footsteps.
Theo stopped breathing.
A man’s voice called softly.
“Theo?”
Thomas.
“Come out.”
Caleb whimpered.
Thomas continued.
“I brought Ruby.”
My chest tightened.
Then Ruby’s voice.
“Theo, don’t!”
A slap.
I nearly drove through a barrier.
Thomas said calmly, “That was rude.”
I forced myself not to react.
“Thomas!”
Silence.
Then he picked up Theo’s phone.
“Sebastian.”
“If you touch her again—”
“You’ll what?”
“I’ll find something worse than death.”
He laughed.
“There you are. Father’s favorite son.”
“Marcus is finished.”
“So are you.”
“No.”
I heard Ruby crying.
“I’m still here.”
Thomas lowered his voice.
“You exposed everything.”
“Yes.”
“Do you understand what you destroyed?”
“Yes.”
“My life.”
“You destroyed that yourself.”
“You had everything.”
“So did Ruby.”
Silence.
Then:
“She still might.”
“What do you want?”
“A way out.”
“You won’t get one.”
“Then Ruby dies.”
I looked at Julian.
He wrote on his phone:
KEEP HIM TALKING.
“What kind of way out?”
“Car. Cash. Clean route to the border.”
“Done.”
Julian looked at me sharply.
I ignored him.
“And the children.”
Thomas laughed.
“You’re negotiating now?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“Let Theo and Caleb walk out with Ruby.”
“Caleb isn’t useful anymore.”
“You need witnesses to your good faith.”
Thomas was silent.
I was buying seconds.
Every second put us closer.
We reached the gates.
Open.
No guards.
I stopped the car before the mansion.
Dominic arrived behind us.
I held up one hand.
No one moved.
“I’m here,” I told Thomas.
“I know.”
I looked toward the second floor.
A curtain moved.
“Come inside alone.”
I entered.
The foyer where Theo had first held out Ruby’s bracelet seemed different now.
Empty.
Cold.
The framed photograph of Ruby still hung above the flowers.
I climbed the stairs.
Elena’s room door stood open.
Inside:
Thomas Crane.
Ruby.
Theo.
Caleb.
Ranger.
Thomas held a gun against Ruby’s shoulder.
He wore a black ring.
His left forearm was wrapped in a bloodstained bandage where Ranger had bitten him.
Theo stood in front of Caleb.
Ranger crouched beside them.
And Warren stood near the window.
Alive.
Free.
Holding a pistol.
I stared at him.
“So this is what you chose.”
Warren looked exhausted.
“I chose to get inside.”
Thomas glanced at him.
“Don’t.”
Warren’s pistol moved.
Not toward me.
Toward Thomas.
Thomas pressed his weapon harder against Ruby.
“You’re predictable, Warren.”
“So are you.”
Ruby saw me.
“Daddy.”
I smiled.
“Hey, starshine.”
Her lip trembled.
“You came.”
“I always come.”
Thomas rolled his eyes.
“Touching.”
I looked at him.
“You wanted a way out.”
“Yes.”
“Let the children go.”
“First you.”
“What?”
“Gun.”
I placed it on the floor.
“Kicker.”
I slid it toward him.
“Phone.”
I placed it beside the gun.
Thomas smiled.
“Father always said you were dangerous because you could make people believe you cared.”
“He was wrong.”
“About what?”
“I don’t make people believe.”
Ranger growled.
Thomas glanced down.
That was his mistake.
Theo shouted, “Now!”
Warren fired.
Thomas jerked Ruby backward.
The shot struck his shoulder.
Ruby dropped.
I lunged.
Thomas fired blindly.
The bullet hit the wall.
Ranger charged.
He hit Thomas’s legs.
Thomas fell.
I reached Ruby and pulled her behind me.
Warren kicked away Thomas’s weapon.
Dominic and Julian stormed in.
Thomas was finished.
It should have ended there.
But then Caleb screamed.
“Ruby!”
I turned.
Ruby had crawled toward the fireplace.
Toward something lying on the floor.
A small metal box.
Thomas smiled through blood.
“Don’t open that.”
I looked at him.
“What is it?”
His smile widened.
“Elena’s last secret.”
Ruby picked up the box.
I took it gently from her.
There was a photograph taped underneath.
Elena.
Holding a newborn baby.
On the back were five words:
SEBASTIAN MUST NEVER KNOW WHY.
I stared at my wife’s handwriting.
Then I turned the photograph over again.
May you like
The baby was Ruby.
And the man standing beside Elena in the background was Julian.
