Chapter 9 - The Night Adrian Chose Her
Harper insisted on going.
Adrian refused.
She stared at him.
“My coworkers are hostages because of me.”
“Because of Victor.”
“He wants the page.”
“He wants you.”
“Then use that.”
“No.”
“Adrian—”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You don't get to protect me by deciding whether I'm allowed to make choices.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
Adrian thought of Elaine.
Of Alexander.
Of every person who had justified control as protection.
He handed Harper a small earpiece.
“Stay beside me.”
“That sounds suspiciously like an order.”
“A request.”
“Better.”
They entered through an old freight tunnel beneath the tower.
Cole and Charles went toward security.
Elaine stayed with police contacts Alexander had trusted.
Adrian and Harper reached fourteen.
Empty.
A phone rang on Harper's desk.
She answered.
Victor.
“Thirty-sixth floor.”
They climbed.
At thirty-six, another phone.
“Forty.”
Victor was moving them upward.
Adrian understood.
He wanted them exhausted.
Afraid.
Separated.
At forty, the lights died.
Harper felt Adrian's hand find hers.
She squeezed.
“Still here, Mr. Logistics?”
“Yes.”
Gunfire erupted.
Adrian pulled her behind concrete.
He returned fire.
A man fell.
Harper flinched.
Adrian saw fear in her eyes.
Not fear of the gunfire.
Fear of him.
Something inside him cracked.
“This is what I am,” he said.
“No.”
“You don't know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know the version who held an elevator.”
“I know the man who remembered a terrified seven-year-old for nineteen years.”
He stared at her.
“You think that erases everything?”
“No.”
That answer surprised him.
Harper continued.
“But what you do next matters.”
A door opened above.
Graham stumbled through.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Harper!”
She ran to him.
Graham collapsed.
“Malcolm has explosives.”
“Where?”
“Roof controls.”
Adrian called Cole.
Static.
Then Cole's voice.
“We have security back.”
“Disable explosives.”
“We're trying.”
Graham grabbed Harper's wrist.
“Victor doesn't want the ledger.”
“What?”
“He wants the original recording.”
“What recording?”
Graham pointed toward her canvas bag.
Harper stared.
She had carried that bag for seven years.
Her mother had given it to her.
Graham whispered, “Cut the lining.”
Adrian used a knife.
Inside was a memory card.
Harper stared at it.
Her mother had hidden something there years ago.
They inserted it into Graham's laptop.
A video opened.
Daniel Lane appeared.
Behind him stood Alexander Crowe.
Daniel looked into the camera.
“If we're dead, the man responsible is—”
The screen went black.
Someone had remotely deleted the file.
Then the elevator behind them chimed.
The doors opened.
May you like
Malcolm Shaw stood inside.
And he was holding Harper's mother at gunpoint.
