Chapter 4 - Five Minutes
Dominic answered.
"Victor."
His uncle's voice was calm.
"Good morning, nephew."
Lena stared at the timer strapped to Evan.
Four minutes.
Fifty-two seconds.
Gabriel moved toward him.
Evan screamed.
"Don't touch it!"
Gabriel stopped.
Victor continued through the phone.
"You're becoming predictable."
Dominic's voice remained flat.
"You put a bomb on a civilian inside a children's hospital."
"He's hardly innocent."
Evan was crying now.
Lena couldn't look away from the timer.
"Tell us how to stop it," she said.
Victor laughed softly.
"So that's Lena."
Dominic's expression darkened.
Victor continued.
"I've heard a great deal about you in the last few hours."
"Leave my daughter out of this."
"I didn't bring her into anything. Dominic did that when he allowed himself to be rescued."
Lena looked at Dominic.
He didn't flinch.
"Disarm it," Dominic said.
"Resign."
"You don't want my resignation."
"You're right."
A pause.
"I want control."
"What control?"
"Everything your father left you."
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel was texting someone furiously.
Bomb unit.
Hospital evacuation.
Anything.
Victor said, "Transfer your voting shares, criminal partnerships, port interests, and foundation authority to me."
"Impossible in four minutes."
"Not if Gabriel uses the emergency succession documents your father prepared."
Gabriel stopped typing.
Lena looked at him.
"You have those?"
His silence was answer enough.
Victor laughed.
"I know this family better than Dominic thinks."
Dominic walked toward the window.
"How do I know you'll stop the device?"
"You don't."
There it was.
The truth.
Victor wasn't negotiating.
He was demonstrating control.
Lena looked at Evan.
Her anger toward him remained.
But nobody deserved to explode inside a storage room.
"Dominic," she whispered.
He held up a hand.
Then said into the phone, "You made one mistake."
Victor sighed.
"Did I?"
"You gave me five minutes."
Dominic ended the call.
Lena stared.
"What are you doing?"
He turned to Gabriel.
"Can the device transmit?"
"Probably."
"Can it receive?"
"If Victor can start it remotely, yes."
Dominic pointed at the ceiling.
"Kill wireless access on this floor."
Gabriel understood immediately.
"And cellular?"
"Hospital has repeaters."
Gabriel called security IT.
"Shut down seventh-floor network. Now."
The timer reached 3:47.
Lena shook her head.
"What happens if losing signal triggers it?"
Dominic looked at Evan.
"We find out."
"That's your plan?"
"No."
He turned to Lena.
"Take my phone."
"What?"
"Call Dr. Reese."
She did.
Reese answered immediately.
"Lena?"
"How is Sophie?"
"Stable, but we need authorization."
"Listen to me. They're evacuating the seventh floor."
"What happened?"
"Just keep Sophie where she is unless security tells you otherwise."
"Lena—"
"Please."
Silence.
Then: "Okay."
She ended the call.
Dominic was examining the device from several feet away.
"Military design?" Lena asked.
Gabriel shook his head.
"Commercial imitation."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning whoever built it wanted it to look more sophisticated than it is."
Evan whimpered.
"That's good?"
"Maybe."
Timer: 2:58.
A hospital security officer appeared at the hallway corner.
Gabriel shouted, "Stay back!"
He did.
Dominic looked at Lena.
"You need to leave."
"No."
"Your daughter needs you alive."
"So does Evan."
Evan looked at her.
"Lena..."
She hated him.
She hated what he'd done.
But the sound of her name from someone she'd once shared Christmas dinner with made anger complicated.
"What did Victor tell you?"
Evan swallowed.
"He said he knew I stole from Ryan's company."
"You did."
"I paid most of it back."
"You never paid me."
"I paid creditors."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was ashamed."
Timer: 2:25.
"Focus," Dominic said. "How long have you worked for Victor?"
"Eight months."
"Why?"
"He offered money."
"Doing what?"
"Compliance audits."
"Medical records?"
"Sometimes."
"Did you identify Sophie?"
Evan looked at Lena.
That was enough.
Her stomach turned.
"You told him about her."
"I didn't know what he'd do."
"You gave a man like that my daughter's name."
"I thought he wanted leverage against insurance companies."
Lena stepped closer.
Dominic stopped her before she could hit Evan.
Timer: 1:57.
Gabriel's phone buzzed.
"Network down."
Everyone stared at the device.
Nothing happened.
Timer: 1:52.
"Still counting," Lena whispered.
Dominic crouched.
"There's a release plate beneath the display."
Gabriel looked.
"Could be anti-tamper."
"Could be decorative."
"That's reassuring."
Dominic glanced at Evan.
"Did Victor put it on you?"
"No. Two men did."
"Where?"
"Parking garage."
"Did you see them arm it?"
"No."
"Did they say anything?"
Evan closed his eyes.
"One said, 'Make sure the light is visible.'"
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
"The light."
Gabriel stared at the red timer.
"A show."
"What?"
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"If Victor wanted Evan dead, he wouldn't need a countdown anyone could see."
Lena understood.
"He wanted us watching it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Dominic turned toward the laptop.
Because while they were watching the bomb, something else was happening.
Gabriel ran to the desk.
The upload window had changed.
DONOR REDIRECTION COMPLETE.
Lena's blood froze.
"No."
Dr. Reese called at that exact moment.
Lena answered.
"The donor heart," he said breathlessly. "It's being transferred to another hospital."
"What?"
"Someone changed the allocation record."
"Can you stop it?"
"I'm trying."
"Where is it?"
"Retrieval team is already in transit."
Lena looked at Dominic.
"They're taking Sophie's heart."
Timer: 1:03.
Dominic no longer looked at the bomb.
"Gabriel. Find the transport."
Gabriel called three people at once.
Evan began sobbing harder.
"Don't leave me!"
Lena stayed.
Dominic grabbed the laptop.
"Reese, who has authority to redirect?"
"Regional allocation coordinator."
"Name?"
"Peter Wallace."
Gabriel looked up.
"Wallace disappeared two hours ago."
Dominic whispered, "Victor."
Timer: 00:42.
A distant alarm began.
Hospital evacuation.
Lena held Evan's eyes.
"Listen to me."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"I didn't mean to hurt Sophie."
"I know."
"I loved Ryan."
That broke something in her.
"So did I."
Timer: 00:20.
Dominic stepped toward the device.
"Don't!" Evan screamed.
Dominic ignored him.
He grabbed the red display.
Gabriel shouted, "Dominic!"
Dominic ripped it away.
Wires came loose.
Evan screamed.
The timer hit 00:05.
00:04.
00:03.
Then the display fell dark.
Nothing happened.
Evan collapsed.
Fake bomb.
Lena covered her face.
Dominic looked at the disconnected panel.
"No explosive."
Gabriel exhaled.
"Just enough electronics to fool us."
Dominic threw it aside.
Victor had bought himself five minutes.
And used every second.
Dr. Reese's voice still came through Lena's phone.
"Lena?"
She picked it up.
"I'm here."
"We found the transport route."
"Where?"
"The donor heart was supposed to arrive by medical helicopter."
"Supposed to?"
"It landed."
"Then where is it?"
A terrible pause.
"The courier vehicle left the helipad six minutes ago."
"That's good, right?"
"No."
"Why?"
"It isn't coming here."
Dominic took the phone.
"Where is it going?"
Reese gave him an address.
Gabriel stared.
Dominic did too.
Lena looked between them.
"What?"
Gabriel said, "That's Ravenport Surgical Center."
Victor's private hospital.
Lena's voice disappeared.
"He stole a donor heart?"
Dominic was already moving.
"He's trying to make it look like a legitimate redirection."
"Can he?"
"Long enough."
"Then we go get it."
Dominic stopped.
"No."
"My daughter is dying."
"And people are waiting for me there."
"Good."
He stared at her.
"Good?"
"They want you."
"Exactly."
"Then I'm the one person they might not shoot."
"That is the worst logic I've ever heard."
"It got you into a laundry cart."
Gabriel coughed to hide a laugh.
Dominic glared at him.
Lena stepped closer.
"That heart belongs to whoever the allocation system says needs it most. If that's Sophie, I'm not letting your uncle steal it because he wants your chair."
Dominic's expression shifted.
Something between frustration and admiration.
Finally, he said, "You stay in the vehicle."
"No."
"Lena."
"No."
"We are not negotiating."
"That's cute."
Gabriel looked at Dominic.
"You did say she understands leverage."
Twenty minutes later, Lena sat in the back of an armored SUV between two men who carried weapons she pretended not to see.
Dominic sat opposite her.
His wound had started bleeding again.
"You should stay here," she said.
"So should you."
"Different situation."
"No, it isn't."
"If you pass out, I'm leaving you in the car."
"Noted."
They arrived at Ravenport Surgical Center before sunrise.
The private facility stood dark except for one loading entrance.
Gabriel checked his phone.
"The courier arrived four minutes ago."
"Police?" Lena asked.
"On the way."
"Why aren't they here already?"
"Because someone reported an armed hostage situation three miles east."
"Victor."
"Probably."
Dominic opened the door.
"Lena stays."
Lena opened hers.
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
"Why do I bother?"
They entered through a side corridor.
No staff.
No patients.
Renovation signs covered the walls.
Temporary facility.
Perfect for hiding something.
They followed the sound of voices toward surgery receiving.
Gabriel raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
A metal case sat on a rolling cart inside the room.
MEDICAL TRANSPLANT TRANSPORT.
Lena's heart slammed.
"Is that it?"
A man stepped from behind the door.
Gun raised.
Then another.
Then another.
Dominic moved in front of Lena.
A familiar voice came through the darkness.
"Touching."
Victor Ravenport walked into the light.
He was in his late fifties, silver-haired, elegant, calm.
He looked like a man who chaired charity dinners.
Not a man who used children's hearts as bargaining chips.
"Hello, Dominic."
Dominic stared at him.
"Step away from the case."
Victor smiled.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"The heart was never the leverage."
Lena looked at the transport case.
Victor's eyes moved to her.
"You were."
Lena's stomach dropped.
Then Victor nodded toward the shadows.
Someone stepped forward.
A man Lena had not seen in six years.
A man whose funeral she had attended.
A man whose ashes she had scattered beside a lake.
May you like
Ryan Hart looked directly at her.
And said, "Lena, don't let Dominic open that case."
