Chapter 36 - The Choice She Made
My mother looked straight at me.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't shaking.
She looked calm.
That scared me more.
“Mom?”
She swallowed.
“Claire.”
Eleanor smiled.
“She came willingly.”
I stood slowly.
“Why?”
My mother looked at Noah.
“Because I made a promise.”
“To Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“You brought her here.”
“I brought her to me.”
Eleanor laughed.
“Your mother has been more useful than you realize.”
“Stop.”
My voice shook.
“Don't talk about her like that.”
My mother stepped forward.
“She isn't the enemy.”
Eleanor's smile widened.
“Your daughter still wants to believe you're innocent.”
“Are you?”
I asked.
My mother's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
That answer broke something in me.
“What did you do?”
“I took the money.”
“The sixty-eight thousand?”
“Yes.”
“You stole from me.”
“Yes.”
“You took the baby gifts.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Blackwell.”
Her face twisted.
“I helped keep you alive.”
“You used my money.”
“To buy silence.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone who was tracking your pregnancy.”
I looked at Eleanor.
“And you paid her.”
“Yes.”
My mother nodded.
“I thought I could control the damage.”
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“You were never in control.”
“No.”
My mother looked at me.
“But I tried.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“She's telling the truth about one thing.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Your mother betrayed us.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She gave Eleanor access to your medical records.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I didn't know what she'd do.”
“You gave her the information.”
“I thought she wanted to keep Claire safe.”
“And then?”
“She changed the plan.”
Eleanor raised her gun.
“Enough.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You've already lost.”
She smiled.
“No.”
She pointed toward Noah.
“I have him.”
I moved in front of him.
“You're not touching him.”
“I don't need to.”
She raised a remote.
A screen came on.
My son.
A man beside him.
Thomas.
My heart jumped.
“Thomas!”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Claire.”
“Where are you?”
“Underground.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is he safe?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor looked annoyed.
“He's alive because Thomas followed instructions.”
I stared at Thomas.
“Whose?”
Adrian spoke.
“Mine.”
Everything stopped.
“You?”
Adrian nodded.
“I asked Thomas to move your son.”
“But I thought Eleanor had him.”
“That was the point.”
I looked at Thomas.
“You let me think he was kidnapped.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“To make Eleanor expose her location.”
I stared.
“So the whole time…”
“Yes.”
Thomas's voice softened.
“I was buying you time.”
I didn't know whether to forgive him or hate him.
Maybe both.
Eleanor suddenly lunged toward the door.
Adrian blocked her.
She fired.
The shot hit the wall.
Police surged forward.
Bennett tackled Samuel.
Arthur grabbed Eleanor's wrist.
She fought like a cornered animal.
“My son!” I screamed.
Thomas's feed cut out.
I ran toward the nearest monitor.
“Thomas!”
Nothing.
Then a text appeared.
SAFE.
Below it:
COME ALONE.
I looked at Adrian.
“You knew this would happen.”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“I knew she'd force a second move.”
“What second move?”
Adrian looked toward the floor.
“The root chamber.”
“Where?”
“Under the church.”
Bennett approached.
“We have enough officers to secure the area.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Not the church.”
“Why?”
“Because the root chamber isn't registered as part of the church.”
“Where is it?”
“Below it.”
Arthur went pale.
“You're sure?”
Adrian looked at him.
“You built the entrance.”
Arthur whispered, “I was nineteen.”
“You knew what you were doing.”
“I was a child.”
“So was I.”
Silence.
Arthur looked destroyed.
I understood then.
He wasn't afraid of Eleanor.
He was afraid of what he'd helped create.
We left the warehouse under heavy police protection.
My mother stayed behind.
I stopped at the door.
“Are you coming?”
She shook her head.
“I need to tell the police everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it sends you to prison?”
She looked at me.
“If that's what happens.”
I didn't hug her.
Not yet.
But I touched her shoulder.
She cried.
“I'm sorry.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
It wasn't forgiveness.
But it was the first thing that sounded like a beginning.
At the church, Adrian led us through the basement.
There was a wall behind the old furnace.
Arthur pointed.
“That's it.”
Bennett searched.
Nothing.
Adrian smiled.
“Try the cross.”
Arthur looked confused.
“There was never a cross there.”
Adrian touched the wall.
“There is now.”
A hidden panel opened.
A staircase disappeared into darkness.
We descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
No lock.
No keypad.
Only a biometric scanner.
Adrian placed his hand against it.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with paper.
Boxes.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
Birth records.
Death certificates.
DNA authorizations.
And one huge metal cabinet marked:
ROOT REGISTRY.
I stared.
“This is what we've been looking for.”
Adrian nodded.
Then he pointed to the last drawer.
“This is where my identity was erased.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Can we restore it?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Maybe.”
“What does it require?”
“A witness.”
“Who?”
Adrian looked at me.
“You.”
I stepped forward.
He opened the drawer.
Inside was a single document.
At the top:
ADRIAN BLACKWELL.
Underneath:
STATUS: DECEASED.
Beneath that, a handwritten line.
I read it.
My blood froze.
“Cause of death?”
Adrian nodded.
I read the next words.
“Identity transferred to dependent.”
I looked at him.
“What dependent?”
Adrian's face changed.
“That's the part I've spent twenty years trying to understand.”
A noise came from behind the door.
Footsteps.
Bennett raised his weapon.
Arthur whispered:
“Someone followed us.”
The door began to close.
And a voice spoke from the hallway.
“Of course someone followed you.”
May you like
Eleanor.
Then the lights went out.
