Chapter 16 - THE BORROWED FACE
Naomi ran down the tunnel.
The glass stopped her.
Ethan placed one hand against the other side.
He was thinner than the man she remembered.
A scar crossed his temple.
Gray touched his hair.
But his wedding ring remained on his finger.
Naomi pressed her palm against his.
Three lost years stood between two layers of glass.
Ethan looked past her.
Adrian had been brought to identify the clinic controls.
Terror entered Ethan’s face.
He struck the glass and pointed at the groom.
“Get him out,” Naomi ordered.
Ortiz pulled Adrian back.
“I didn’t know Ethan was here.”
Ethan shook his head.
He tried to speak.
Only a broken sound emerged.
A countdown appeared above the chamber.
Five minutes.
Adrian stared at it.
“My father installed a sterilization system.”
“What happens at zero?”
“The chamber fills with gas.”
Naomi searched the tunnel wall.
Four switches were hidden behind a metal panel.
RUN.
HIDE.
FIGHT.
STAY.
Ethan pointed toward his wedding ring.
Naomi pressed STAY.
The lights went out.
The countdown continued in red.
Four minutes.
Lila’s voice came through Naomi’s radio.
“Mommy?”
Ethan heard her.
He moved closer to the glass.
“Daddy is here,” Naomi said.
Lila began crying.
Ethan closed his eyes.
A fifth word appeared beneath the switches.
BELIEVE.
Lila saw it through Naomi’s body camera.
“Press it.”
Naomi did.
Locks released.
The glass door opened.
Ethan collapsed into her arms.
He smelled of antiseptic and cold air.
Naomi held his face.
“Is it really you?”
Ethan touched her diamond earring.
The gesture belonged to him.
“It’s me.”
Above them, a gunshot echoed through Saint Alden.
Ortiz’s radio erupted.
Fake federal officers had attacked the armored vehicle.
Arthur Caldwell had been taken.
Lila survived by hiding beneath the rear seat.
Gideon never found her.
Naomi helped Ethan toward the elevator.
“Where would Gideon take Arthur?”
Ethan forced out one word.
“Tower.”
Caldwell Tower.
Gideon had sent police to Saint Alden so he could take the only man capable of restoring his control over the trust.
Ethan tightened his hand around Naomi’s.
“Arthur signed the first order.”
May you like
“What order?”
“The order that gave Gideon control of me.”
