Chapter 18 - SAINT ALDEN
Police surrounded Caldwell Tower.
Gideon had sealed every entrance.
The building’s security system recognized him as its legal administrator.
Arthur’s forged medical certificate remained active.
Ethan watched the hostage feed from the ambulance.
Gideon leaned toward Arthur.
“Sign it.”
Arthur looked at the document.
“No.”
“You protected this family’s name for fifty years. Sign, and your granddaughter remains untouched.”
“She is not my granddaughter.”
Gideon’s expression changed.
Arthur corrected him.
“She is my granddaughter’s daughter. Her name is Lila. You reduced her to leverage because that is all people have ever been to you.”
Gideon struck the table.
Theatrical patience left his face.
The real man appeared beneath it.
Naomi saw the same cruelty Warren displayed before lifting the menu board.
Calculated.
Entitled.
Terrified of exposure.
Ethan remembered a construction tunnel connecting Caldwell Tower to an underground parking facility.
Adrian knew its access code.
Ortiz led Naomi, Ethan and four officers through it.
Ethan was weak.
Naomi told him to remain behind.
“I remained behind for three years.”
He continued walking.
On the thirty-second floor, Arthur delayed Gideon by questioning every page.
The pen remained untouched.
Gideon called Naomi.
“I know you entered the building.”
“Then you know I’m coming.”
“Bring Ethan’s phone.”
“It belongs to the police.”
“Bring it, or Arthur dies before you reach the elevator.”
Naomi carried a replica.
The genuine phone remained with Evelyn and Lila inside the hotel security office.
Evelyn was still decoding Ethan’s lullaby.
One file had survived the blackout.
It contained Gideon’s voice.
He was discussing the crash.
But the final sentence was damaged.
Lila listened repeatedly.
“There’s another voice underneath his.”
Technicians isolated it.
Adrian was speaking.
He had been present when Gideon ordered the crash.
Celeste stared at her husband through the security monitor.
Adrian had not merely discovered the conspiracy later.
He had known from the beginning.
Evelyn sent the audio to Ortiz.
Before it arrived, Adrian disappeared from police custody.
His handcuffs lay open inside the transport van.
The service code he gave police was still active.
He had entered Caldwell Tower ahead of them.
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No one knew whether he had gone inside to stop his father.
Or warn him.
