Chapter 8
Rosie’s face was wet with tears.
Dad held one hand against her shoulder.
In the other, he carried a remote trigger.
My mother had trusted a nurse who claimed Rosie needed a routine examination.
The nurse worked for Caldwell Construction’s private medical service.
She had delivered my daughter directly to Dad.
“Let her go,” I said.
Dad smiled.
“Give me the amendment.”
“It has already been filed with the court. Destroying my copy changes nothing.”
“It changes what the board believes.”
“No one believes you anymore.”
His face tightened.
Behind me, Gaines pressed his gun against Torres’s back.
Dad ordered me into the control room.
The screens showed workers evacuating company buildings across the city.
Smoke filled Caldwell Tower, but the fire system had not activated.
Dad wanted panic, not yet death.
He still believed he could leave with the company.
Rosie reached toward me.
“Mommy.”
“I’m right here, baby.”
Dad shoved her into a chair.
“Sign the transfer papers.”
A stack of documents waited on the desk.
They gave Dad full control of my shares and appointed Bethany as Rosie’s guardian if I died.
“You planned all of this before dinner,” I said.
“I gave you opportunities to cooperate.”
“You let Bethany hurt Rosie to find the key.”
“She was never supposed to leave bruises.”
The admission transmitted through the microphone hidden in my jacket.
Agent Price and the federal team were listening.
But they could not enter while Dad held the trigger.
“What does the trigger control?” I asked.
“Explosives beneath this floor.”
Gaines looked surprised.
“You said it controlled the fire doors.”
Dad laughed.
“You believed me?”
For the first time, Gaines understood that he was also trapped.
Torres used the moment.
She struck his injured shoulder.
His gun fell.
I rushed toward Rosie.
Dad grabbed my hair and pulled me backward.
I slammed my elbow into his chest.
The trigger slipped from his hand.
Gaines dove for it.
Dad shot him.
Torres fired at Dad, hitting his leg.
He fell against the control panel.
The building shook.
One explosive had activated.
Concrete cracked above us.
I covered Rosie as debris fell.
Torres dragged Dad away from the controls.
Gaines lay on the floor, staring at the man he had protected for eighteen months.
“He was going to kill me too,” he whispered.
“Yes,” I said. “He was always going to kill anyone who knew too much.”
Gaines gave Agent Price the emergency code over the radio.
Fire doors opened.
Sprinklers activated.
Federal agents entered the control floor and removed the remaining explosives.
Dad was carried out in handcuffs.
As paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher, he looked at Rosie.
“This happened because your mother couldn’t respect her father.”
Rosie hid behind me.
I stepped between them.
“No. This happened because you believed being a father gave you the right to hurt your children.”
Outside, Mom waited in a wheelchair.
When she saw Rosie, she sobbed with relief.
I let Rosie hug her.
But when Mom reached for me, I stepped back.
“You helped hide Lucas’s murder.”
“I was afraid.”
“You removed his safety rope.”
“Frank told me the police would blame Bethany. I thought I could protect both my daughters.”
“You protected the daughter who killed my husband.”
Mom lowered her head.
I loved her.
That did not erase what she had done.
“I will testify,” she said.
“You should.”
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer hurt us both.
But it was honest.
Later, Torres showed me the recovered control-room recording.
Dad had admitted ordering Bethany to search for the key.
He admitted knowing Rosie was bruised.
He admitted planning to force me to surrender my shares.
The case against him was stronger than ever.
Then a doctor called from the jail.
Bethany had collapsed.
Tests revealed that someone had poisoned her before the hotel raid.
She might not survive the night.
May you like
Before losing consciousness, she wrote one name on the hospital wall.
ELAINE.
