Chapter 8 - The Ticking Clock
Meredith collapsed against the doorframe, letting out a primal scream of absolute despair.
I knelt beside the bleeding social worker and quickly checked her pulse, relieved to find it steady but weak.
My burner phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, shattering the chaotic noise of the foster home.
I answered the call, and Detective Miller's frantic voice blasted through the small speaker.
"Harrison, I just tracked the GPS signal on Arthur's luxury sedan," Miller shouted over the sound of police sirens.
"He bypassed the airport and is currently parked at an abandoned shipping warehouse by the southern docks."
I told Meredith to stay with the injured social worker and wait for the paramedics to arrive.
"I am bringing our daughter home, I promise you," I swore to my weeping wife before sprinting back to the car.
I drove like a madman, tires screeching as I drifted around slick corners and ran through every red light in the city.
I arrived at the desolate, rusting docks just as the fierce thunderstorm reached its absolute peak.
Arthur's sleek black car was parked outside a decaying, cavernous warehouse that smelled heavily of saltwater and oil.
I pulled Miller's heavy pistol from my waistband, clicked the safety off, and kicked open the rusted side door.
The massive warehouse was dimly lit by a few flickering emergency lights swaying violently from the high ceiling.
I crept silently through the maze of towering wooden shipping crates, my heart hammering furiously against my ribs.
Near the center of the warehouse, a deep, dark water basin opened up into the concrete floor.
Arthur was standing right near the edge of the dangerous drop, holding a terrified Chloe tightly by her arm.
"Let her go, Arthur!" I roared, stepping out of the shadows and aiming the gun directly at his chest.
Arthur didn't even flinch; he simply smiled that same cold, dead smile that had fooled us all for years.
"You really are a persistent little insect, Harrison," Arthur mocked, his voice echoing in the massive space.
He reached into his expensive suit jacket and pulled out a small, blinking electronic device.
"I figured you would eventually uncover my past, so I prepared a contingency plan," Arthur explained casually.
May you like
He pressed a button on the device, and suddenly, bright red digital timers illuminated all across the warehouse walls.
He had wired the entire building with military-grade explosives, and the massive red numbers were already ticking down from sixty seconds.
