Chapter 6 - THE ROAD INTO WISCONSIN
Julian pressed the needle against Eleanor’s neck.
“Do not make me use it.”
I sat beside him in the front passenger seat.
Dominic’s wrists remained restrained behind us.
The vehicle moved at seventy miles per hour through dark rural roads.
“Where is your son?” Eleanor asked.
“Gabriel took him three months ago.”
“How old?”
“Fourteen.”
“Why did you say nothing?”
Julian’s voice tightened.
“Because every person who reported a threat disappeared from the schedule.”
“Vincent would have helped.”
“Gabriel showed me orders signed by Vincent.”
The forged authority worked because Vincent’s organization taught obedience before verification.
Carlo’s system survived inside every person trained not to question a command.
Dominic shifted in the rear seat.
“Julian, Gabriel will not release your son after this.”
“You do not know that.”
“I trained him.”
Julian glanced in the mirror.
“You trained all of us to believe family was the only thing worth betraying.”
Dominic absorbed the accusation.
It was true enough to silence him.
I watched the road.
The emergency beacon remained inside my apron pocket.
Pressing it might summon help.
It might also send our location directly to Gabriel.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked.
“St. Agnes Medical Center.”
The facility had closed nine years earlier after losing its license.
Nathan Vale once worked there.
My second procedure may have taken place inside that building.
Gabriel wanted me returned to the room where my body had first become useful to him.
Eleanor looked toward me.
The smallest movement of her fingers indicated the door handle.
Child locks were active.
I looked toward the gear selector.
Julian held the needle in his right hand and steered with his left.
“Your son’s name?” I asked.
“Michael.”
“Does he know what Gabriel is forcing you to do?”
“No.”
“Would he want you to hurt an old woman?”
Eleanor gave me an offended look.
The timing almost made me laugh.
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Do not speak about him.”
“I am speaking about the person you are trying to save.”
“You know nothing about him.”
“I know what it feels like when someone turns the person you love into a weapon.”
His eyes shifted toward me.
That was enough.
I grabbed the steering wheel and pulled hard.
The vehicle swerved.
Julian dropped the needle while trying to regain control.
Eleanor struck the door control.
Dominic drove both feet into the back of Julian’s seat.
The car left the road and crossed a shallow ditch before crashing into a wooden fence.
The airbag exploded across my face.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Julian reached toward the floor for the needle.
I found the emergency beacon first.
I pressed it.
A red light activated.
Julian stared at me.
“You have brought them directly to us.”
“Which them?”
He did not answer.
Dominic kicked out the rear window and forced himself through despite the restraints.
Eleanor opened her door after the locks released.
We moved into the field.
Headlights appeared from both directions.
Two vehicles.
One from the road behind us.
One from the medical center ahead.
Dominic looked toward the approaching lights.
“Separate.”
Eleanor took the field toward a line of trees.
I followed Dominic toward an abandoned barn.
Julian remained beside the wreck.
He raised both hands when the first vehicle stopped.
Four armed men stepped out wearing Moretti security insignia.
The second vehicle arrived moments later.
Its men wore the same insignia.
Neither group lowered their weapons.
One leader shouted:
“Mr. Moretti ordered Eleanor secured.”
The other answered:
“Mr. Moretti ordered the witnesses brought to Chicago.”
Both orders could be false.
Both groups believed they served Vincent.
Gabriel had turned the organization against itself without firing a shot.
Dominic pulled me behind the barn wall.
“Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“To determine who knows the current password.”
“What password?”
“Vincent changed it after Sophie was taken.”
He stepped into view with his hands raised.
“Challenge.”
The first team leader answered:
“Blood before silence.”
Dominic looked toward the second.
“Challenge.”
The second leader said:
“No child belongs to the house.”
Dominic lowered his head slightly.
“That is Vincent’s new phrase.”
The second team was loyal.
The first opened fire.
Bullets struck the barn wall.
Dominic pushed me to the ground.
The loyal team returned fire while Eleanor moved through the trees.
Julian crawled toward the wrecked vehicle.
One of Gabriel’s men grabbed him.
“Where is the old woman?”
Julian pointed toward the trees.
Then shouted:
“My son first.”
The gunman shot him in the stomach.
Gabriel had never intended to honor the agreement.
Julian fell beside the vehicle.
I ran toward him during the exchange.
Dominic shouted my name.
I ignored him.
Julian pressed both hands against the wound.
“Michael,” he gasped.
“Where is he?”
“St. Agnes. Basement.”
“Is Daisy there?”
He nodded.
“Claire too.”
My heart stopped.
“Claire is alive?”
Julian gripped my sleeve.
“She runs the nursery.”
The words made no sense.
Then he pulled a small access card from his pocket.
A photograph showed my sister standing beside six children inside a bright medical room.
She appeared older.
Her hair had been cut short.
Her expression looked empty.
Beneath the image was a title.
DR. CLAIRE VALE.
My sister had not simply survived.
May you like
She had taken the name of the physician who used us.
Continue to the next part: Brielle reaches the abandoned medical center and finds Claire working inside the program that stole both their lives.
