Chapter 8
We drove south, toward the old warehouse district on Canal Street. The part of town where no one came after dark, where abandoned factories sat empty, waiting to be torn down.
I sat in the back seat, my hands tied together with zip ties, Hale sitting next to me, the remote still in his hand.
Sarah drove fast, weaving through traffic, running red lights. Tony kept turning around, pointing his gun at me, a stupid grin on his face.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, my voice shaking.
Hale smiled, looking out the window. “To the warehouse I own on 23rd and Canal. It’s soundproof. No one can hear you scream. We’re going to wait there until my men bring Emily and the boy to me. Then we’re going to have a little family reunion.”
“Family?” I asked.
Hale turned to me, his smile getting wider, colder.
“Oh, Emily didn’t tell you?” He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. “Noah is my son.”
The words hit me like a punch to the stomach.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“Am I?” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket, throwing it in my lap.
A paternity test. Dated six months ago. 99.9% chance Robert Hale is the biological father of Noah Carter.
“The night she found the ledger,” Hale said, his voice low, proud. “I called her into my office. Told her I’d let her go if she did one small thing for me. She fought. Hard. But I’m bigger. Stronger. Nine months later, she had my son.”
He leaned in close, his breath hot on my face.
“She ran because she was ashamed. Ashamed that she’d had my baby. Ashamed that she’d let me win. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m going to raise Noah myself. He’s my heir. My wife can’t have kids. Noah will get everything. My money. My senate seat. My name. Emily is just the surrogate. And you? You’re just the loose end I’m going to tie up tonight.”
I stared at the paternity test, my hands shaking so bad the paper crumpled in my fingers.
Emily. She’d been raped. By Hale. That’s why she’d run. That’s why she’d never told anyone about Noah. She’d been carrying that shame alone for three years.
Tears burned my eyes. I didn’t let them fall. I wouldn’t give Hale the satisfaction.
“You’re sick,” I said.
Hale laughed, leaning back in his seat. “I’m a winner, Lila. Winners do what they have to do to get what they want. Emily didn’t understand that. You don’t understand that. But Noah will. I’ll make sure of it.”
Sarah turned onto Canal Street, pulling into the parking lot of a huge, abandoned brick warehouse. The windows were boarded up, the doors rusted shut.
She parked the car behind the building, where no one could see us.
“Get her out,” Hale said.
Tony opened the door, yanking me out of the car, dragging me toward a small metal door at the back of the warehouse. He unlocked it, shoving me inside.
It was dark. Cold. The air smelled like rust and old oil and death.
Tony turned on a flashlight, leading us down a long hallway to a large open room in the middle of the warehouse.
Emily was there.
Tied to a metal chair in the middle of the room. Her lip was split, a bruise forming on her cheek, her hair messy. She looked up when we walked in, her eyes widening when she saw me.
“Lila!” she screamed, struggling against the ropes. “You bastard! Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!”
Hale walked over to her, slapping her hard across the face. Her head snapped to the side, blood trickling from her lip.
“Shut up,” he said, his voice cold. “You’ve done enough talking for one lifetime.”
He turned to Sarah. “Where’s the boy?”
“Tony’s brother is bringing him,” Sarah said, checking her phone. “Five minutes out. They grabbed him from the truck on the expressway. The security guard and the sister are dead. The detective is still alive, but he’s tied up in the back of their car. He’ll be here soon too.”
I froze.
Jesse. Mia. Jake.
Dead. Or almost dead.
No. It couldn’t be.
Emily started crying, struggling harder against the ropes. “Don’t hurt him. Please. Don’t hurt my baby. You can have me. You can have the money. Just let Noah go.”
Hale knelt down in front of her, smiling. “Let him go? He’s my son, Emily. Mine. You think I’d let my own flesh and blood grow up with a whore like you? He’s going to live with me. He’s going to be a Hale. And you? You’re going to die here tonight. Along with Lila. And everyone else who ever crossed me.”
A loud crash echoed from the hallway.
Hale stood up, turning toward the sound. “What was that?”
Sarah pulled her gun, walking toward the hallway. “I’ll go check.”
She took three steps.
The lights came on.
Blinding, bright white light, flooding the entire room.
“CHICAGO PD! SWAT! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!”
Jake.
He was standing in the doorway, his gun drawn, Rio right next to him, followed by twenty SWAT officers in full gear, their rifles pointed right at Hale and Tony.
Jesse and Mia were right behind them, alive, holding Noah tight in Jesse’s arms. Noah was crying, reaching for Emily.
Hale cursed, yanking the remote from his pocket, holding it up.
“ONE MORE STEP!” he screamed. “I PRESS THIS BUTTON, THE SNIPER SHOOTS THE BOY!”
Jake didn’t stop walking. He kept coming, slow, his gun still pointed at Hale’s chest.
“There is no sniper, Hale,” he said, his voice calm, steady. “My men took him out ten minutes ago. On the roof of the warehouse across the street. That remote doesn’t work anymore. It’s just a plastic toy.”
Hale’s face went white. He looked down at the remote, then back at Jake.
He grabbed Emily, pulling her up from the chair, holding his gun to her head.
“STAY BACK!” he screamed. “OR I BLOW HER BRAINS OUT!”
Tony grabbed me, holding his gun to my head.
Noah screamed “MOMMY!” as loud as he could, struggling to get out of Jesse’s arms.
Hale looked at Noah, his face softening for half a second. The face of a father looking at his son.
“Come here, Noah,” he said, his voice gentle. “Come to Daddy. Everything is going to be okay.”
Noah stopped struggling. He looked at Hale, then at Emily, tears running down his face.
“You’re not my daddy,” he said, his voice loud, clear, for everyone in the room to hear.
Hale’s face hardened. “What did you say?”
“You’re not my daddy,” Noah repeated. “My daddy is in heaven with the angels. My mommy told me. And she never lies.”
Hale roared, a sound of pure rage, and moved the gun from Emily’s head to Noah.
“YOU LITTLE BRAT!” he screamed. “I’LL KILL YOU TOO!”
A figure moved from the shadows behind Hale.
Jesse.
He’d moved while everyone was distracted, creeping around the edge of the room, a heavy metal pipe in his hand.
He swung the pipe as hard as he could, hitting Hale square in the shoulder.
Hale screamed, the gun going off with a loud BANG, the bullet flying into the ceiling.
He dropped the gun, falling to his knees, clutching his shoulder.
Tony tried to fire his gun, but Rio shot him in the hand before he could pull the trigger. He screamed, dropping the gun, clutching his bleeding hand.
SWAT moved in, tackling Hale and Tony to the floor, cuffing them, reading them their rights.
I ran to Emily, cutting her ropes with a knife Jake handed me. She hugged me so tight I could barely breathe, then turned and ran to Noah, picking him up, holding him, crying into his hair, kissing his face over and over.
Jake walked over to me, pulling me into his arms, holding me tight.
“You okay?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.
I nodded, crying, looking at Hale, who was being dragged out of the warehouse by two SWAT officers, screaming curses at all of us.
May you like
It was over.
Really over.
