Chapter 12 - The Man Who Saved Alex.
Alex saw Reed through the surveillance feed and stopped breathing.
For nine years, Marcus Reed had occupied a place in his life somewhere between commanding officer and father.
Now the older man stood beneath the broken roof of Mercer Warehouse with a gun aimed toward Emily.
"He's alive," Ben whispered.
Alex's hands curled into fists.
"I can see that."
Ortiz had positioned Ben with the medical support team because Daniel was still hospitalized.
She had ordered Alex to remain inside the command van.
Every instinct in his body rejected the instruction.
Inside the warehouse, Emily walked slowly toward Rachel.
Her sister's face was bruised and wet with tears.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said.
Emily wanted to scream at her.
She wanted to ask how she could have pushed a button that trapped her pregnant sister in a smoke-filled elevator.
But Rachel looked shattered before Emily had said a word.
Victor extended one hand.
"The card."
Emily held up the plastic case.
"Untie her first."
"You are not in a negotiating position."
"Then shoot me and lose the card."
Reed's jaw tightened.
Victor smiled.
"Alex chose well."
Emily's disgust sharpened.
"Don't talk about my husband."
"Your husband is alive because Marcus chose well."
Emily looked at Reed.
His gun did not move.
"What does that mean?"
Victor glanced toward the burned steel beams above them.
"Ask your captain."
Emily stared at Reed.
"You ordered Alex out of this warehouse before the roof collapsed."
Reed's face changed.
"Yes."
"Because you knew it was going to collapse."
Silence.
Rachel began crying harder.
Emily understood.
"You saved Alex and left Jake inside."
Reed lowered his eyes.
"I couldn't save both."
"You could have never sent either of them in."
Reed's voice cracked.
"Victor told me the engineer was exaggerating."
Victor sighed.
"Don't become sentimental now, Marcus."
Reed looked at him with hatred.
The relationship between the two men was not partnership anymore.
It was mutual imprisonment.
Emily saw it immediately.
"He owns you."
Reed's pistol shifted slightly.
"Be quiet."
"You took money, and then every lie required another lie."
"You don't know what happened."
"Then tell me."
In the command van, Ortiz listened through the microphone hidden beneath Emily's coat.
"Keep him talking," she whispered even though Emily could not answer.
Reed's breathing grew heavier.
"The department was cutting staffing. Equipment was failing. Vale offered donations. New masks. New engines. Training money."
Emily stared at him.
"In exchange for fake inspections."
"At first, paperwork. Nothing that looked dangerous."
Victor laughed.
"Everyone becomes moral after the checks clear."
Reed turned the gun toward him for half a second.
Victor did not flinch.
That half second told Ortiz everything.
Reed could be turned.
Emily saw it too.
"Jake died because Victor lied to you."
Reed's eyes filled with tears.
"Jake died because I signed my name."
"And now Grace almost died because you kept signing."
Reed looked at Emily's abdomen.
His face collapsed.
"You were never supposed to be there."
"Neither was Rachel?"
Rachel shook her head violently.
"They told me Alex was leaving you for Claire."
Emily closed her eyes briefly.
Rachel continued.
"A man sent me photos. He said if I used the override, the elevator would stop for sixty seconds and force Alex to stay upstairs long enough for you to catch them together."
"What man?"
Rachel looked at Victor.
"His assistant."
Victor's smile vanished.
"Enough."
Emily held up the fake card.
"You wanted Alex ruined publicly."
Victor answered without shame.
"A grieving firefighter who abandoned his pregnant wife for another woman is not a credible whistleblower."
"And if I died?"
"More convincing."
Alex surged toward the van door.
Ortiz grabbed his arm.
"Not yet."
"He just admitted it."
"And Emily is still ten feet from a gun."
Inside, Emily forced herself not to react.
"What about Claire?"
Victor shrugged.
"Claire had become expensive."
"So you planned to kill her too."
"I planned to solve several problems with one emergency."
Reed looked sick.
"You said no one would die."
Victor turned on him.
"And you believed me because believing me kept your pension intact."
Reed's gun lowered another inch.
Victor saw it.
His hand disappeared into his coat.
Ortiz shouted into her radio.
"Move!"
Victor drew a second weapon.
Reed fired first.
The bullet struck the concrete beside Victor.
Rachel screamed.
Emily threw herself toward her sister.
Outside, tactical officers stormed the entrances.
Victor fired toward Reed and ran behind a collapsed steel wall.
Alex ignored Ortiz and sprinted from the van.
A burst of gunfire echoed through the warehouse.
Then the work light shattered.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Emily heard Rachel screaming her name.
She reached for her sister's chair.
A hand closed around Emily's arm from behind.
Victor's voice whispered against her ear.
May you like
"You should have stayed in the hospital."
GIVE THIS TO ALEX
