Chapter 9 - THE FALL
The helicopter spun toward the mountains.
Claire’s shoulder slammed against the cabin wall.
Sophie screamed her name.
Thomas threw himself across Eli’s stretcher as medical equipment tore loose and crashed around them.
The pilot fought the controls.
“Brace!”
Ortiz grabbed Sophie and pulled her into a crash position.
Claire tightened the straps around Eli.
His monitor shrieked.
The mountain slope rushed closer.
Trees filled the windows.
Then the helicopter struck the first branches.
Metal screamed.
The tail snapped sideways.
The cabin rolled.
Claire saw white snow, black trees, shattered glass.
Then everything stopped.
For several seconds, there was no sound except the ticking of hot metal.
Claire opened her eyes.
She hung sideways against her harness.
Blood ran into one eye.
“Sophie?”
No answer.
“Sophie!”
A weak voice came from beneath her.
“Mom?”
Claire released her belt and fell against the cabin floor.
Pain tore through her ribs.
She crawled toward Sophie.
Ortiz lay across the girl, unconscious but breathing.
Sophie had a cut on her cheek.
Claire held her face.
“Are you hurt?”
“My arm.”
Claire checked quickly.
No obvious break.
Thomas groaned from the other side of the cabin.
He was trapped beneath a collapsed equipment rack.
Eli’s stretcher had torn free from one side but remained wedged against the wall.
Claire crawled toward him.
His eyes were closed.
The monitor was dark.
“Thomas!”
“I’m here.”
“Eli’s monitor stopped.”
“The battery disconnected.”
“Is he breathing?”
Claire pressed her ear to his chest.
A faint breath.
“Yes.”
“Check his pulse.”
She found it.
Slow.
Irregular.
“He’s alive.”
“Get him out.”
Fuel dripped from a broken line near the rear door.
The sharp smell filled the cabin.
Ortiz regained consciousness.
“What happened?”
“We crashed.”
She looked around.
“Fire risk.”
“We need to move.”
Ortiz helped Sophie crawl through a broken section of the fuselage.
Claire released Eli’s straps.
He was too heavy for her alone.
Thomas struggled beneath the rack.
“Leave me.”
“No.”
“Claire, fuel is leaking.”
“I’m not leaving anyone.”
She braced her feet and lifted the metal frame.
Pain burned through her side.
It barely moved.
Ortiz climbed back inside.
Together, they raised it enough for Thomas to pull free.
His left leg bent at an unnatural angle.
He nearly collapsed.
Claire pointed to Eli.
“Take him.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I can’t walk.”
Ortiz grabbed the stretcher.
Claire took the other side.
They dragged Eli through the wreckage.
Thomas crawled behind them.
The group reached the tree line seconds before flames spread through the helicopter cabin.
The explosion shook snow from the branches.
Sophie cried out.
Claire pulled her down.
Burning pieces of metal fell across the slope.
When the sound faded, they were stranded in deep snow with no supplies except one medical pouch Thomas had grabbed.
Ortiz checked her phone.
“No signal.”
Claire looked at the wreckage.
“Can they track us?”
“The beacon should have activated.”
“Should?”
Ortiz stared at the fire.
“If the sabotage included the emergency system, maybe not.”
Thomas opened the medical pouch.
Inside were syringes, bandages, a small cardiac monitor, and one dose of emergency medication.
He connected the monitor to Eli.
A weak rhythm appeared.
Claire exhaled.
“How long can he last?”
Thomas did not answer.
“Tell me.”
“His heart is unstable, but the cold may be slowing his system.”
“Is that good?”
“For minutes, possibly.”
Sophie crouched beside Eli.
“He’s freezing.”
Claire removed her coat and wrapped it around him.
Ortiz looked uphill.
“We need shelter.”
Thomas pointed toward the east.
“I saw lights before impact.”
“A house?”
“Maybe.”
Claire looked at his leg.
“You can’t walk.”
“I can with support.”
Ortiz made a splint from broken plastic and fabric.
Thomas nearly passed out when she straightened his leg.
Sophie looked away.
Claire held Eli against her chest.
“Can I carry him?”
“Not far,” Ortiz said.
“I’ll carry him as far as necessary.”
They began moving through the snow.
Ortiz supported Thomas.
Sophie stayed close to Claire.
The slope was steep.
Every step sent pain through Claire’s ribs.
Eli felt too light in her arms.
That frightened her more than his weight would have.
After twenty minutes, they saw a small cabin between the trees.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
Claire approached carefully.
The door opened before they reached it.
An elderly man stepped outside holding a shotgun.
“Stop there.”
Ortiz raised one hand.
“Federal agent. We survived a crash.”
The man looked at her torn jacket and bloodied face.
“Badge?”
Ortiz reached slowly into her pocket.
She showed it.
The man lowered the shotgun.
“Get inside.”
His name was Samuel Price.
He lived alone and had heard the crash.
The cabin had heat, blankets, and an old landline.
Ortiz tried calling emergency services.
The phone was dead.
“Storm probably took the line,” Samuel said.
Claire looked at him.
“Do you have a vehicle?”
“Snowmobile.”
“How far to a hospital?”
“Two hours in this weather.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Too long.”
Samuel looked at Eli.
“What does he need?”
“A cardiac procedure.”
The old man studied him.
“There’s a clinic in the valley.”
“Hospital?”
“Closed years ago.”
“Equipment?”
“Some. The doctor still lives nearby.”
Ortiz turned.
“Can you reach him?”
Samuel picked up a radio.
“I can try.”
Static filled the cabin.
He called several times.
Finally, a woman answered.
Samuel explained.
Her voice became urgent.
“I’ll meet you at the clinic.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“It’s our best chance.”
Samuel pulled heavy coats from a closet.
The snowmobile could carry three at a time.
He would take Eli and Thomas first.
Claire refused.
“I go with him.”
Thomas looked at her.
“I need to monitor him.”
“Then all three of us.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Too much weight.”
Claire looked at Eli.
His face was pale against her coat.
Sophie stood behind her, frightened but quiet.
Claire knelt.
“I have to go with Eli.”
Sophie nodded.
“I know.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll stay with Agent Ortiz.”
Claire held her tightly.
“I’ll come back.”
Sophie whispered, “People always say that.”
The words broke Claire’s heart.
She pulled back and looked into her daughter’s eyes.
“Then I won’t say it.”
“What will you say?”
“I will do everything in my power to get back to you.”
Sophie nodded.
“That’s better.”
Claire climbed onto the snowmobile behind Samuel.
Eli lay between them, secured with blankets.
Thomas rode behind Claire, gripping the rear rail despite his injured leg.
The machine moved into the storm.
The trail was barely visible.
Snow struck Claire’s face.
She kept one hand on Eli’s chest.
His heartbeat felt faint beneath her fingers.
After forty minutes, the snowmobile descended into a narrow valley.
An abandoned medical clinic stood beside an empty road.
One window glowed.
A woman in a winter coat waited outside.
She introduced herself as Dr. Nina Park.
Inside, the clinic smelled of dust and disinfectant.
Old machines lined the walls.
Nina examined Eli quickly.
“He needs a defibrillator implant.”
Thomas nodded.
“Can you do it?”
“I did cardiac surgery for fifteen years.”
“Why are you here?”
“I got tired of hospitals owned by men like Daniel Bennett.”
Claire stared at her.
“You know him?”
Nina looked at Eli.
“I treated Martha.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Claire felt the room tighten.
“What happened?”
“Martha brought Eli to me after his first collapse. She said someone had injected him with a drug.”
Thomas looked at Nina.
“Which drug?”
“Flecainide.”
His face changed.
“That could induce fatal arrhythmia.”
Claire’s hands curled.
“Daniel tried to kill him.”
Nina nodded.
“Martha believed so.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“I did.”
“To whom?”
“Agent Kane.”
Claire closed her eyes.
The report had gone directly to Daniel’s protector.
Nina began preparing the procedure room.
“We have one implantable device left from when the clinic closed.”
Thomas looked at the packaging.
“It’s expired.”
“The seal is intact.”
“Battery?”
“Tested last month.”
Claire stared at them.
“Will it save him?”
Nina answered honestly.
“It may.”
“What are the risks?”
“He may not survive the procedure.”
Claire looked at Eli.
He opened his eyes weakly.
“Mom?”
She leaned close.
“I’m here.”
“Did we fall?”
“Yes.”
“Is Sophie okay?”
“She’s safe.”
His eyes moved around the room.
“Is Daniel here?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
Claire hesitated.
Then she said, “He will never be allowed near you again.”
Eli studied her face.
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“You don’t lie good.”
“I’m trying not to.”
Nina placed a mask near his face.
“We need to help your heart.”
Eli looked scared.
“Will it hurt?”
“You’ll be asleep.”
“What if I don’t wake up?”
Claire held his hand.
“You will.”
He watched her.
“That was a lie.”
Claire’s tears rose.
“Yes.”
He squeezed her fingers.
“It’s okay.”
Nina began the anesthesia.
Eli’s eyes closed.
Claire released his hand only when they moved him into the procedure room.
The door shut.
Thomas joined Nina despite his injured leg.
Claire stood alone in the hallway.
For the first time since the alley, she had nothing to do.
No one to fight.
No one to question.
She sank onto a chair.
Her body began shaking.
Every emotion she had forced down came at once.
Grief.
Rage.
Hope.
Guilt.
She buried her face in both hands.
A vehicle engine sounded outside.
Claire lifted her head.
Through the window, headlights approached the clinic.
Not one vehicle.
Two.
Black SUVs.
Claire stood.
Daniel had found them.
The clinic’s front door opened.
A man entered wearing a bloodstained federal jacket.
Claire grabbed a metal tray.
The man raised both hands.
“Claire.”
She recognized him.
Martin Cole.
The agent who had driven Daniel away.
“You.”
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Where is Daniel?”
Cole’s face was pale.
“He shot me.”
Claire saw blood soaking his side.
“You helped him escape.”
“I thought Kane’s arrest was a setup.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I was wrong.”
“Where is he?”
Cole leaned against the wall.
“He took my vehicle. He’s heading for Bennett Tower.”
Claire lowered the tray slightly.
“Why?”
“The board moved the emergency meeting forward.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Claire looked toward the procedure room.
“I’m not leaving my son.”
“You may not have a company left by morning.”
“I don’t care about the company.”
“You should.”
Cole coughed, then looked at her.
“Daniel isn’t trying to save Bennett Industries.”
“What is he doing?”
“Destroying it.”
Claire stared.
Cole continued.
“He transferred nearly four billion dollars into offshore accounts before the files were released.”
Thomas had mentioned Daniel’s power.
Edward had mentioned his network.
But Claire had never imagined the scale.
“Why destroy the company he spent his life controlling?”
“Because he knows he’ll lose it.”
Cole reached into his coat and removed a flash drive.
“This contains transfer records and a list of judges, agents, and executives on his payroll.”
Claire did not take it.
“Why give it to me?”
“Because Kane ordered my death ten minutes ago.”
Outside, the second SUV door opened.
Several armed men stepped out.
Cole looked through the window.
“They followed me.”
Claire grabbed the flash drive.
“Can we lock the clinic?”
“No time.”
The procedure-room door opened.
Thomas stood there wearing bloodstained gloves.
Claire’s heart stopped.
“What happened?”
Thomas looked at her.
“The device is in.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Claire nearly collapsed.
“But we need ten more minutes to stabilize him.”
Cole drew his weapon.
“You don’t have ten minutes.”
May you like
The clinic windows shattered.
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