Chapter 7 — The Warehouse Beneath the River
Rain hammered the riverfront.
Lucas parked two blocks away and entered through a rusted drainage tunnel.
The passage smelled of mud and oil.
He moved through darkness, guided by an old construction map on his phone.
Above him, footsteps echoed.
Sophia’s voice carried through the floor.
“My father said you were weak.”
Lucas climbed a narrow metal ladder.
He emerged behind stacked shipping crates.
Emily sat in the center of the warehouse.
Dr. Wells stood nearby.
Richard paced beside Sophia.
“You should have killed the child at the hotel,” Richard muttered.
Sophia turned on him.
“That was not the plan.”
“The plan is dead.”
“So is my life if we’re caught.”
Richard grabbed her arm.
“Your life exists because I built it.”
Sophia pulled away.
Lucas recorded everything on his phone.
Dr. Wells looked uncomfortable.
“This has gone too far.”
Richard faced him.
“You were paid.”
“To sedate the girl, not murder her.”
“You forged medical records.”
“That does not make me a killer.”
Richard smiled coldly.
“It already makes you disposable.”
He pulled a gun.
Dr. Wells froze.
Before Richard could fire, Lucas knocked over a metal barrel.
The crash echoed through the building.
Everyone turned.
Lucas moved between crates.
Richard fired.
The bullet struck steel.
Emily screamed.
Lucas reached her chair and cut the ropes with a utility blade.
“Run to the tunnel.”
She clung to him.
“I’m scared.”
“I know. Be brave for ten more seconds.”
Sophia stepped from behind a crate and blocked the exit.
Her wedding makeup was gone.
Her hair hung loose.
She looked nothing like the bride from hours earlier.
“You chose her over me,” she said.
Lucas shielded Emily.
“She is my daughter.”
“I could have given you another child.”
“You tried to erase the one I already had.”
Sophia raised a knife.
Then Emily lifted her damaged stuffed rabbit and threw it at Sophia’s face.
Sophia flinched.
Lucas tackled her.
The knife slid across the floor.
Police sirens erupted outside.
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Richard grabbed Emily and dragged her toward the river exit.
Lucas turned just in time to see his daughter disappear through the door.
