Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING COLLAPSED
The building went dark.
Federal agents reached for their weapons.
Ethan's voice echoed through the halls.
“You think evidence will save you?”
Richard stood beside Maya.
“You're finished.”
Ethan laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
A screen flickered on.
Maya saw hundreds of medical files.
Patients.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
People whose movements had been manipulated.
“This isn't about money,” Ethan said.
“It's about power.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You murdered people.”
“I eliminated obstacles.”
The agents moved.
Gunfire erupted.
Maya ducked behind a concrete pillar.
Richard pulled Eleanor down beside him.
For several seconds, everything became chaos.
Then Ethan appeared on the balcony above them.
He pointed a gun at Maya.
“Bring me the chip.”
Maya stood slowly.
Richard grabbed her arm.
“No.”
She whispered:
“If he wants the chip, we give him the chip.”
Richard understood.
The real data had already been transmitted to federal servers.
The chip was useless.
Maya walked forward.
Ethan smiled.
“You always were smarter than you looked.”
She threw the capsule.
Ethan caught it.
Then he smiled.
“You know what I find amusing?”
“What?”
“Your ex-husband.”
Maya froze.
Miguel had been taken to the hospital.
Ethan continued.
“He never told you everything.”
Richard's face tightened.
“What did you do to him?”
Ethan laughed.
“He wasn't your husband's victim.”
Maya looked at Richard.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan disappeared.
A second later, the building alarm screamed.
An explosion rocked the lower floor.
The ceiling shook.
Richard grabbed Maya.
They fell together.
Dust filled the air.
When Maya opened her eyes, Richard was lying beside her.
“Richard?”
He didn't respond.
She touched his face.
“Richard!”
His eyes opened.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He tried to move.
Nothing happened.
His legs were trapped beneath fallen debris.
Maya panicked.
“Don't move.”
“I can't.”
She looked around.
Smoke was filling the corridor.
“Maya.”
“What?”
“If I don't get out…”
“Don't.”
“You need to listen.”
“No.”
He reached for her hand.
“You changed my life.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Don't say goodbye.”
“I didn't know I could feel alive again.”
Maya squeezed his hand.
“You're getting out.”
She pulled at the debris.
Nothing.
Then she heard footsteps.
Miguel.
He had escaped the hospital under police supervision.
“Maya!”
He appeared through the smoke.
“I'm here.”
Together, they moved the debris enough to free Richard.
Agents pulled them toward safety.
Outside, Ethan's vehicle was gone.
But federal investigators had tracked his phone.
Three hours later, they found him at the airport.
He tried to escape.
He failed.
When agents arrested him, Ethan looked at Richard.
“You think you won?”
Richard stared back.
“No.”
He glanced at Maya.
“I think we survived.”
Ethan smiled.
“You have no idea what's coming.”
Then he was taken away.
Maya thought it was over.
She was wrong.
The next morning, Richard received an encrypted message.
One sentence.
HELIX WAS NEVER EIGHT PEOPLE. IT WAS TWENTY-THREE.
Richard looked at Maya.
“There are others.”
She sighed.
“Then we find them.”
Richard smiled.
“For the first time, I think I know how.”
May you like
He stood.
Without his wheelchair.
