Chapter 6 - Sadie’s VoiceThe old Landry estate stood outside Dublin, Ohio, behind twelve acres of trees and a wrought-iron gate.
Claire had attended charity events there.
She had never imagined she would one day approach it inside Mason’s work van with three detectives following without lights.
“Police should handle this,” Mason said.
“They are.”
“You're still coming.”
“So are you.”
“That’s because I’m apparently terrible at following my own advice.”
Despite everything, Claire almost smiled.
The detectives had traced Jonathan’s vehicle to a traffic camera two miles from the estate.
They believed Sadie was inside.
But there was a problem.
Victor Landry was not.
His phone placed him downtown.
“Then who is Jonathan meeting?” Claire asked.
Nobody knew.
Mason did.
Or suspected.
“Victor has a younger brother,” he said.
“Elliot?”
Mason nodded.
“Landry Infrastructure is registered under Elliot's holding company.”
Claire stared at him.
Everyone had been looking at Victor.
The loud, arrogant billionaire.
Perhaps that was exactly what Elliot wanted.
Police entered through the rear property line.
Claire waited in the van.
For ninety unbearable seconds.
Then gunfire cracked through the trees.
Claire moved before anyone could stop her.
Mason cursed and followed.
They reached the house.
A detective shouted for them to stay back.
Then a side door opened.
Sadie ran out.
Claire screamed her name.
Sadie saw her.
She ran faster.
Claire dropped to her knees and caught her.
For several seconds, there was no company.
No money.
No scandal.
Only her daughter shaking against her chest.
Sadie pulled back.
Her hands moved desperately.
Claire understood pieces.
Man.
Gun.
Dad.
Inside.
Mason translated.
“She says Jonathan helped her escape.”
Another shot echoed.
Police rushed deeper into the house.
Minutes later, officers brought Jonathan outside on a stretcher.
Blood soaked his shoulder.
He was conscious.
“Sadie?”
“She’s safe,” Claire said.
Jonathan closed his eyes.
“Elliot.”
“You were working for him?”
“At first.”
Claire stared.
Jonathan admitted that Elliot had orchestrated the entire scheme.
Victor knew about the defective components and the financial manipulation, but Elliot had escalated it into sabotage.
Daniel discovered the truth.
Jonathan had been helping Daniel secretly.
“The brick?” Claire asked.
“Daniel threw it.”
“Why?”
“To scare Mason away before Elliot hurt him for real.”
It had been a desperate warning, not an attack.
“Why take Sadie?”
Jonathan grimaced.
“Elliot called me. Said he had Owen.”
Mason went completely still.
“What?”
Jonathan looked at him.
“He lied. But I believed him. He said trade Sadie for Owen.”
Mason's face drained.
Claire grabbed her phone.
Owen was supposed to be with Mason's neighbor.
She called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Mason called.
Still nothing.
Then his phone received a video.
Owen sat tied to a chair.
Behind him stood Elliot Landry.
“Dad,” Owen said shakily. “Don't give him anything.”
Elliot smiled into the camera.
“The backup, Mr. Hale. Bring it to the Whitmore Tower rooftop.”
The video ended.
Claire stared.
“Why the rooftop?”
Mason knew.
“The original emergency-control hub is there.”
Whitmore Tower had been one of the first buildings retrofitted with Landry components.
Elliot wanted the laptop and probably intended to destroy the central hardware.
They contacted police.
But Elliot had anticipated them.
Another message arrived.
Police enter the building, the boy goes over the edge.
Mason looked at Claire.
“I’m going.”
“So am I.”
“No.”
“Whitmore Tower is my building.”
“That doesn't make you bulletproof.”
“No. It makes me the person who knows the emergency systems.”
Sadie grabbed Claire's hand.
Her fingers moved.
Don't go.
Claire knelt.
She forced herself to answer in signs.
Slowly.
I come back. Promise.
Sadie stared at her.
Then signed something Claire had never learned.
Mason translated quietly.
“She said promises aren't plans.”
Claire almost laughed through her tears.
“Smart kid.”
Sadie reached into her pocket.
She handed Claire something.
A small wireless maintenance key taken from the Landry estate.
Jonathan had apparently given it to her during the escape.
Mason recognized it.
“This can override the rooftop control panel.”
Claire stared at Sadie.
“How did you know?”
Sadie signed.
This time Claire understood enough.
I watch people. People forget I am watching.
That sentence stayed with Claire all the way downtown.
At 11:48 p.m., Claire and Mason entered Whitmore Tower carrying Daniel’s laptop.
At 11:56, they stepped onto the rooftop.
Wind whipped across the eighty-story building.
Elliot Landry stood near the edge.
Owen was beside him.
His hands were tied.
Elliot held a gun.
“Laptop.”
Mason raised it.
“Let my son go.”
Elliot smiled.
“You contractors always think everything is an exchange.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Your brother knows.”
“Victor knows what I allowed him to know.”
“You're finished.”
“Not if the evidence disappears.”
Owen looked at his father.
Then at Claire.
And suddenly his fingers moved behind his back.
He was signing.
Claire stared.
Mason couldn't see from his angle.
But Claire could.
Owen signed one sentence.
Claire understood most of it.
He has another gun behind the vent.
Claire looked toward the rooftop ventilation housing.
A second weapon.
Elliot noticed her eyes move.
His smile disappeared.
“You understand him?”
Claire lifted her hands.
For the first time in her life, she answered without speaking.
Yes.
May you like
Owen smiled.
And Elliot raised the gun.
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