CHAPTER 28 : The Chamber
The hidden doorway revealed a staircase descending deeper than the previous tunnels.
Cold air rose from below.
The passage had its own independent power system.
Lights activated automatically as Ethan approached.
Daniel blocked the entrance.
“No one goes down until federal teams arrive.”
A child’s voice came from the darkness.
“Mom?”
Marissa pushed forward.
It was Noah.
“Noah!”
The voice came again.
“Don’t come down!”
A gunshot echoed beneath them.
Marissa screamed.
Ethan and Daniel entered the stairwell.
Sophie followed before anyone could stop her.
The stairs ended at a circular chamber filled with glass walls.
Behind each wall stood a small room.
Some contained beds.
Others contained medical equipment.
One room had been prepared recently.
Noah was inside.
His hands were tied, but he appeared uninjured.
Gideon Price stood behind him.
“Open the main door,” Price ordered.
Daniel aimed his weapon.
“Let the boy go.”
Price held a gun near Noah’s back.
“You don’t understand what this place is.”
“A prison.”
“A shelter.”
“For whom?”
Price looked toward Ethan.
“For the child Northstar was created to hide.”
The chamber’s central computer activated.
A family tree appeared on a large screen.
The Blackwood family occupied one side.
The Vale family occupied the other.
Lines connected the families through secret marriages, adoptions, guardianship changes, and sealed births.
At the center was one unidentified female child.
DATE OF BIRTH: CLASSIFIED
STATUS: PROTECTED
DESIGNATION: NORTHSTAR
“Northstar wasn’t originally the name of the program,” Emily said through the radio.
“It was the name of a child,” Sophie replied.
Price nodded.
“An heir connected to both families. If her identity became public, she would inherit controlling interests in every trust the Blackwoods and Vales fought over.”
“Where is she?” Ethan asked.
Price smiled.
“That is the question Laura died trying to answer.”
“You said Laura survived.”
“No. Elias said that.”
“Was he lying?”
“Elias lies when the truth is more dangerous.”
Daniel moved toward the control panel.
Price pressed the gun closer to Noah.
“Stop.”
Sophie examined the family tree.
A small flashing symbol appeared beside her name.
Her profile was linked to the unidentified child.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Price looked at her with something close to pity.
“Laura believed you were the key because of your inheritance.”
“What did you believe?”
“That you were the key because of your blood.”
Ethan stood between Price and Sophie.
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“All Blackwoods say that before they learn what their children are worth.”
A side door opened.
Mia stumbled into the chamber.
Blood covered one sleeve.
Ethan caught her before she fell.
“They took me from the parking garage,” she whispered. “They wanted my security card.”
“Who?”
“Someone from the center.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Who is working with them?”
Mia shook her head.
“I didn’t see a face.”
“Did you hear a voice?”
“Yes.”
Mia looked toward Rachel, Olivia, and the others gathering at the top of the stairs.
“It was a woman.”
Price suddenly fired at the ceiling.
Glass shattered.
The lights went out.
When emergency power returned, Noah was alone inside the room.
Price had disappeared through a hidden exit.
Daniel freed the boy.
Noah immediately ran toward Sophie.
“He made me watch the security cameras.”
“What did you see?”
“Someone opened the chamber for Elias.”
“Who?”
Noah pointed toward the top of the staircase.
Everyone turned.
Rachel stood beside Olivia.
Marissa held Elsie.
Emily leaned against the wall.
Mia was in Ethan’s arms.
May you like
Noah’s finger moved between them.
Then the entire video system erased itself.
