Chapter 13 - CAROL’S LIFE FOR ELENA’S
Carol had been attacked in the staff lounge.
Lauren injected her with a medication that left her conscious but dangerously weak.
Rebecca found her.
Then Lauren entered with a gun.
By the time police understood the distraction, Lauren had locked herself inside Elena’s former hospital room with both women.
Elena stood three corridors away.
Detective Brooks grabbed her arm.
“You are not going in.”
“She wants me.”
“That does not mean she gets you.”
“She has Carol.”
“And your sister.”
Hostage negotiators arrived.
Lauren refused to speak to them.
She wanted Elena.
Only Elena.
From inside the room, Rebecca called again.
Lauren put the phone on speaker.
“Elena.”
“I’m here.”
“Walk to the maternity desk.”
“No.”
Lauren laughed.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Elena continued.
“Because if you wanted them dead, you wouldn’t need me.”
Detective Brooks stared at her.
Rebecca understood immediately and stayed quiet.
“What do you want?” Elena asked.
“The Aurora authentication.”
“You don’t have the chip.”
“Robert does.”
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“No.”
Elena’s voice sharpened.
“He left you inside a hospital holding a gun.”
“He is not protecting you.”
Lauren said nothing.
“He did the same thing to Vanessa.”
“He let her walk into my room and get arrested.”
“He did the same thing to Mark.”
“He abandoned him.”
“And now he put you here.”
“You think you’re his partner?”
“You’re his next person to blame.”
Lauren’s breathing changed.
Elena pressed.
“Ask your mother.”
“She’s in custody because Robert left her at North Point.”
“Ask Vanessa.”
“She’s facing decades because Robert let her take the risk.”
“Everyone who trusts Robert ends up in handcuffs.”
“And Robert keeps running.”
Lauren’s voice hardened.
“Walk to the desk.”
Elena did.
Detective Brooks stayed behind the corner where Lauren could not see her.
Elena appeared on the corridor camera.
“I’m here.”
The door opened slightly.
Rebecca stood inside with both hands visible.
Lauren remained behind her.
Carol was on the bed.
Her face was pale.
“Elena,” Rebecca whispered.
“I’m okay.”
Lauren held the gun near Rebecca’s shoulder.
“Come closer.”
Elena moved one step.
Brooks shook her head.
Elena ignored her.
“Where’s Robert?”
“I told you.”
“Then call him.”
“What?”
“Call Robert.”
Lauren hesitated.
“You want my authorization.”
“He needs it.”
“Call him.”
The logic trapped her.
Lauren dialed.
Robert answered after three rings.
“Do you have her?”
Lauren put the phone on speaker.
“I have her sister.”
“Then finish it.”
Lauren’s face changed.
“What does that mean?”
“Get the authentication.”
“She wants to talk to you.”
“I’m not interested.”
Elena heard him.
“Hello, Uncle Robert.”
Silence.
Then Robert sighed.
“Elena.”
“You sent Lauren to die for you.”
Lauren looked toward the phone.
Robert responded.
“Lauren knows her responsibility.”
Responsibility.
Not partnership.
Not family.
Elena watched the realization appear.
“Where are you?” Lauren asked.
Robert ignored her.
“Elena, authorize Aurora.”
“No.”
“Then Lauren will do what is necessary.”
Lauren’s hand trembled.
“Robert.”
He finally addressed her.
“Do not fail me again.”
The call ended.
Lauren stared at the phone.
Elena said nothing.
She did not need to.
Lauren had just heard the truth.
Robert would sacrifice her without hesitation.
Her gun lowered an inch.
Detective Brooks moved.
“Lauren.”
She froze.
“Put the weapon down.”
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“My whole family is destroyed.”
Elena answered quietly.
“Robert helped destroy it.”
“You don’t know anything about my family.”
“No.”
“But I know what it feels like when someone uses the word family to justify controlling you.”
Lauren stared at her.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Carol spoke weakly from the bed.
“Please.”
Lauren looked toward her.
Carol had witnessed Vanessa’s assault.
Protected Elena.
Now her life depended on a woman who had helped create the entire scheme.
Lauren lowered the gun.
Rebecca moved away.
Police rushed inside.
Lauren did not resist.
Paramedics immediately treated Carol.
The medication was reversible.
She would recover.
Rebecca hugged Elena so hard it hurt.
“You are never negotiating a hostage situation again.”
Elena laughed through tears.
“Agreed.”
Lauren gave police Robert’s location.
Or what she believed was his location.
A private airport outside Leesburg.
Agents arrived.
Robert’s rented hangar was empty.
A flight plan showed a small jet had departed for Canada.
The plane was intercepted after landing.
Robert was not aboard.
Only luggage.
One suitcase contained clothes.
Another contained $400,000 in cash.
The third contained files framing Lauren as the mastermind.
Elena had been right.
Robert intended to sacrifice everyone.
Lauren finally told police where he kept his true emergency location.
Thomas Carter’s childhood home.
A farmhouse in Vermont.
Robert and Thomas had grown up there.
The property had been abandoned for years.
Police surrounded it.
No lights.
No vehicles.
Inside, they found fresh food.
A bed.
Weapons.
Photographs of Elena.
Rebecca.
The hospital.
And one photograph of Elena’s unborn baby taken from an ultrasound image.
Robert had written underneath:
THE LAST CARTER WHO MATTERS.
A map on the wall contained a red circle around one location.
Not the hospital.
Not Carter headquarters.
The cemetery where Thomas was buried.
The following day was the anniversary of Thomas Carter’s death.
Robert planned to return to his brother’s grave.
But whether he intended to surrender, escape, or finish something no one knew.
At midnight, cemetery security cameras activated.
A man entered through the rear gate.
Robert Carter walked through the snow alone.
He stopped in front of Thomas’s grave.
Then placed something against the headstone.
A black case.
Police moved closer.
May you like
Robert looked directly toward the hidden camera.
And smiled.
