Chapter 16 - Conrad
Richard stared at his father.
Nobody moved.
Ethan looked between the two men.
Vanessa slowly stood.
Conrad stepped into the burial chamber.
He looked older than the photographs.
Frailer.
But it was him.
The same eyes.
The same scar beside his left eyebrow.
Richard remembered getting that scar with him during a fishing trip.
A branch had snapped.
Conrad had laughed while bleeding.
No impostor knew that memory.
Richard’s voice came out raw.
“You’re alive.”
Conrad nodded.
Richard hit him.
One punch.
Not hard enough to seriously injure an old man.
Hard enough to express nine years.
Conrad stumbled against the wall.
Vanessa gasped.
Richard’s eyes filled.
“I buried you.”
Conrad straightened.
“I know.”
“I watched you die.”
“I know.”
“You let me.”
“I had to.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
Conrad looked toward Ethan.
“My grandson.”
Richard stepped between them.
“No.”
Conrad stopped.
“You do not get to walk into his life yet.”
Pain crossed his face.
“That’s fair.”
Richard pointed at the scanner.
“What is it?”
Conrad became serious.
“A trap.”
“For Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“You created the biometric lock.”
“I created the appearance of one.”
Vanessa frowned.
“Alexander believes Ethan activates the kill switch.”
“He does.”
Richard looked at his father.
“You just said it’s a trap.”
Conrad nodded.
“If Ethan authenticates, the offshore accounts do not become public.”
“What happens?”
“Every server wipes.”
Vanessa understood.
“Alexander loses everything.”
“Yes.”
Richard looked toward the hostages.
“And he knows?”
“No.”
“Then why stop us?”
Conrad’s face tightened.
“Because the scanner requires a blood sample.”
“So?”
“It contains a toxin delivery needle.”
Richard stared.
“It will inject Ethan.”
Vanessa pulled the child farther away.
Richard’s anger erupted.
“You put a poison needle in a machine designed for my son?”
Conrad raised his hands.
“It was designed years before Ethan existed.”
“For whoever Alexander tried to use.”
“That makes it better?”
“No.”
Conrad looked ashamed.
“I spent too long fighting him like he fought us.”
Richard stared.
“And you wonder why I don’t want you near Ethan.”
Conrad nodded.
“I don’t wonder.”
The monitor flickered.
Alexander appeared again.
His expression changed when he saw Conrad.
For the first time, true fear entered his face.
“Conrad.”
Conrad stepped toward the screen.
“Alexander.”
The old man laughed.
“You finally came out.”
Conrad answered.
“You finally touched my grandson.”
Alexander’s smile disappeared.
“You hid for nine years.”
“To dismantle your network.”
“You failed.”
“Did I?”
Conrad held up a small device.
Alexander stared.
Conrad smiled.
“I found the secondary access.”
Alexander’s face went white.
Richard looked at his father.
“What secondary access?”
Conrad pressed a button.
The scanner shut off.
In the hostage room, alarms began sounding.
Alexander looked around.
“What did you do?”
Conrad answered.
“Opened every locked door.”
Hannah immediately moved.
She threw herself sideways with the chair.
The guard turned.
Julian kicked his knee.
Elena slammed her chair into another man.
Chaos erupted.
Police listening over the live feed moved.
Ortiz shouted.
“Go!”
Tactical teams breached the underground facility.
Gunfire echoed through the monitor.
Richard grabbed Ethan.
Vanessa moved beside him.
Conrad pointed toward the tunnel.
“Get him out.”
Richard did not argue.
They ran.
Behind them, Alexander shouted through the speakers.
“CONRAD!”
Conrad stayed.
Richard stopped.
“Dad!”
Conrad looked at him.
“For once, listen to me.”
Richard stared.
Then Conrad smiled faintly.
“I’m trying to protect you without lying.”
Richard hated how much that sentence mattered.
He carried Ethan away.
Vanessa followed.
They reached the cemetery bunker.
Marcus waited near the entrance.
“Olivia is secure.”
“Where’s Elena?”
“Still inside Alexander’s facility.”
Richard looked toward Ortiz.
“We go.”
She did not stop him this time.
The tactical team had located the hostage site beneath an abandoned chapel adjacent to the cemetery.
The bunker tunnels connected everything.
Alexander had been operating beneath Sterling land.
Perhaps for years.
Richard and Marcus reached the holding room.
Julian was free.
Hannah sat against the wall.
“Ethan?”
Richard shouted.
“Safe.”
Hannah closed her eyes with relief.
Adrian was being carried out by medics.
Elena was nowhere.
Marcus grabbed Julian.
“Where’s my wife?”
Julian pointed.
“She went after Alexander.”
Marcus swore.
They ran.
The tunnel narrowed.
A door stood open.
Beyond it was another underground archive.
Elena stood with a gun aimed at Alexander.
Alexander held Conrad in front of him.
A knife pressed against Conrad’s throat.
Marcus stopped.
Richard raised his hands.
“Alexander.”
The old man smiled.
“Family reunion.”
Elena’s hands shook.
“Let him go.”
Alexander laughed.
“Why?”
“You’re finished.”
“No.”
He looked toward the shelves.
“Everything survives somewhere.”
Conrad said.
“Not anymore.”
Alexander tightened the knife.
“You always were arrogant.”
Conrad answered.
“And you always confused fear with loyalty.”
Alexander’s face twisted.
He looked toward Vanessa, who had entered behind Richard.
“Rebecca.”
Vanessa stared.
He smiled.
“Come here.”
“No.”
“I made you.”
“No.”
“I gave you Catherine.”
“You erased me.”
“You were nothing.”
Vanessa’s face went still.
Alexander continued.
“A nameless foster girl.”
“You owe me every room you ever entered.”
“Every diamond.”
“Every person who bowed to you.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You gave me fear.”
“I did the rest myself.”
Richard looked at her.
Alexander scoffed.
“You did what I trained you to do.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“You trained me to survive you.”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
She continued.
“And now I am.”
Alexander shoved Conrad forward and reached for his gun.
Elena fired.
The bullet struck Alexander’s shoulder.
He spun.
Marcus rushed him.
Alexander fired wildly.
A shot hit the ceiling.
Richard pulled Vanessa down.
Conrad fell against the shelves.
Marcus slammed Alexander to the floor.
Elena kicked the gun away.
Officers flooded the room.
Alexander screamed.
“GET OFF ME!”
Marcus forced his arms behind him.
“For Olivia.”
He cuffed one wrist.
“For Elena.”
The second cuff locked.
Alexander struggled.
Then stopped.
He looked toward Richard.
And smiled.
“You think this ends with me?”
Richard approached.
“I think tonight does.”
Alexander laughed.
“You still don’t know whose son Ethan is.”
Richard stared.
Vanessa went pale.
Alexander saw the reaction.
“Oh.”
He smiled wider.
“Rebecca never told you?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“I do.”
Richard looked at him.
Alexander whispered.
“And so does Conrad.”
Richard turned toward his father.
Conrad’s face changed.
That was enough.
Richard walked toward him.
“You know.”
Conrad said nothing.
“Whose biological child is Ethan?”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Richard.”
He did not look away.
Conrad lowered his eyes.
“I tried to stop it.”
Richard’s blood ran cold.
“Whose?”
Conrad finally answered.
“Julian’s.”
Silence.
Richard stared.
Julian stood frozen near the doorway.
“What?”
Conrad looked at him.
“Alexander replaced Richard’s sample with yours.”
Julian’s face emptied.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Richard looked toward the corridor where Ethan had been taken.
His brother.
His son.
The meaning of family twisted again.
Then Alexander began laughing from the floor.
May you like
And for the first time that night, Richard walked away from him without asking another question.
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