Chapter 12 - DANIEL’S CHOICE
Daniel moved between Vanessa and the burner.
“Give me the recorder.”
She shook her head.
“Open the gate.”
“I cannot.”
“You know the security override.”
Daniel looked toward me.
I understood the choice before he spoke.
If he opened the gate, Vanessa and Adrian might escape with the seal.
If he refused, she would destroy the recorder and perhaps trigger the emergency fire system inside the vault.
Adrian’s transfer countdown reached four minutes.
Daniel removed his phone.
He entered a code.
Vanessa smiled.
Then the vault’s internal shutters closed over the service tunnel.
She turned.
“What did you do?”
“I sealed every exit.”
“You trapped us.”
“Yes.”
“With your mother.”
“With me too.”
Adrian grabbed Daniel by the jacket.
“You stupid boy.”
Daniel shoved him away.
Adrian struck Daniel across the face.
Thomas ordered everyone to remain still through the speaker.
Police were entering the mansion.
Vanessa moved toward the burner.
I seized the metal case containing the seal.
She pulled my arm.
Dirty water had not frightened me.
Her anger did not either.
Daniel caught Adrian’s wrist before he could strike again.
The two men crashed into the central table.
The laptop fell.
The transfer countdown froze at two minutes and eleven seconds.
Vanessa raised the recorder.
“Back away.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Destroy it.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“The audio has six certified copies.”
“The cameras recorded you entering the vault.”
“The bank recorded the transfer attempt.”
“The recorder means nothing now.”
Vanessa looked toward me.
“You lied.”
“No.”
“I learned from the first time.”
“I stopped allowing one object to carry the entire truth.”
Police voices sounded beyond the vault door.
Vanessa’s control finally disappeared.
She threw the recorder toward the burner.
Daniel caught it before it entered the flame.
Adrian ran toward the sealed tunnel.
There was nowhere to go.
The vault door opened.
Thomas and four officers entered.
Adrian was forced to the floor.
Vanessa remained beside the table.
She looked at Daniel.
“You chose her again.”
Daniel’s breathing was heavy.
“No.”
“I chose not to become someone who helps you hurt people.”
Officers placed handcuffs around Vanessa’s wrists.
She looked toward me.
“You wanted to prove I was cruel.”
I shook my head.
“I wanted to know whether my son would be safe with you.”
The officer led her toward the stairs.
Daniel watched until she disappeared.
Then he sat on the vault floor and began to cry.
I did not tell him he had made the correct choice.
May you like
I sat beside him.
Sometimes doing the right thing still felt like losing everything.
