Chapter 7 - THE ISLAND
Greyhaven Island disappeared behind walls of freezing rain.
The coast guard refused to risk a helicopter landing.
Ethan boarded a rescue vessel with Marcus, Detective Ruiz, and a tactical team.
Lily remained on the mainland under Dr. Hayes’s protection.
Before the boat departed, she handed Ethan the locket.
“Mommy will know you came.”
Ethan closed his hand around it.
“I will bring it back to both of you.”
The sea struck the vessel hard enough to throw men against the rails.
Greyhaven appeared as a dark shape beneath the lighthouse.
The hospice stood above the cliffs.
Several windows were illuminated.
Victor had armed security posted near the dock.
The tactical team approached without lights.
Sarah Lin had provided an old maintenance map showing a drainage tunnel beneath the eastern wall.
Ethan and Marcus entered through waist-deep water.
The tunnel opened into a boiler room.
The hospice smelled of mold, bleach, and salt.
Medical charts burned inside a furnace.
Ethan pulled one folder from the edge of the flames.
The label read AMELIA BLACKWOOD.
Pages documented seven years of forced medication.
Repeated attempts to obtain her signature.
Statements declaring her memory unreliable.
One page described Ethan as deceased.
Victor told Amelia her husband died after the fire.
They had kept each spouse alive by convincing them the other was gone.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Marcus pulled Ethan behind a boiler.
Two guards entered.
The tactical team disarmed them quietly.
One guard surrendered immediately.
“Victor moved the woman upstairs.”
“Conrad is with him.”
Ethan stared.
“Conrad Blackwood is alive?”
The guard nodded.
“He runs everything.”
“He says Victor failed.”
Upstairs, Amelia sat before a table covered with documents.
Conrad Blackwood stood behind her wheelchair.
He was ninety-one.
Age had curved his spine but not weakened his eyes.
Victor paced near the window.
“You should have killed the child seven years ago,” Conrad said.
Victor looked sick.
“You told me the baby was leverage.”
“She became evidence.”
“And Ethan became disobedient.”
Conrad picked up the syringe.
“Then we correct both mistakes.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“You buried the wrong generation.”
Ethan stepped into the room.
Amelia looked up.
For seven years, she had been told he was dead.
For one long second, neither moved.
May you like
Then she said his name again.
This time, it sounded like coming home.
