Chapter 12 - THE CHILD BETWEEN FLOORS
Ethan received Maria’s recording inside the boardroom.
He heard Sebastian confess to following Ava.
He heard the threat against Lily.
Sebastian moved toward the door.
Agents restrained him.
“You do not know the override code,” he said.
“The elevator will remain sealed unless I enter it.”
Ethan grabbed his jacket.
“Take him to the control floor.”
Naomi Pierce blocked the exit.
“He may be lying.”
“A child is trapped.”
“We move now.”
They descended to the fortieth-floor mechanical room.
Sebastian entered one code.
The system rejected it.
He smiled faintly.
“The final authorization requires my private token.”
“Where is it?” Naomi asked.
Sebastian looked at Ethan.
“Dismiss the board investigation.”
“Transfer temporary authority.”
“Then I open the elevator.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You are bargaining with a child’s oxygen.”
“I am protecting what I built.”
“You stole what Ava found.”
“I expanded what Conrad created.”
“Sign the papers.”
Ethan looked through the maintenance window.
The elevator roof rested several feet below.
Maria and Calvin arrived through the stairwell, breathless.
Maria seized a metal tool.
“What are you doing?” Ethan asked.
“Opening the hatch.”
“The shaft is dangerous.”
“So is waiting for Sebastian to grow a conscience.”
Calvin attached a safety line around Maria.
Ethan took the second line.
“You are not going alone.”
Maria looked at him.
“You have severe asthma.”
“You have a daughter inside that elevator.”
Neither argument defeated the other.
They climbed onto the service platform together.
Below them, Lily began coughing.
“Mama?”
Maria struck the roof hatch.
“I’m here.”
Denise unlocked it from inside.
The opening was narrow.
Maria lowered herself first.
Lily reached up.
“Mama.”
Maria lifted her toward Ethan.
He took the child carefully and secured her against his chest.
The elevator shifted.
A grinding sound moved through the shaft.
Sebastian had activated a manual release.
The car dropped several inches.
Calvin shouted from above.
Ethan pushed Lily upward.
Agents pulled her through the maintenance opening.
Maria climbed next.
Denise remained inside.
“Come on,” Maria said.
Denise shook her head.
“I helped him.”
“That does not mean you stay here and die.”
Maria reached down.
Denise took her hand.
The elevator dropped again.
Ethan and Calvin pulled both women to safety seconds before the car descended toward the lower floors.
Agents placed Sebastian against the wall.
For the first time, his confidence disappeared.
Ethan carried Lily toward Maria.
The child wrapped her arms around both of them.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“You need another blue medicine.”
His breathing had become strained from the shaft.
Maria reached into Lily’s backpack.
She removed the spare inhaler Dr. Park had given them.
May you like
Lily placed it in Ethan’s hand again.
This time, dozens of witnesses saw the small child save him.
