Chapter 8 - THE SECOND GARAGE
The address led to an abandoned house outside Worcester.
Its garage looked almost identical to Taylor’s.
Same white chest freezer.
Same stacked boxes.
Same bicycles hanging from hooks.
Price had rebuilt the scene.
She wanted Ryan disoriented.
Federal agents surrounded the property, but Price warned that Lily wore a heart monitor linked to an explosive device.
A bluff, perhaps.
No one could risk it.
Ryan entered alone carrying a copy of Aaron’s drive.
Judge Price stood beside the freezer in her red coat.
Lily sat on a chair with tape around her wrists.
She was awake.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
Ryan stopped.
Price held a small remote.
“Put the drive down.”
He obeyed.
“Let her go.”
“You mistake this for negotiation.”
Price spoke calmly, as if still seated on the bench.
She explained that the network survived because terrified parents always chose the immediate rescue over the larger truth.
Ryan had to give her the encryption key.
Without it, the copy was useless.
“Three-five-two,” Ryan said.
Price entered the numbers.
Wrong.
She smiled.
“You are delaying.”
Ryan looked at Lily.
She remembered the song.
Her fingers moved against the chair.
Three taps.
Five.
Two.
Price noticed.
Ryan lunged.
Price pressed the remote.
Nothing happened.
The device was fake.
Ryan tackled her.
A gun fell from her coat.
Lily kicked it away.
Price struck Ryan with the remote and ran toward the freezer.
She opened it.
Inside was not an explosive.
It was a server array.
The network’s live backup.
Price reached for a destruction switch.
Ryan grabbed her wrist.
They struggled.
She whispered, “Your brother begged too.”
Ryan froze for half a second.
Price pulled a hidden knife.
Lily screamed.
Ryan blocked the blade with his forearm and shoved Price into the wall.
Agents entered.
Price reached for the gun.
Detective Cole fired.
The bullet struck Price’s shoulder.
She fell.
Police secured the garage.
Ryan tore the tape from Lily’s wrists and held her.
“You came,” she said.
“Always.”
Agents seized the servers before the data could be erased.
The files contained every victim.
Every payment.
Every judge.
Every doctor.
Every threat.
The network was finished.
But one file was labeled RYAN CARTER — FINAL OPTION.
Inside was a video recorded months before the freezer incident.
Taylor sat across from Price.
Price asked, “If Ryan cannot be discredited, what are you willing to do?”
Taylor answered, “Whatever protects Lily’s future.”
Price slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Ryan’s construction site.
A crane cable had been marked for sabotage.
Taylor looked at it.
Then signed the authorization.
May you like
The network had planned to kill Ryan too.
And Taylor had agreed.
