Chapter 12 - THE RED SWITCH
The room became perfectly still.
Nathaniel stood near the windows with the detonator pressed against his chest.
Rain battered the glass.
Lily trembled against me.
Detective Cole lowered his weapon slightly.
“Nathaniel, you don’t want to kill your niece.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“She was never supposed to remember.”
Grant stepped between Nathaniel and Lily.
“Then kill me.”
“Grant,” I whispered.
He did not look back.
“You hated me our entire lives.”
Grant spread his arms.
“Here I am.”
Nathaniel’s face twisted with years of resentment.
“You received the company.”
“I never wanted it.”
“You received Father’s respect.”
“He used both of us.”
“You received Evelyn.”
Grant’s expression changed.
The room seemed to narrow around them.
“You were in love with my wife.”
Nathaniel looked toward the fire.
“She understood me before she understood what I was.”
Renata sat against the wall clutching her wounded arm.
“You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Nathaniel turned toward her.
Renata’s contempt revealed the truth.
She had never respected him.
She had used his jealousy and anger to gain access to the Whitmore family.
Voss slowly reached toward the metal case.
Harris saw him.
“Don’t.”
Voss pressed a concealed button.
A red light began flashing on the detonator.
Nathaniel stared down.
“What did you do?”
Renata’s eyes widened.
“You activated the automatic sequence.”
Voss ran toward the door.
Detective Ramirez tackled him.
An electronic voice echoed through the lodge.
DETONATION IN THREE MINUTES.
Nathaniel pulled at the wires around his chest.
“They locked the device.”
Harris examined the detonator.
“The signal is connected to charges beneath the foundation.”
“Can you stop it?” Cole asked.
“Not from here.”
A manual cutoff switch was located in the generator room beneath the lodge.
Someone would have to cross the unstable basement and disconnect the main circuit.
Grant moved toward the stairs.
Harris stopped him.
“You don’t know the system.”
“You’re injured.”
“I built it.”
Harris looked at Lily.
“I already failed this family once.”
He disappeared down the basement stairs.
The countdown continued.
TWO MINUTES.
Cole ordered everyone outside.
Nathaniel refused to move.
The wires around his chest were connected to a pressure trigger.
Removing the vest might cause immediate detonation.
Grant took Lily from my arms.
We ran through the front entrance into the storm.
Police dragged Renata and Voss outside.
Nathaniel remained inside the lodge.
ONE MINUTE.
Harris had not returned.
Grant handed Lily to me and turned back toward the building.
I grabbed his arm.
“You can’t save him.”
“Harris saved my daughter.”
“He chose to go.”
Grant looked toward the basement windows.
A light flickered beneath the ground.
TEN SECONDS.
We threw ourselves behind the stone wall.
Lily covered her ears.
The countdown reached zero.
Nothing happened.
For one breathless moment, the mountain remained silent.
Then the front door opened.
Harris emerged through the smoke.
Blood covered his shirt.
Behind him walked Nathaniel.
The explosive vest hung open.
Harris had disarmed it.
May you like
Nathaniel raised both hands.
“I’m ready to tell you who ordered Evelyn’s murder.”
