CHAPTER 25: THE WALL OF CHOICES
The hotel basement extended beneath three city blocks.
Old service corridors connected it to buildings once owned by Whitmore Properties.
The search team followed drops of blood to an abandoned control room.
The door opened automatically when Amelia approached.
Inside was a wall covered with photographs.
Ethan carrying Claire from the elevator.
Noah carrying Amelia.
William dragging a young Ethan from Whitmore Mill.
Thomas Reed entering the fire.
Evelyn trapped behind the freight-elevator doors.
Beneath every image was the same word.
CHOICE.
Amelia moved toward a photograph of herself.
It had been taken inside her home while she slept.
Theo’s ultrasound image rested beside her.
Below it was written:
THE FINAL CHOICE BELONGS TO THE MOTHER.
Mara pulled Amelia away.
A video began playing on the wall.
Noah appeared tied to a chair.
Blood marked the side of his face.
Captain Morales stood behind him.
“My name is not Gabriel Morales,” he said.
“My name is Julian Whitmore.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Julian died in the fire.”
“No,” the man answered. “My sister was told I died.”
Claire’s brother had survived.
His face had been reconstructed after severe burns.
William erased his identity and placed him inside the fire department.
Julian continued.
“Thomas Reed saved me. Evelyn Bennett kept me alive. William Carter turned my survival into another experiment.”
Noah struggled against the restraints.
“Where is my father?”
Julian looked down at him.
“Thomas survived the fire.”
Noah stopped moving.
“He was taken with Evelyn.”
“Where?”
Julian smiled without warmth.
“Ask Ethan’s father.”
The video changed.
William Carter appeared inside the NICU.
He stood beside Theo’s incubator.
May you like
The footage was live.
Amelia screamed.
