Chapter 21 - Come Get Your DaughterSadie did not scream.
That frightened Ronan more than if she had.
She picked up Poppy's bracelet.
Then turned toward him.
“Find her.”
Two words.
No tears.
No panic.
Ronan understood.
This was the woman who had survived Elias's death.
Hidden a child.
Lived four years looking over her shoulder.
Sadie did not collapse during emergencies.
She became precise.
Security footage showed nothing.
Again.
Then Eleanor noticed something.
Poppy's stuffed rabbit was missing.
“She took it,” Sadie said.
That mattered.
If Poppy had time to take the rabbit, she had been conscious.
Thinking.
Maybe even cooperating.
Why?
Wesley found the answer.
A message had been sent to Poppy's tablet.
A photograph of Ronan lying on the ground.
Fake.
Underneath:
YOUR DAD IS HURT. COME TO THE GREENHOUSE. DON'T WAKE MOM.
Poppy had gone willingly because she thought Ronan needed help.
Ronan looked sick.
Sadie grabbed his face.
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Don't make this your fault.”
“He used me.”
“He used her love for you.”
Ronan closed his eyes.
Sadie forced him to look at her.
“That is not the same thing.”
His phone rang.
Poppy.
Ronan answered.
Charles appeared on video.
Poppy sat behind him.
Unhurt.
Angry.
“Dad!”
Ronan nearly broke.
“Poppy.”
“I'm okay.”
Charles smiled.
“She is remarkably irritating.”
Poppy glared.
“You kidnapped me.”
“Yes.”
“That's illegal.”
Charles looked at the camera.
“She has informed me twelve times.”
“Thirteen,” Poppy corrected.
Despite terror, Sadie almost laughed.
Charles's smile vanished.
“The reserve account.”
Ronan understood.
“You need Daniel.”
“I need his biometric authorization.”
“He's unconscious.”
“Then wake him.”
Charles provided coordinates.
An abandoned hospital outside Ashport.
Exchange at midnight.
Poppy for Daniel.
Sadie looked at Ronan.
“No.”
Charles heard.
“Mrs. Cain.”
Sadie's face hardened.
“You picked the wrong child.”
Charles laughed.
“Excuse me?”
“You think Poppy is leverage.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Sadie stepped toward the screen.
“She's a Cain.”
Poppy smiled proudly.
Charles looked annoyed.
Sadie continued.
“You have approximately six hours before she drives you insane.”
“Mommy!”
“What?”
“That's mean.”
“You know I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Charles disconnected.
Ronan stared at Sadie.
“What?”
“I am extremely attracted to you right now.”
“Focus.”
“I am.”
“Wrong focus.”
They built the rescue plan.
Maeve knew the hospital.
It had once been a Crown medical facility.
Bell knew the underground layout.
June knew Charles's security protocols.
Everyone who had once carried a piece of Elias's unfinished war now contributed to saving his daughter.
At 11:58 p.m., Ronan entered the hospital with Daniel's biometric scanner.
Charles waited.
Poppy sat nearby.
Her hands were free.
Too free.
Ronan knew his daughter.
That worried him.
“Dad!”
Charles turned slightly.
Poppy moved.
She bit him.
Hard.
Charles shouted.
Ronan attacked.
Gunfire erupted.
Maeve's team entered.
Sadie ran toward Poppy.
Charles escaped through a side corridor.
Again.
But this time Poppy had stolen something.
She opened her fist.
A small electronic key.
“I took it from his pocket.”
Ronan stared.
“When?”
“When I bit him.”
Sadie hugged her.
“You are grounded.”
Poppy looked offended.
“For escaping?”
“For leaving your room.”
“I thought Dad was hurt!”
“I know.”
“How long?”
Sadie looked at Ronan.
“One week.”
“Three days,” Ronan said.
Sadie glared.
“Seven.”
Poppy whispered to him:
“You're bad at teamwork.”
Ronan whispered back:
“I know.”
The electronic key opened Charles's private Crown vault.
Inside was no money.
Just one live video feed.
Daniel Hawthorne's hospital room.
A man wearing medical scrubs entered.
He approached Daniel's bed.
Bell shouted:
May you like
“Call the hospital!”
The man raised a syringe.
Related Stories
