Chapter 16 - THE COLLAPSE
The explosion destroyed part of the pool deck.
Two officers were injured.
Neither died.
Jason had placed a pressure device inside the tunnel.
It was designed to collapse the entrance after police entered.
Fortunately, the first officer noticed fresh wiring and ordered everyone back.
Jason had not come for the hidden records.
He wanted investigators to believe he had.
While emergency crews responded to the explosion, he attacked the medical facility where Sarah was being held.
This time, he did not enter disguised as a nurse.
He triggered a fire alarm and used the evacuation to reach the ambulance bay.
Sarah recognized him beneath a baseball cap.
She struck him with a metal oxygen stand and screamed for help.
Jason escaped without her.
But security cameras captured his face clearly.
For the first time, the public saw the man behind the names.
His image appeared on every major news channel.
Airports, bus stations, and border crossings received alerts.
His freedom began shrinking.
Yet Ortiz believed he had planned the failed abduction for another reason.
He needed Sarah to tell him how to open the hidden room.
The brass key was not enough.
The door also required a four-number combination.
Sarah remembered Bell carving numbers into the old oak tree before it was removed.
She had seen them in photographs taken during the pool renovation.
The numbers were 3-1-7-9.
Jason had spent years searching for them.
Now he knew Sarah remembered.
Sarah refused to leave protective custody.
“I’m done hiding while he chooses the next move,” she told Ortiz.
She volunteered to call him.
The call was recorded.
Jason answered after one ring.
“You embarrassed me,” he said.
Sarah’s hand trembled, but her voice remained steady.
“You lost.”
“I still have the ledger.”
“You have copies.”
“The original is under the pool.”
Silence followed.
Sarah continued.
“I know the code.”
Jason breathed slowly into the phone.
“Tell me.”
“Release every name you have.”
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“I survived you.”
“So did Emily.”
“So did Lucas.”
“You couldn’t even keep children afraid of you.”
Jason’s restraint broke.
“You think Michael saved you?”
“He abandoned you long before I arrived.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“No.”
“I pushed him away because you taught me to confuse isolation with love.”
Ortiz signaled for her to continue.
“Come to the pool tomorrow night.”
“I’ll open the room.”
Jason laughed.
“You’ll bring police.”
“Then don’t come.”
Sarah disconnected.
The trap was set.
But at sunrise, investigators discovered that Eric Lane had accessed Emily’s relocation records.
He knew the address of the next safe location.
Jason now had two choices.
The evidence beneath the pool.
Or my daughter.
Ortiz believed he would choose the evidence.
May you like
Emily knew better.
“He always punishes the person who says no.”
