Chapter 10 - The Night They Took Finley
The hospital moved Finley before sunset.
No public announcement.
No visible convoy.
No staff except those approved by Daniel and Detective Blake.
They used a service elevator, a covered ambulance, and a false destination registered under another name.
Sarah sat in the back beside Finley, holding his hand while he slept under a warm blanket.
Alistair sat across from them, watching every street through the tinted windows.
“Where are we going?” Sarah asked quietly.
“Somewhere Gavin cannot find us,” Daniel answered from the front.
That place turned out to be a small rehabilitation center in the countryside, owned by a charity that Dr. Vale trusted. It was not grand. It did not have McGregor estate gates or polished marble floors.
It had hills.
Fresh air.
A therapy garden.
And no one knew Finley was there.
For three days, it worked.
Finley practiced standing every morning.
He learned to shift his weight without gripping the bars.
He started calling his physical therapist “Coach Tessa.”
Alistair learned how to help with stretching exercises. At first he was too careful, afraid to do anything wrong. But Finley eventually laughed and said, “Dad, you’re holding my ankle like it’s made of glass.”
“I thought it might be.”
“It’s not.”
Alistair smiled.
“I’m learning that.”
Sarah watched them from across the room and felt something inside her heal a little.
Then, on the fourth night, the lights went out.
The same sudden darkness.
The same silence before alarm.
Sarah woke instantly.
She was sleeping in the room next to Finley’s.
For one terrible second, she did not understand what had woken her.
Then she heard the window slide open.
Sarah ran into the hallway.
“Finley?”
No answer.
His bedroom door was open.
The bed was empty.
The astronaut quilt lay on the floor.
Sarah screamed.
Within seconds, the center erupted into motion. Alistair came running from the other side of the hall, barefoot, his face white.
“Finley!”
Daniel’s voice shouted through a radio.
“North exit. Vehicle leaving the property. Two men, possibly three.”
Alistair sprinted outside.
Sarah followed.
Rain hammered the gravel driveway. Headlights disappeared down the road beyond the gates.
“Get the cars!” Alistair shouted.
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Sir, wait for police.”
“That is my son!”
“And Mercer wants you reckless.”
Sarah stood in the rain, shaking so hard she could barely breathe.
Finley was gone.
Again, someone had taken him because he was vulnerable.
Again, adults had failed to keep him safe.
Then Sarah saw something near the open window.
A small wooden airplane.
Finley’s airplane.
It was broken in half.
She picked it up.
A tiny red light blinked beneath the cracked wing.
Sarah looked at Daniel.
“The tracker.”
Daniel stared.
Finley had hidden the tracker from the fireplace poker inside his airplane after the lodge incident. He had told Sarah it was “for emergencies.”
“He left it,” she whispered.
No.
Not left.
Placed.
Finley had known enough to leave a trail.
Daniel took the airplane and followed the signal.
It led to an old estate warehouse on the edge of town, one of McGregor Holdings’ abandoned properties.
Mercer knew every asset Alistair owned.
He knew where security would be weakest.
He knew exactly how to turn Alistair’s empire against him.
Police units were still twenty minutes away.
Alistair looked at Daniel.
“We go now.”
Daniel looked toward Sarah.
“No,” he said. “Miss O’Connell stays here.”
Sarah’s face hardened.
“No.”
“This is not a debate.”
“You need someone Finley trusts.”
“You are not trained.”
“You are right,” Sarah said. “I am not trained. But I know that boy. And if he is scared, he needs to hear a voice that tells him he is not alone.”
Alistair looked at her.
The rain ran down his face.
He was terrified.
So was she.
But he nodded.
“Stay with me,” he said.
They reached the warehouse just before midnight.
It stood dark against the storm, its windows boarded, its loading docks empty.
Daniel’s team surrounded the building.
Then Mercer called.
Alistair put the phone on speaker.
“You finally came,” Mercer said.
“Let my son go.”
“You know, I always admired you, Alistair. You built everything. You were brilliant. But you were weak where it mattered.”
Alistair’s voice was low. “You used my son.”
“I used an opportunity.”
Sarah heard a small sound in the background.
A whimper.
Finley.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“Sarah?” Finley’s voice came faintly through the phone.
“I’m here!” she shouted. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Don’t let him make me sit down.”
Sarah froze.
Mercer laughed softly.
“He’s been very determined. Just like his father.”
Alistair closed his eyes.
“Tell me what you want.”
“The shares. Sign control of Fiona’s inheritance back to the company. Then the boy goes free.”
“You will never get them.”
“Then you will watch him lose the chance you worked so hard to give him.”
The line went dead.
Daniel checked the building layout.
“Two entrances. Basement access. Old loading bay.”
Alistair looked at Sarah.
“Whatever happens,” he said, “you get to Finley first.”
Sarah nodded.
May you like
And together, they stepped into the darkness.
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