Chapter 7 - The Final Sacrifice"Mother, you're insane!" I yelled, stepping in front of Sophia and Leo. "You set this fire?!"
"I didn't set it!" Eleanor screamed, tears streaking through the soot on her face. "Richard did! He told me... he told me he was just going to move you away! He promised me you wouldn't be hurt!"
She was holding the master keycard—the only thing that could override the emergency fire locks and open the exit doors.
"He lied to you, Eleanor!" Sophia shouted from behind me, her voice breaking. "He used you to get to Marcus! He was going to let your grandson burn to death!"
Eleanor looked at the crying baby wrapped tightly in my arms. For the first time in my life, I saw the ice in her eyes melt into sheer, unadulterated terror. The realization of what she had facilitated hit her like a physical blow.
"My... my grandson..." she whispered.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the far end of the hallway as an oxygen tank detonated. A wall of fire roared toward us.
"The key, Eleanor! Use the card!" I shouted.
Eleanor didn't run to the card reader. Instead, she swiped the card against the wall lock, opening the heavy fire door, and violently shoved Sophia and me through the doorway into the safe stairwell.
"Mother, come on!" I grabbed her arm to pull her through.
Eleanor pulled her hand back, shaking her head as a heavy timber beam from the ceiling collapsed directly in front of the doorframe, blocking her path.
"I was a terrible mother, Marcus," she sobbed, looking through the narrow gap in the flames. "Save my grandson. Tell him... tell him I was sorry."
"Mom, no!"
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Before I could reach through the flames, Eleanor smashed the manual override switch on the inside wall. The heavy, fireproof steel door slammed shut, sealing her on the burning side of the floor and locking us inside the reinforced stairwell.
Chapter 7 Cliffhanger Hook: The heavy steel door locked with a sickening, final thud. We scrambled down the stairwell into the cold night air, where dozens of police cars and news helicopters had surrounded the building. But as the paramedics took Leo, a man in a dark suit approached me and handed me an envelope. “Captain Vance? Your mother left this in her safe deposit box. It’s addressed to you... and it changes everything about who you really are.”
