Chapter 24 - The Swap
"Where are they?" I roared, my vision tunneling into pure, murderous red. The Glock’s safety was off. I took three aggressive steps forward, ready to empty the magazine into her chest.
"Shoot me," Evelyn smiled, spreading her thin arms wide. "Pull the trigger, David. Do what grandfather should have done the night we were born. But if my heart stops beating, the carbon monoxide valves in the utility shed behind the inn won't shut off."
I froze. "What did you do?"
"I didn't take them away," she purred, her eyes glittering with mad triumph. "I put them in a safe place. Just like mother taught me. A quiet room. No windows. Strong door. Plenty of time to think."
She pulled an antique bronze stopwatch from her pocket and snapped it open. "You have twenty-two minutes before the concentration in the shed reaches lethal levels. It’s a forty-minute drive to Oakridge. You’ll never make it."
"Why?" I screamed, tears of rage burning my eyes. "Why do this to them? They never hurt you!"
"Because you have to choose!" she shrieked, her composure suddenly shattering into wild, weeping hysteria. "You have to choose between saving them, or staying down here with me! You locked me in this cage your entire life! You enjoyed the trust funds! You walked through the gardens! You married women who slept in rooms right above my head! You have to know what it feels like to drown in the dark while the people you love run out of breath!"
She raised her pistol, pointed it straight at her own temple, and pulled the trigger.
*CLICK.*
The chamber was empty.
She lowered the weapon, laughing hysterically through tears of agony. "Did you really think I’d make it that easy for you? Run, little brother. Run and save your perfect family. Or stay and listen to the air run out."
May you like
She backed into the darkness of the service tunnel, hitting an iron master switch on the wall.
Across the ceiling, heavy steel hydraulic storm gates began grinding downward, sealing off the access tunnels one by one with thunderous, deafening slams.
