Chapter 15 - THE FAMILY REUNION
I did not go alone.
I simply made Adrian believe I did.
The address led to an abandoned observatory in the hills north of Santa Barbara.
At 7:58 p.m., I parked outside.
Grace was half a mile away.
Federal tactical units waited farther down the ridge.
My phone transmitted everything.
At exactly eight, the observatory doors opened.
Adrian Vale stood inside.
“Emily.”
“Adrian.”
“No security?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
He smiled.
“No.”
“Good.”
I walked inside.
The room smelled like dust and cold metal.
An old telescope pointed toward the open dome above.
Adrian poured two glasses of wine.
I ignored mine.
“You threatened my daughter.”
“I mentioned your daughter.”
“You hacked my house.”
“I demonstrated vulnerability.”
“You tried to kill Daniel.”
Adrian paused.
“So Daniel survived.”
I smiled.
“You're not as informed as you pretend.”
Something changed in his eyes.
Small.
But satisfying.
“Where are my parents?”
“Safe.”
“I want proof.”
He touched a remote.
A screen illuminated.
My mother appeared.
Alive.
Older.
Sitting beside my father.
My knees almost gave way.
Mom looked directly into the camera.
“Emily.”
I had imagined hearing that voice again in dreams.
Never like this.
“Mom.”
She began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that.”
My voice cracked.
“Both of you.”
Dad lowered his head.
Mom pressed her hand against the screen.
“We wanted to protect you.”
“You abandoned me.”
“We saved you.”
“From what?”
Adrian answered.
“From me.”
I turned.
He was smiling.
My mother suddenly shouted through the screen.
“Emily, don't trust—”
The feed cut.
I lunged toward Adrian.
“What did you do?”
“They're fine.”
“Turn it back on.”
“No.”
I stepped close enough to see the faint scar beneath his chin.
“What do you want?”
“At last.”
He walked toward the telescope.
“Lighthouse was nearly perfect. Your father destroyed it because he became sentimental.”
“He became human.”
“Same thing, depending on perspective.”
“You experimented on people.”
“We studied decision-making.”
“You stalked children.”
“We studied inheritance.”
My fists tightened.
“Clara is five months old.”
“And already fascinating.”
I slapped him.
Hard.
The sound echoed through the observatory.
Adrian slowly turned his face back toward me.
No anger.
That was worse.
“If you ever speak about my daughter like she's laboratory material again, I will forget every lawyer I know.”
Adrian touched his cheek.
“Jake underestimated you.”
“So are you.”
“Perhaps.”
He produced a tablet.
A contract appeared.
I laughed.
“You brought paperwork?”
“I’m offering you control.”
“Of Lighthouse?”
“Of everything.”
Twenty-three investors.
Private intelligence networks.
Predictive infrastructure.
Billions of dollars.
Adrian wasn't asking me to surrender.
He was offering me a throne.
“You think power is what I want?”
“I think everyone wants power once they understand what helplessness costs.”
For one dangerous second, I understood him.
Jake had made me helpless.
My parents had made me helpless.
Lighthouse had watched my life without permission.
Imagine possessing a system capable of preventing betrayal before it happened.
Preventing fraud.
Preventing kidnappings.
Preventing wars.
Then I saw Clara’s photograph marked L-17.
“No.”
Adrian sighed.
“I expected resistance.”
“You should expect prison.”
He smiled.
“Your agents outside?”
My blood chilled.
“How—”
The observatory lights went out.
Grace screamed through my earpiece.
“EMILY, MOVE!”
Gunfire erupted outside.
I dropped behind a concrete console.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Adrian was gone.
“Grace!”
Static.
Then:
“We've been compromised. Federal team has hostile vehicles coming uphill.”
I crawled toward the side exit.
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
YOUR DAUGHTER.
My heart stopped.
I called the house.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then Clara’s nanny picked up.
Screaming.
“Ms. Vance—someone—”
The line died.
I ran.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Not Adrian.
Not Lighthouse.
Not my parents.
Only Clara.
Grace’s SUV tore around the corner.
I jumped inside.
“GO!”
We raced toward Montecito.
The drive took thirty-two minutes.
It felt like thirty-two years.
Police lights filled my street.
The front gate hung open.
One guard was injured.
Another sat against an ambulance.
I ran past everyone.
“CLARA!”
Upstairs.
Nursery.
Empty crib.
My scream came from somewhere I didn't recognize.
Then Grace shouted.
“Emily!”
She was holding something.
A baby monitor.
Video feed.
Clara.
Sleeping.
Not in the house.
Behind her was a white wall.
A familiar painting.
I stared.
I knew that room.
Century City.
The secret condo I had used the night I left Jake.
Someone had taken my daughter to the place where my war with Jake began.
Then a man stepped into the video.
Jake.
Wearing prison clothes.
I froze.
That was impossible.
Jake looked directly into the camera.
“Emily.”
He lifted Clara gently into his arms.
“I need you to listen.”
My entire body went cold.
“Adrian didn't take Clara.”
May you like
Jake swallowed.
“I did.”
