Chapter 17 - THE WOMAN IN THE COFFIN
Celeste crossed the office and examined the restraints.
Wires connected Amelia’s chair to the explosive device.
Cutting the wrong wire would trigger immediate detonation.
Amelia remained remarkably calm.
“You have to leave.”
“I did not come this far to leave you.”
“Julian designed the trigger.”
“Then he made a mistake.”
Celeste studied the pressure plate beneath the chair.
The bomb would activate if Amelia stood.
The timer was a distraction.
The true trigger was her weight.
Celeste used a metal filing cabinet to support the chair.
She shifted the weight one fraction at a time.
Twenty seconds remained.
“Why didn’t you come home?” Celeste asked.
“They told me you died at Graywater.”
“Who?”
“Mercer.”
Ten seconds remained.
The cabinet took the full weight of the chair.
Celeste pulled Amelia free.
The timer reached zero.
Nothing happened.
Amelia released a shaking breath.
Celeste cut the final restraint.
They embraced briefly.
There was no time for eleven years of questions.
The warehouse burned around them.
“Julian is escaping,” Celeste said.
“He cannot leave with the final module.”
Amelia opened a concealed compartment beneath the office desk.
Inside was a waterproof case.
“The module is here.”
Celeste stared at her.
“Then what is Julian carrying?”
“A decoy.”
Amelia handed her the case.
“I replaced it before he brought me upstairs.”
Despite imprisonment and age, Amelia Warren had continued fighting.
Celeste almost smiled.
“You always did hate following orders.”
“I wondered where you inherited it.”
A blast shook the building.
Part of the ceiling collapsed near the door.
Mercer appeared through the smoke.
His weapon was aimed at Amelia.
“You should have stayed in the coffin.”
Celeste fired first.
The bullet struck Mercer’s shoulder and spun him against the wall.
His pistol fell.
He reached for a detonator attached to his belt.
Amelia picked up the fallen weapon.
“Don’t,” Celeste warned him.
Mercer smiled.
“You cannot save everyone, Commander.”
He pressed the button.
Explosions tore through the pier.
The floor collapsed beneath them.
May you like
Celeste grabbed Amelia.
All three fell into the burning darkness below.
