Chapter 16 - The Warehouse
Maya ran before anyone told her to.
Straight toward Mara.
Charles turned.
That half-second saved us.
Celeste fired.
The shot hit a steel beam.
I tackled Charles.
The gun skidded across concrete.
He punched me in the mouth.
I hit him back.
Not elegant.
Not cinematic.
My knuckle split.
His forehead caught my nose.
I saw white.
Then Mara screamed, “Adrian!”
Charles had the gun again.
Gerald kicked his ankle from the floor.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Sprinklers exploded.
Water poured down.
Maya screamed.
Celeste grabbed her.
Mara broke one wrist free from the plastic tie.
I lunged again.
Charles slipped on the wet floor.
His head hit concrete.
He stopped moving.
For a second, everyone stared.
Then Gerald said, “Check him.”
I did.
Pulse.
Alive.
I almost felt disappointed.
That scared me.
Police arrived minutes later.
Brielle had called them after tracking her father's car.
She entered the warehouse while officers were still cuffing Charles.
He looked at her.
“Sweetheart.”
She walked past him.
No speech.
No tears.
Nothing.
That hurt him more.
Mara knelt in front of Maya.
The girl stared at her.
“You're my real mom?”
Mara opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Finally she said, “I think I was supposed to be.”
Maya looked at me.
“And you're Adrian.”
“Yeah.”
“Not Dad?”
My throat tightened.
“You can call me whatever feels okay.”
She thought about it.
“Adrian is weird.”
“Fair.”
Milo would like her.
That thought nearly broke me.
Then Maya reached for Mara's hand.
Not mine.
I told myself I was fine with that.
I wasn't.
That was selfish.
I knew it.
I felt it anyway.
Outside, Charles was loaded into a police car.
My mother arrived.
She saw Maya.
Her knees buckled.
Maya hid behind Mara.
Evelyn stopped.
She did not approach.
Good.
For once, she understood that love did not give her permission.
Gerald was taken to an ambulance.
Before they loaded him in, he grabbed my sleeve.
“There's one more file.”
“Where?”
“Your father's house in Maine.”
“What file?”
He looked toward Maya.
“The original list.”
“Of the adoptions?”
Gerald nodded.
“Hundreds of children.”
My stomach dropped.
May you like
“And one name on that list is yours.”
