Chapter 33 The Mother
The Mother
The feed flickers.
Then dies.
My assistant stiffens beside the console.
“They’re inside.”
“Yes,” I say calmly.
“I allowed that.”
He glances at me, uncertain whether I’m joking.
I never joke.
I open my phone.
Still nothing from my son.
Interesting.
Too interesting.
I access the internal network and pull up the remaining camera feeds.
Most of them are already dark.
One flickers back for half a second.
I see the chair.
Empty.
My fingers still against the screen.
“No,” I say softly.
The door to the control room opens.
Marco steps inside.
Alone.
Armed.
And looking at me the way strangers look at monsters.
“You always did underestimate how much I learned from you,” he says.
I study him.
Really study him.
The way he stands.
The way he watches the room.
Yes.
I did teach him well.
Then I smile.
“They won’t get far.”
He returns the smile.
Cold.
Certain.
“They already did.”
An explosion shakes the far side of the facility.
Dust drifts from the ceiling.
Then another blast echoes through the structure.
Marco steps closer to the console.
“You taught me to build cages,” he says quietly.
His eyes lock onto mine.
“But you forgot to teach me how to stay in them.”
My phone vibrates.
A message from one of my remaining men.
Target lost. Team eliminated.
For the first time in a very long time…
I feel something like anger.