Chapter 8 - Thirty Floors UpKeller's plan was brutally simple.
But Noah had left something better.
Carter found a crumpled grocery receipt beneath a mailbox.
On the back, written in green crayon:
BLACK VAN.
Then another clue two miles later near a gas station.
A small blue superhero figure lay beside the road.
Eli's favorite.
The children were marking their route.
Carter called Agent Ross with every discovery.
Federal teams tracked traffic cameras.
At 2:41 a.m., they identified the van.
It was traveling west.
Toward the abandoned summer camp.
Carter's hands tightened on the wheel.
His phone rang.
Victor.
"I heard."
"How?"
"Agent Ross called my security director."
Carter nearly hung up.
Victor said, "I'm coming."
"No."
"They're my grandchildren."
"And you have no tactical training."
"Neither do you."
"Exactly. Stay out of the way."
Carter ended the call.
He reached the federal staging area eight minutes later.
Agents stopped him from going farther.
Ross grabbed his shoulders.
"You need to stay here."
"They know me."
"And that's exactly why you can't walk blind into a hostage situation."
Carter wanted to hit him.
Instead he stared toward the distant tree line.
Five children were somewhere in the dark.
"This happened because of me."
"No."
"Keller knew the court would give them to me."
Ross looked directly at him.
"Keller took them because Keller is a criminal."
Carter barely heard.
Then Victor arrived.
Against instructions.
Of course.
But he brought something useful.
Plans.
His company had once owned the summer camp property.
Victor spread old architectural drawings across the hood of an SUV.
"Main lodge. Dining hall. Maintenance shed."
Ross pointed.
"Any underground access?"
Victor nodded.
"Utility tunnel between the lodge and boiler building."
Agents moved immediately.
Carter stood beside Victor.
Neither spoke.
Then Victor said, "This is my fault."
Carter looked at him.
Victor's face seemed ten years older.
"Keller worked for me twenty-three years."
"You didn't kidnap them."
"I created a company where results mattered more than character."
Carter stared toward the camp.
"Save the guilt for later."
Victor nodded.
At 3:18 a.m., Ross received confirmation.
Thermal imaging showed multiple people inside the lodge.
Five smaller heat signatures.
One adult.
Keller.
Alive.
Armed.
Negotiators called.
No answer.
Then Carter's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every agent turned.
Ross gestured for Carter to answer on speaker.
"Carter Hayes."
Keller's voice sounded calm.
"You're difficult to intimidate."
Carter forced himself to breathe normally.
"Let the kids go."
"Eventually."
"What do you want?"
"The trust documents withdrawn."
"Done."
Ross shook his head sharply, but Carter ignored him.
Keller laughed.
"You don't have authority."
"Then tell me what you need."
"Victor."
Carter looked at him.
Keller continued.
"I want him to sign a liability statement taking full responsibility for the offshore transfers."
Victor's face hardened.
"He wants you to confess to his crimes," Carter said.
"Correct."
Keller sounded almost cheerful.
"Then he'll release the children."
"How do we know they're okay?"
A pause.
Then Noah's voice.
"Carter?"
Carter nearly collapsed.
"Buddy."
"I'm okay."
"Are the others with you?"
"Yes."
"Are they hurt?"
"No."
Keller took the phone back.
"Enough."
Carter closed his eyes.
They were alive.
Keller gave Victor thirty minutes.
The call ended.
Victor spoke immediately.
"I'll sign."
Ross stepped forward.
"No."
"They're five children."
"And a confession isn't what Keller really needs."
Carter looked at him.
Ross pointed at the camp.
"He needs time."
"For what?"
"We don't know."
Then an agent shouted.
"Vehicle movement!"
A truck emerged from behind the camp.
Heading toward a service road.
Ross swore.
"He's moving them."
Units converged.
The truck accelerated.
Carter's world narrowed to flashing lights and radio chatter.
Then something unexpected happened.
The truck stopped.
Rear doors flew open.
Noah jumped out.
Then Eli.
Then Lucy.
Sophie.
An agent sprinted toward them.
But Ben wasn't there.
Carter stopped breathing.
The four older children had escaped through the rear door while the vehicle slowed near a gate.
Keller still had Ben.
Carter ran to Noah.
The boy slammed into him.
"Ben's still there!"
"I know."
"Keller grabbed him."
Carter held Noah's face.
"You did exactly right."
"I left him!"
"No."
Noah sobbed.
"I left him!"
"You got four people out."
"But Ben—"
"Carter."
Ross interrupted.
The truck was moving again.
A helicopter tracked it.
Carter handed Noah to Dana, who had just arrived.
Then Lucy grabbed his shirt.
"Please get Benny."
"I will."
She cried harder.
"Promise?"
Carter hesitated.
Promises.
Impossible promises.
He kissed her forehead.
"I promise I'll do everything I can."
Victor climbed into an SUV.
Ross stopped him.
Then Carter noticed the route map.
The truck was heading toward an unfinished Bennett Development tower downtown.
Victor stared.
"I know where he's going."
"Where?"
"The rooftop."
Ross frowned.
"Why?"
"Helipad."
Keller had planned an escape.
Within minutes, they were racing toward downtown.
The tower rose thirty stories over the river, unfinished and dark.
Keller's truck crashed through the construction gate.
Federal units followed.
Carter was forced to remain below.
He paced beneath flashing lights.
Victor stood beside him.
Then Carter's phone rang again.
Keller.
"Carter."
"Where's Ben?"
"Safe for now."
A baby's cry echoed behind him.
Carter's knees weakened.
"What do you want?"
"Come upstairs."
Ross shook his head violently.
Carter ignored him.
"Why?"
"Because Victor thinks this is about money."
Keller's voice changed.
"But you understand."
"Understand what?"
"People only care when something belongs to them."
Carter stared upward.
"No."
"Yes. Five children nobody wanted suddenly became precious because they inherited forty million dollars."
"That's not why I wanted them."
"Exactly."
Keller laughed.
"That's why I need you."
The line went dead.
Carter looked at Ross.
"What does that mean?"
No one knew.
Then Victor spoke.
"I do."
Everyone turned.
Victor's face had gone white.
"Keller doesn't need the shares anymore."
"Then what?"
May you like
Victor looked toward the tower.
"He needs Carter to die."
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