The Child Thief 6: Zero Hour

by Forrest, Bella

  I stared at him in silent confusion. How did he know that Aurora was Corona’s daughter?

  “Oh, don’t look so surprised, dear,” Mavis interrupted. “We’re the government. We know everything. Of course we went looking into her adoption files after Nathan risked so much to rescue her.”

  “So has Robert already told you where they’re hiding now?” I asked.

  Was my mother in danger at this very moment?

  Piper looked annoyed. “No, that little rat had some sort of moral epiphany after the Edgewood attack. Didn’t want to assist any further.”

  “Then how did you get the video message to me?” I asked, my eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “Robert agreed to do that one last thing when I told him it would be the only way to avoid violence,” Piper replied.

  But it hadn’t avoided violence. I looked down at Nathan to see that his eyes were struggling to focus.

  He was dying.

  “Why even offer to negotiate, then?” I asked angrily, looking back up at Piper. But Mavis answered for him.

  “We were willing to work with Nathan to avoid any more unnecessary bloodshed, if Nathan was willing to work with us. But perhaps it’s a good thing that he wasn’t. Because you must know yourself, Robin, that the fastest way to entice our investors back will be to show them that our enemy’s leader is no more,” Mavis replied. “Now they have nothing more to fear in terms of attacks upon their capital. We’ll have our army back within a few days.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, but I couldn’t be sure of anything. Were they bluffing? Was Little John actually doomed without Nathan?

  “Now, let’s get this over with. Come on, don’t be stupid like he was,” Mavis sneered.

  I looked between Mavis and Piper and then back to Nathan bleeding out in my arms. What could I do? What option did I have? We were trapped here without our weapons or our comms, and we had no way to communicate with the teams.

  But then, suddenly, Nathan began to speak.

  “How long do you think it has been, Piper,” he began, “since you took those comms from us?”

  Piper looked at Nathan in confusion and contempt. “I don’t know. Ten minutes. Why?”

  Nathan smiled weakly. “Because they’re on strict orders back at the ship,” he replied. “To send all of us sky-high at fifteen minutes of no contact.”

  Piper shot Nathan a wide-eyed look. “You’re bluffing.”

  Nathan shook his head slowly and with great difficulty. “Have you ever known me to bluff?”

  Piper looked up at Mavis with concern, but Mavis looked uninterested.

  “Oh, really, Piper,” she said with motherly condescension. “You don’t think we wouldn’t account for that, do you?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked boldly, trying to avoid putting any unnecessary stress on Nathan by asking the questions for him.

  “You don’t think we prepared for the possibility of a bomb attack after the stunt you pulled back at Preston Industries?” Mavis responded. “No, dear, Nathan won’t be blowing us up. Not today.”

  “We’re not afraid to die,” I replied. I was bluffing, but I thought I was doing a great job of it. “Not if it means taking out all of you.”

  Mavis smiled menacingly. “What if it means taking out her?” she asked.

  And then her plump hands moved to turn a picture frame on her desk around to face me.

  I watched in confusion and fear. The frame showed a small child, probably two years old, with wavy brunette hair and light-colored eyes. She was wearing an expensive-looking dress and sitting posed for the picture with a big, beautiful smile on her face.

  I would’ve known her anywhere.

  Hope. My daughter, my life. The sight of her after all of those days longing for her and missing her, all of those hours I cried for her, all of the steps I had taken to get closer to her, made me gasp while my eyes welled with tears.

  Mavis simply continued to smile.

  “She looks a bit like you, I suppose. An unfortunate fact that I’ll have to try to forget the next time I’m holding her,” she said hatefully. “Are you so in love with Nathan and his cause that you’d be willing to blow her up?”

  “She’s here?” I clarified in fear and anger.

  Mavis nodded cheerfully. “Of course she is, though don’t bother asking me where. Ginny loves coming to work with her mother. She was happy to be here tonight while Mommy worked late.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe you,” I said, as strongly as I could. Mavis was awful, but she couldn’t be that awful. Surely she wouldn’t be willing to put her adopted daughter in so much danger.

  Mavis turned her desktop computer around to face me. In its bottom right corner, there was a small black-and-white video feed. I squinted to see it. It looked like a conference room, complete with a long table and a dozen office chairs. But suddenly, a small figure crouching to the side of the table moved.

  It was a child, playing alone with her toys, blissfully unaware that her adopted mother was gambling with her life.

  Hatred exploded out of me when I realized what Mavis had done.

  “You risked her life to protect your precious regime?” I screamed. “Is she worth so little to you?”

  “I love my daughter, Robin,” Mavis replied, turning her monitor back toward her. “But country comes first. Weren’t you taught anything in your civics classes? Or were even the Sylvones unable to remove the stink of savagery from you?”

  I winced at hearing my old last name.

  “Let’s hope I can do better with Genevieve,” Mavis said coldly, “than they did with you. Let’s hope I can clear away the odor of your relation to her.”

  “Hope,” I repeated. I was delirious with rage and fear and confusion.

  “Oh, yes,” Mavis replied knowingly. “That’s right. That’s the name you gave to her, right? Hope.”

  I began to tremble with emotion in a way that I never had before. My teeth chattered as the electric feel of hatred pulsed through my veins.

  “Well, you got your hope, Robin. Your hope of giving your daughter a brighter future and better chances in life. You should thank me for that,” she went on. “But now we’re just wasting time. Are you going to tell your friends not to blow your daughter up, or what?”

  I closed my eyes, and tears started falling. When I opened my eyes again, I was looking at Nathan, pleading silently with him. His eyes looked listless and dull, and I wondered if he had even heard all of our conversation. Even if he had, he wasn’t giving me any indication about what to do.

  Piper handed me a comm. I could hear voices yelling into it before I even put it on.

  “Come in, Nathan! Come in, Robin! Countdown to detonation in forty-six seconds. Come in, Nathan. Come in, Robin. Countdown to detonation in forty-four—”

  “Robin coming in,” I said over Sy’s voice.

  “Robin!” he shouted back. “So happy to hear your voice. What’s happening? Where is Nathan?”

  I paused. I wasn’t ready to die. But if I had to die, I would’ve wanted to do it bravely and for something I believed in. I would’ve wanted to do it like this. I wanted to scream at Sy to blow the place sky-high, because I knew that detonation was the best chance Little John had. Even if they’d lose Nathan, they’d also wound Burchard’s regime so heavily that I didn’t think it could ever come back.

  But I couldn’t kill my daughter. As selfish and terrible as it might have been, I just couldn’t order Sy to kill us all as long as my daughter’s life was at stake, too. And Mavis knew that.

  They had won.

  “Cancel detonation,” I replied simply as tears spilled down my cheeks and onto my chest. “Do you read me? Cancel detonation.”

  “Robin, what is happening? We need to hear those orders from Nathan.”

  “Cancel detonation!” I yelled in response.

  Piper grabbed the comm back as Sy continued to speak. I didn’t hear what else he said.

  “That should be
enough, don’t you think?” Piper asked Mavis.

  “For now, at least,” she replied. “Never underestimate the determination of parasites.”

  I let go of my emotions in a flood of tears and sobs as I held Nathan. I felt like I had let him down, like I had let the entirety of Little John down. But what could I do? How could they expect me to be loyal to Little John if it meant killing my daughter? I couldn’t do it.

  But I knew that it meant I had just doomed us all.

  “It’s okay,” Nathan said softy, almost imperceptibly. His mouth was dry, and his eyes could barely focus, but apparently he had been conscious enough to listen to our conversation. “It’s okay, Robin.”

  I shook my head. It wasn’t okay. And as long as people like Burchard and Mavis and Piper were in power, it would never be okay.

  But I didn’t have an option.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said to Nathan, through tears, as I held him.

  “You have a good heart, Robin,” he said through his heaving breaths. “I would never ask you to go against that.”

  “Yes, yes, that’s enough of the dramatics,” Mavis interrupted. “He’s right. It will be okay for you if you get over here and sign this statement. Then tomorrow you will read it aloud on the news broadcast. And then we will reward you by simply locking you and your friends up for the rest of your worthless lives as opposed to killing you all. Now get over here and let’s finish this!”

  I looked back down at Nathan, and he gently nodded again. I laid him down softly on the floor and stood.

  Piper kept his gun trained on me as I walked to Mavis’s desk to sign her statement. My legs felt wobbly, and my feet were so heavy that I was worried I might topple over before I even reached her. But soon I was beside her desk and staring down at the photograph of my beautiful daughter beaming in her little dress.

  I was doing this for her, but it still didn’t feel right or just. It felt like the last option that a desperate person had.

  Mavis smiled menacingly at me as I approached and stood beside her desk. Then she pressed a button on her computer, and a sheet of paper began to print behind her.

  “I’ve altered it for you, dear,” she said with her sickening smile.

  She thrust the paper across the desk at me and handed me a heavy pen. I paused while I held the pen in my hand, staring at the false statement through teary eyes.

  “Get on with it!” Mavis suddenly bellowed.

  But then another sound rose out over her. Quick, succinct pops coming from outside.

  Gunfire.

  Mavis looked at Piper, and for the first time I registered distinct and genuine fear in her eyes. She knew someone had arrived, someone unexpected.

  “Well, lock the door, you idiot!” Mavis shrieked at Piper.

  Piper turned to the door just as it flew open. He raised his weapon, and several booming shots rang out. I turned away from the door and instinctively lowered my head, trying to protect myself from the gunfire. I couldn’t see what was happening, but I could hear heavy footsteps, and then someone falling to the ground, and then a pained groan.

  When I finally dared to turn around, I saw Piper rolling on the ground. He had been shot. And that was all I needed to know.

  I turned back to look at Mavis just as she was turning to look at me. With a rush, we both raced to grab the guns on her desk. I grabbed one just as she did, so I ducked immediately to avoid being shot. Mavis ducked, too, taking refuge under her desk.

  I whipped around to look at the door and our saviors.

  “Jace,” I said breathlessly.

  Jace, Zion, and Cloyd were standing at the door, their guns drawn.

  37

  Piper reached for his gun even after hitting the floor. But Zion raced over and kicked it away, and Cloyd grabbed it up from the ground.

  “What are you doing here?” Zion shouted at Piper. “I thought you were dead.”

  Piper placed his hands over the gunshot wound on his thigh and resumed his moaning.

  “Robin!” Jace cried out as he spotted me on the floor.

  “Wait!” I yelled back to stop him from moving closer. “She’s armed. Mavis is armed on the other side of the desk.”

  Cloyd kept his gun trained on the desk while Jace moved toward me and Zion went to assist Nathan.

  “Robin,” Jace breathed as he knelt beside me, “are you hurt? Were you shot?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. But Nathan—”

  “Guys!” Zion shouted. “Nathan was hit at close range. It penetrated his suit. We’ve got to get him back to the ship!”

  Jace grabbed my arm to help me up. Cloyd’s weapon was still aimed squarely at the desk in case Mavis decided to make an appearance with her gun.

  “Come on, Robin,” Jace said. “Let’s go. This whole place is about to blow.”

  I quickly yanked my arm away and spun to face Jace.

  “No,” I replied forcefully.

  Jace looked taken aback. Even Zion and Cloyd turned to look at me.

  “We can’t,” I replied. “It’s Mavis.”

  “Mavis will get what she deserves, Robin!” Zion shouted. “Let’s just leave her here with Piper, since they’re such great friends.”

  “You don’t understand,” I sputtered.

  And then Mavis’s awful voice called out from behind the desk.

  “No, go ahead, Robin. Ginny and I will stay here in the capitol building until the flames envelop us both.”

  The way Mavis had sneered while saying my daughter’s adopted name made it obvious whom she was talking about. Jace quickly looked back at me. “Hope?” he asked in confusion. “She’s here?”

  I nodded, with tears in my eyes.

  “What is it?” Cloyd asked loudly, his weapon still up in the air. “What’s the holdup? Who’s Ginny?”

  Jace kept his eyes on me. I knew that he was thinking the exact same thing I was. Was it right to risk it all for one person, even if that person was an innocent child? And even if that child was someone in your own family? This might’ve been our only chance to end this battle and take the powers that be out of power.

  But I would rather stay behind with Hope and die than leave her to that fate for any reason. And Jace knew that.

  “Can we postpone the detonations?” Jace asked.

  “Jace—” Zion began.

  “We have more to do here!” Jace shouted back.

  “We’ve got to get out of here now!” Cloyd yelled in return. “Before we all die!”

  “It’s my daughter,” I said suddenly. “Mavis brought her here. She’s in this building.”

  Cloyd and Zion looked at me in shock, and I stared back, awaiting their response. But when Zion finally broke the silence and spoke, it wasn’t to me. He was talking into the comm.

  “Can we put a pause on the explosion? We have a rescue mission here,” he said.

  I turned back to Jace and tried to steady my nerves. I was afraid, but I had to be strong for Hope. I had to get her out of here.

  “No use!” Zion shouted back to us. “They already flipped the switch. It’s on a ten-minute timer.”

  I felt my knees go weak. Ten minutes. That was all the time we had to find Hope and escape.

  “Can you find her in less than ten minutes?” Cloyd asked me. “Because otherwise we’re all dead.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. If I couldn’t think logically then we’d all die, including my daughter. Suddenly, I realized what we had to do. And we had to do it quickly. I turned to point my weapon at the desk that Mavis was hiding behind. Jace caught on to my plan and followed my lead, aiming his weapon as well. Behind us, Piper was still moaning and rolling on the ground while clutching his injured leg.

  “Come out, Mavis. Drop your weapon,” I said.

  There was an agonizing moment of silence before Mavis finally answered.

  “I don’t think that’s a very good idea, dear,” Mavis replied in her condescending way. “I think you should all d
rop your weapons if you want Ginny to live.”

  I was shocked by her response. Even someone as malicious as Mavis had to know that this was a serious situation and that a little girl’s life was on the line.

  “This isn’t a game, Mavis!” I shouted back angrily. “This place is going to blow, and if you want our daughter to survive, then you need to comply with our orders!”

  There was silence from behind the desk. Long, quiet seconds ticked by, punctuated only by Piper’s moans and Nathan’s hoarse breaths.

  “Jace, I’ve got to get Nathan back to the airship now, or he’s not going to make it,” Zion said. “He doesn’t have ten minutes.”

  Jace looked at me again as if questioning what he was supposed to do. I realized that they must’ve come in the mini-airship, and that Zion might have medical supplies in the ship to help Nathan until we could get to the medics. But if Zion took Nathan back, that would leave us with one less team member to assist us.

  And Chanley was about to explode.

  “Mavis, please,” I said.

  My voice was shrill and pleading. I didn’t care about Mavis or Piper surviving the explosion. But I cared more about Hope’s life than my own. I wouldn’t leave her alone here, even if that meant dying by her side.

  “You have to take me with you,” Mavis suddenly said. “We both go or neither of us does.”

  I was disgusted by Mavis and her attempt to gamble with Hope’s life. I didn’t want to take Mavis with us anywhere. She had proven herself to be one of the worst people I had ever met, and I hated how she had risked my daughter’s life for her own ends. But we didn’t have any other options. Time was short.

  “All right,” I replied. “Drop your weapon and take us to Hope. And I promise we’ll get you out of here. Just hurry.”

  The gun slid out from the other side of the desk. Then Mavis’s raised hands became visible over its rim, and then her arms and her face as she began to stand. I ran over to retrieve her gun while Jace and Cloyd kept their weapons on her. Mavis moved out from behind the desk, wearing her business best, and walked closer to us with her hands up.