Chapter 15 - The Dark Hallway
Emergency lights filled the corridor with dim red shadows.
Naomi locked Toby’s door.
Elijah pushed a cabinet against it.
“You should take him through the service exit,” he said.
“There is no safe route until security confirms Leonard’s location.”
The intercom clicked again.
“Elijah raised my child with my money.”
Elijah looked toward the ceiling speaker.
“Toby is not property.”
Leonard laughed softly.
“That sounds noble from a man who built a company on stolen research.”
The accusation struck.
Naomi kept her focus on Toby.
His heart rate rose as he woke frightened.
“Dad?”
Elijah knelt beside him.
“I’m here.”
A violent impact hit the door.
The cabinet shifted.
Naomi grabbed an oxygen cylinder and moved Toby’s bed away from the entrance.
Security shouted from the corridor.
Another crash.
The lock bent.
Then silence.
Detective Price called Naomi’s phone.
“Leonard may be using the ventilation maintenance passage.”
Naomi looked up.
A ceiling panel above Toby’s bed moved.
Elijah saw it too.
He pulled Toby’s bed aside just as Leonard dropped into the room.
Leonard held a syringe.
Elijah tackled him before he could stand.
They struck the floor hard.
The syringe rolled beneath the bed.
Leonard hit Elijah across the face.
Naomi pulled Toby behind the equipment cart.
Security forced open the damaged door.
Leonard reached toward the syringe.
Elijah grabbed his wrist.
“You already used my son once.”
Leonard stared at him.
“He was never yours.”
Elijah tightened his grip.
“He is not yours either.”
Security dragged Leonard away.
May you like
But before officers removed him, he smiled at Naomi.
“You still do not know what SN-14 was really made for.”
