PART 40: TEN MINUTES<\/p>\n
Isabella stared through the vault glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cErnesto died at the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I gave him the same medication Dr. Keller used fifteen years ago. It slowed his heartbeat until the monitor could no longer detect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside the vault, Keller backed away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re weak, Ernesto.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sofia pressed another control.<\/p>\n
Speakers activated throughout the estate.<\/p>\n
Every word inside the vault was now being transmitted to the police, the media, and federal investigators.<\/p>\n
Clara had arranged the broadcast before we arrived.<\/p>\n
Keller looked directly into the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernesto lifted the black ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the decoy. But you brought us to the real evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keller\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
Shelves surrounding him contained proof of illegal experiments, identity theft, bribery, and murder.<\/p>\n
But evidence was not enough.<\/p>\n
Ernesto needed a confession.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou poisoned me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena poured the champagne.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ordered her to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe made her choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stole her children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave them purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou murdered Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keller laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSofia is standing outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernesto stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat woman isn\u2019t Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isabella turned toward the young woman beside the controls.<\/p>\n
Her smile vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The young woman slowly removed the necklace around her throat.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was a surgical scar.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Lily Keller.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keller struck the glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe quiet!\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily was Dr. Keller\u2019s youngest daughter.<\/p>\n
Sofia had died thirteen years earlier, exactly as Isabella\u2019s message claimed.<\/p>\n
Keller had surgically altered Lily\u2019s face and trained her to imitate Sofia, planning to use her whenever Isabella stopped obeying.<\/p>\n
But Lily had secretly contacted Clara and agreed to help trap him.<\/p>\n
Isabella covered her mouth as grief overtook her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter is really gone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside the vault, Keller grabbed Ernesto by the throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou destroyed everything!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernesto drove his shoulder into him.<\/p>\n
Both men crashed into the shelves.<\/p>\n
Files scattered across the floor.<\/p>\n
The timer showed six minutes.<\/p>\n
The real Victoria reached for the red button.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must destroy the vault before Keller finds the escape tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a tunnel?\u201d Julian asked.<\/p>\n
Victoria pointed toward the rear wall.<\/p>\n
Keller was already pulling aside a metal cabinet.<\/p>\n
Behind it stood a narrow door.<\/p>\n
Clara fired at the lock through a small access opening, but missed.<\/p>\n
Keller dragged Ernesto toward the tunnel.<\/p>\n
Then Isabella seized the gun from the floor and aimed through the opening.<\/p>\n
One shot.<\/p>\n
Keller collapsed.<\/p>\n
Ernesto pulled himself free.<\/p>\n
But the timer continued.<\/p>\n
Three minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we stop the explosion?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Victoria looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe detonator recognizes only Keller\u2019s heartbeat. It stops if he leaves the vault alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
We looked through the glass.<\/p>\n
Keller was bleeding heavily but still breathing.<\/p>\n
Ernesto tried to lift him.<\/p>\n
Keller laughed weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you save me, I disappear again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernesto dragged him toward the door anyway.<\/p>\n
The vault unlocked when Keller\u2019s hand touched the scanner.<\/p>\n
Police stormed inside and pulled both men out.<\/p>\n
The countdown stopped at four seconds.<\/p>\n
Keller was handcuffed.<\/p>\n
The evidence was secured.<\/p>\n
For the first time, it truly seemed finished.<\/p>\n
Then the real Victoria looked at Ernesto.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernesto went still.<\/p>\n
Victoria\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeller may have built the experiment\u2014but you funded it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned toward Ernesto.<\/p>\n
He lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n
And in that moment, we understood.<\/p>\n
The man we had crossed death to save had never been an innocent victim.<\/p>\n
He had been Keller\u2019s first partner.<\/p>\n
PART 40: TEN MINUTES Isabella stared through the vault glass. \u201cErnesto died at the hospital.\u201d Patricia shook her head. \u201cNo. I gave him the same medication Dr. Keller used fifteen … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3871,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867\/revisions\/3871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}