Chapter 12 - THE TRUTH BENEATH THE FLOOR
Natalie entered through the kitchen.
Shaw stood beside the pantry holding a pistol against Andrew’s head.
Andrew was on his knees. He wore hospital clothes beneath a borrowed coat. Blood had soaked through the bandage near his shoulder.
The floorboards had been torn apart.
Several metal boxes lay open.
Empty.
Shaw saw Natalie.
“You should be at the lake.”
“You should release him.”
“Lower your weapon.”
Natalie kept it aimed.
Rachel entered behind her.
Shaw laughed.
“The family reunion.”
Andrew looked past them.
“Where’s Ashley?”
“She’s safe,” Natalie said.
“Where?”
“In the car with Mason.”
Andrew’s shoulders loosened slightly.
Shaw pressed the gun harder against his temple.
“The records, Carter.”
“I don’t have them.”
“You buried something here.”
“Letters. Photographs. Nothing useful to you.”
Shaw kicked one box.
Papers scattered across the floor.
Pictures of Ashley at different ages.
Medical documents.
School drawings.
Every threatening message Andrew had received.
Natalie saw dozens.
He had been hunted for years.
Shaw saw her looking.
“He enjoyed playing the victim.”
Andrew’s voice was weak but steady.
“You sent those?”
“Some.”
“The dead bird?”
“Voss had dramatic instincts.”
“You watched her school?”
“Malcolm needed confirmation.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
Shaw smiled.
“Tell me where the Hartley archive is, or I’ll let Malcolm finish the trial with Ashley.”
Rachel raised her weapon.
“You no longer have Malcolm.”
“That remains to be seen.”
A patrol car engine started outside.
Natalie looked toward the window.
The vehicle holding Malcolm accelerated across the yard.
Mason shouted.
The cruiser crashed through the fence and disappeared down the road.
“How did he get free?” Natalie demanded through her radio.
Mason’s answer came through static.
“He had a key inside his sleeve. He took Officer Dane’s weapon.”
Shaw’s smile widened.
“He always plans an exit.”
Andrew suddenly drove his shoulder into Shaw’s legs.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the wall.
Natalie moved forward.
Shaw hit Andrew across the head and aimed at Rachel.
Rachel fired first.
Her bullet struck Shaw’s thigh.
He collapsed but kept hold of the weapon.
Andrew grabbed his wrist.
They struggled across the floor.
Shaw slammed Andrew’s injured arm against the wall.
Andrew cried out.
Natalie kicked the gun away and handcuffed Shaw.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Ashley ran into the house.
Mason followed, calling her name.
She saw Andrew on the floor.
“Daddy!”
Andrew turned.
Ashley threw herself against him.
Pain crossed his face, but he wrapped his uninjured arm around her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“You came back.”
“I promised.”
“You got hurt.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t race the rain anymore.”
Andrew almost laughed.
“No. Probably not.”
Ashley touched his face.
“The bad man said you stole me.”
Andrew looked toward Rachel.
The moment he had feared for twelve years had arrived.
“Ashley…”
“Is she my mommy?”
Andrew nodded.
“Yes.”
“Are you my daddy?”
His eyes filled.
“I’m not the man who gave you your blood.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Andrew looked at her.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m your daddy.”
Ashley hugged him again.
“Then stop saying sorry.”
Rachel turned away, hiding tears.
Natalie searched Shaw.
Inside his coat was a phone containing messages between him, Malcolm, and several unknown numbers.
One message had been sent only minutes earlier.
VALE RECOVERED. MOVE TO PHASE TWO.
Natalie looked outside.
Malcolm had escaped.
But Shaw was in custody.
The underground facility had been exposed.
Hartley’s surviving records might still exist.
And Andrew was alive.
It should have felt like victory.
Then Natalie noticed a loose floorboard near the pantry.
Not the one Shaw had opened.
A different one.
She lifted it.
Beneath was a sealed black envelope addressed to her.
OFFICER NATALIE BROOKS.
Andrew stared at it.
“I didn’t put that there.”
Natalie opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph taken that night at the hospital.
It showed Natalie standing beside Andrew’s bed.
On the back was a message.
YOU FOUND THE WRONG MONSTER.
May you like
Below it was the name of someone Natalie had trusted for years.
MASON REED.
