Chapter 12 - THE SECOND SET OF FOOTSTEPS
Ella and Sophie entered a side passage seconds before Adrian reached the bottom of the stairs.
Through a crack in the stone, Ella saw him sweep the main tunnel with his flashlight.
A man followed him.
Older.
Broad-shouldered.
Gray hair.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Michael Cole.
Adrian’s missing father.
Michael carried a handgun.
“You should not have called her name,” he said.
“I wanted her to know it was me,” Adrian replied.
“You don’t know whether she trusts you.”
“She shouldn’t.”
Ella watched Adrian carefully.
Michael moved toward the tunnel exit.
“The ledger is open. Charles will send Rourke.”
“Rourke turned against him.”
“Rourke turns toward whoever keeps him alive.”
Adrian looked at his father.
“You knew Daniel was poisoned.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Evelyn tried to save him.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe she killed him.”
“I needed you to remain angry enough to keep investigating.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“You manipulated me for seven years.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You think Charles Donovan invented manipulation?”
Sophie touched Ella’s arm and pointed toward a ladder leading upward.
Ella remained.
She needed to hear more.
Adrian said, “Who placed Ella with the Donovans?”
Michael’s expression changed.
“You read the Project Heir files?”
“I saw the encrypted title.”
“Then forget it.”
“My father vanished for seven years and returned to tell me the police are compromised. I’m done forgetting.”
Michael lowered his voice.
“Ella is evidence of a program powerful people will kill to protect.”
“Who is her biological father?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I transported the infant from Evelyn’s clinic. I never knew the parents.”
Ella covered her mouth.
Michael had carried her into the Donovan family.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Why Vivian?”
“She had lost a child during delivery.”
Ella felt the tunnel tilt around her.
“Charles agreed to a replacement. Vivian woke believing the baby was hers.”
“Did she ever discover the truth?”
“Years later.”
“Why keep Ella?”
Michael looked toward the hidden passage.
“Because Vivian loved her.”
Ella closed her eyes.
Sophie squeezed her hand.
Adrian continued.
“And Charles?”
“Charles learned that Ella’s biological father held something valuable. He believed raising her would provide leverage.”
“What kind of leverage?”
“The kind that can select governors, judges, presidents.”
A radio crackled on Adrian’s belt.
An agent’s voice reported that Charles and Mark had been detained near the greenhouse.
Michael listened.
“They’re following the script,” he said.
“What script?”
“Charles arranged his own arrest.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Why?”
“To enter federal custody before Rourke could kill him.”
“He expects release.”
“He expects extraction.”
“By whom?”
Michael looked toward the lake exit.
“The people above him.”
A shot echoed from the tunnel entrance.
Stone shattered near Adrian.
Michael returned fire.
Thomas Rourke appeared behind the staircase.
Adrian dragged his father behind cover.
Sophie pulled Ella toward the ladder.
They climbed.
The hatch opened inside the boathouse.
The false hostage room stood nearby. A chair, ropes, camera, and portable screen had been arranged to create the live video.
Ella placed the ledger inside an emergency flotation compartment beneath the floor.
Sophie watched.
“You’re leaving it?”
“I’m hiding the original.”
“What will you give the police?”
“Photographs.”
“That may not be enough.”
“It will be enough to keep Charles afraid.”
Gunfire continued beneath them.
The boathouse door opened.
Mark entered.
His tuxedo was torn. Blood ran from his forehead. He still held the handgun from the greenhouse.
Sophie stepped in front of Ella.
Mark smiled.
“There you are.”
“How did you escape the police?” Ella asked.
“They arrested who Dad wanted arrested.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means not every man wearing a badge came here for him.”
Mark aimed the gun.
“You should have stayed forgotten.”
Ella held up Daniel’s phone.
“I know you followed him to Briar Ridge.”
“I did more than follow him.”
Sophie whispered, “Mark, don’t.”
He laughed.
“You still think you can save people.”
“You killed Daniel,” Ella said.
Mark’s smile faded.
“No.”
“Rourke struck his car.”
“Rourke was driving.”
“You were beside him.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Daniel go over the ridge.”
“Yes.”
“Then you let him die.”
“No.”
Mark’s eyes moved toward the tunnel hatch.
“Daniel was already dead before the crash.”
Ella thought of the poison.
“He was conscious.”
“His body was alive. The brother we knew was gone.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mark tightened his grip.
“He joined them.”
“Who?”
“The people who created you.”
Ella stared at him.
“Daniel discovered who my biological father was.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Mark opened his mouth.
A gunshot cracked through the boathouse.
Mark’s weapon fell.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
He collapsed.
Thomas Rourke stood in the tunnel hatch, smoke rising from his gun.
“Move,” he told Ella.
Sophie backed away.
Rourke climbed into the boathouse.
Mark groaned on the floor.
Ella faced Rourke.
“Why save us?”
“I didn’t.”
May you like
He raised the gun toward Sophie.
“She’s the reason Daniel died.”
