Chapter 14 - Midnight at Saint Augustine)
At 11:58 p.m., Saint Augustine Memorial Chapel was dark except for the chandeliers above the central aisle.
The broken white coffin still sat near the altar.
Police had released it after completing forensic examination.
Ava hated seeing it again.
The jagged opening remained.
White fragments still clung to the cracked lid.
Emily stood beside Daniel near the rear entrance.
Margaret waited in a wheelchair.
Federal agents were hidden throughout the building.
Detective Ortiz wore a radio beneath her coat.
Ava stood in the center aisle alone.
The plan was simple.
Jonathan believed Margaret had been brought without police.
He would enter.
Agents would arrest him.
Nothing about the previous week suggested the plan would remain simple.
At midnight, the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Someone shouted.
Emergency lights failed.
Ortiz’s radio filled with static.
Ava heard movement.
Then the chandeliers came back on.
Margaret’s wheelchair was empty.
Emily screamed.
“Grandmother?”
Ava turned.
A man stood beside the coffin.
Gray hair.
Black suit.
Calm eyes.
Jonathan Whitmore.
Elias.
He looked ordinary.
That was the terrifying part.
No scar.
No theatrical cruelty.
Just an older man standing beside the coffin as though arriving for a meeting.
Federal agents raised weapons.
“Hands up.”
Jonathan smiled.
“You should probably check your communications.”
Ortiz’s radio suddenly transmitted multiple emergency alerts.
Fire at County General.
Bomb threat downtown.
Major highway collision.
Every agency unit in the area was being redirected by false commands.
Ortiz shouted, “Ignore them.”
Jonathan looked at Ava.
“You have Samuel’s eyes.”
Ava’s voice shook.
“Where is my father?”
“Alive.”
“I want to see him.”
“You will.”
“Where?”
Jonathan looked toward Emily.
“She caused a considerable problem.”
Daniel stepped in front of his wife.
Jonathan smiled.
“Relax. If I wanted Emily dead, she would be dead.”
Emily stared at him.
“You put me in a coffin.”
“I arranged transportation.”
“You drugged me.”
“Simon did.”
“On your order.”
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked everyone.
Jonathan touched the coffin lid.
“Death is remarkably efficient.”
Emily’s voice hardened.
“My father tried to stop you.”
“Richard became sentimental.”
“You killed him.”
Jonathan looked almost offended.
“No.”
Margaret’s voice came from the balcony.
“You did.”
Everyone looked up.
Margaret stood there.
Not in her wheelchair.
Weak but upright.
An armed man held her arm.
Jonathan looked at his mother.
“You always exaggerate.”
Margaret spat toward him.
“You poisoned your brother.”
“I gave him a choice.”
“He was paralyzed.”
“He could still choose.”
“You murdered him.”
Jonathan sighed.
“Words.”
Ava shouted, “Where is Samuel?”
Jonathan looked back at her.
“Your father has something I need.”
“The registry.”
“Yes.”
“Why hasn’t he given it to you?”
“Because Samuel Brooks is annoyingly principled.”
Ava felt a sudden surge of pride.
“Then you’ll never get it.”
Jonathan smiled.
“I will.”
He looked toward Margaret.
Ava understood.
“You’re going to threaten her.”
“No.”
“Then me.”
“Yes.”
Ava’s stomach turned.
Jonathan continued.
“Samuel was always willing to suffer himself. But children change mathematics.”
Ava stepped closer.
“If you touch me, every agent in this room shoots you.”
Jonathan’s smile remained.
“I’m not planning to touch you.”
He looked upward.
The armed man beside Margaret raised his weapon.
Daniel moved.
Ava screamed.
But the weapon was not pointed at Margaret.
It was pointed toward Emily.
Jonathan said, “Samuel watches remotely.”
Ava froze.
“Tell him where the registry is.”
“I don’t know.”
“Convince him.”
“How?”
Jonathan removed a small camera from his pocket.
He placed it on the coffin.
A red light appeared.
“Speak.”
Ava stared into the camera.
Somewhere, her father might be watching.
“Dad.”
Her voice broke.
“I don’t know if you can hear me.”
Jonathan waited.
Ava continued.
“I spent twenty-two years believing you were dead.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I was angry at you for leaving.”
Jonathan’s expression remained calm.
“I don’t care where the registry is.”
Jonathan frowned slightly.
“I care that you stayed alive.”
She looked directly into the lens.
“So if you can hear me, don’t give him anything.”
Jonathan’s smile disappeared.
Ava continued.
“Whatever happens here, finish what you started.”
The chapel stayed silent.
Then Jonathan’s phone vibrated.
He looked at it.
His face changed.
For the first time, Ava saw fear.
“What?” Emily asked.
Jonathan looked toward the entrance.
Sirens appeared outside.
Not police.
News vehicles.
Dozens.
Phones across the chapel began vibrating.
A file had been uploaded online.
A massive document archive.
Names.
Medical records.
Death certificates.
Transfer logs.
Photographs.
Bank payments.
Meridian.
The registry.
Samuel had released everything.
Jonathan stared at Ava.
“You told him.”
Ava shook her head.
“No.”
Jonathan looked at the camera.
On the speaker, a man’s voice suddenly came through.
Older.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
“Hello, Jonathan.”
Ava covered her mouth.
“Dad?”
Samuel laughed softly.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Ava began crying.
Jonathan grabbed the camera.
“Where are you?”
Samuel ignored him.
“Ava, listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Dad.”
“I wanted to come home every day.”
Jonathan smashed the camera.
The connection cut.
Agents moved.
Jonathan reached inside his coat.
Gunfire exploded.
Daniel pulled Emily behind the coffin.
Ortiz fired toward the balcony guard.
The man dropped his weapon.
Margaret fell but was caught by an agent.
Jonathan ran toward the side corridor.
Ava chased him.
Ortiz shouted for her to stop.
She did not.
Jonathan reached the loading hallway.
The same place he had threatened Ava days earlier.
She caught him near the emergency door.
He turned.
A pistol in his hand.
Ava stopped.
Jonathan pointed it at her.
“You should have stayed home.”
Ava stared at him.
“My father didn’t.”
“No.”
“And Richard didn’t.”
“No.”
“And Emily didn’t.”
Jonathan smiled faintly.
“Look what happened to them.”
Ava looked behind him.
“You forgot someone.”
Jonathan frowned.
Martin Hale stepped from the darkness.
He swung the steel hammer.
The weapon struck Jonathan’s wrist.
The pistol fell.
Ortiz and two agents rushed in.
Jonathan was forced to the floor.
Handcuffs closed around his wrists.
For the first time in thirty-one years, Jonathan Whitmore had nowhere to disappear.
As agents pulled him upright, he looked at Ava.
“You think this ends because you found me?”
Ava said nothing.
Jonathan smiled.
“Meridian existed before Richard knew about it.”
Ortiz shoved him toward the exit.
May you like
He laughed.
“And it will exist after I’m dead.”
