Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN ON THE SHIP
Rachel reached Lily before she hit the ground completely.
Blood stained the blue sweater beneath her coat.
“Lily!”
The child gasped.
“My arm.”
The bullet had passed through the soft tissue of her upper arm. She was conscious.
Police vehicles roared through the fog.
Vanessa fired toward them and ran for the pier’s edge, where a speedboat waited below.
Charles remained frozen beside the SUV.
Rachel pressed her hand against Lily’s wound.
“Stay with me.”
“I remembered the car,” Lily whispered.
“You did perfectly.”
Vanessa reached the ladder, but Charles grabbed her coat.
“Stop this.”
She struck him with the gun.
“You were supposed to hold her!”
“I won’t let you shoot another child.”
Vanessa aimed at him.
A second shot rang out.
Charles collapsed.
But Vanessa had not fired.
The shot came from the cargo ship.
A man stood behind the deck railing holding a rifle.
Victor Hale.
The bullet had struck Charles in the chest.
Vanessa stared at Victor.
“Why did you shoot him?”
“Because he failed.”
Police opened fire toward the ship, forcing Victor behind cover.
Vanessa jumped into the speedboat.
Before she could start the engine, the woman in the green scarf appeared behind her.
Caroline seized Vanessa’s wrist.
The two sisters struggled.
Rachel watched from the pier as the scarf fell away.
It was not Caroline.
The woman had similar hair and build, but her face was unfamiliar.
A decoy.
Vanessa shoved her into the water and started the boat.
Detective Reed reached the pier and fired at the engine. The speedboat veered sideways, struck a wooden support, and began taking on water.
Vanessa climbed onto the pier ladder again.
Reed arrested her before she reached the top.
“Where is Caroline?” Rachel shouted.
Vanessa laughed breathlessly.
“You still think this is about Caroline?”
The cargo ship’s engines roared.
Police boats moved to intercept, but a wall of smoke spread across the harbor. Victor’s ship disappeared into the fog.
Paramedics treated Lily and Charles.
Charles remained conscious despite the bullet wound.
Rachel knelt beside him.
“Where is my sister?”
His lips were pale.
“I tried to stop Victor.”
“You helped him for years.”
“I was afraid.”
“Children were hurt because you were afraid.”
He looked toward Lily.
“I know.”
“Tell me where Caroline is.”
Charles gripped Rachel’s sleeve.
“She escaped the lighthouse.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was the woman on the ship?”
“An actress. Victor used her before.”
“Why?”
“To make people believe Caroline was alive.”
Rachel’s blood turned cold.
“Is she dead?”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because Victor never showed me a body.”
“What did you see?”
“Her necklace in his office. Blood on Vanessa’s coat. Nothing else.”
Paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher.
Charles grabbed Rachel again.
“The key in the rabbit doesn’t open the ledger.”
“What does it open?”
“A safe-deposit vault registered under Daniel’s name.”
“Where?”
His grip weakened.
“Ask the man with the black ring.”
Victor.
Rachel looked toward the fog where the cargo ship had vanished.
May you like
Charles whispered one final sentence before losing consciousness.
“Victor isn’t the Director.”
