Chapter 13 - THE BRIDGE IN THE STORM
A traffic camera captured Theodore’s ambulance heading north.
Toward the bridge.
Rain covered the highway, reducing visibility to a few yards. Nathaniel drove while Amelia tracked the ambulance through Blackwood satellite feeds.
Victor sat in the rear seat with a weapon.
“You remain the last person I trust,” Nathaniel said.
Victor checked the magazine.
“I am wounded.”
“That does not improve your character.”
The ambulance signal disappeared twelve miles from the bridge.
Amelia enlarged the map.
“They changed vehicles.”
Victor leaned forward.
“There is an abandoned maintenance road here.”
Nathaniel took the exit.
They found the ambulance empty beneath an overpass.
The nurse and driver were alive but sedated.
A black van had left tire tracks leading toward the gorge.
Amelia followed in Nathaniel’s vehicle.
Lightning flashed.
At the bridge, construction barriers blocked the road.
A section of railing had been removed.
Theodore stood near the edge with his hands bound.
A masked man held him.
Cassandra and Julian were also there.
Cassandra’s injured arm was strapped against her chest. Julian held her upright.
Samuel Kane stood near a maintenance truck, aiming a rifle at the masked man.
He was older than his photographs, with silver hair and a scar across his throat.
“Let Theodore go,” Samuel ordered.
The masked man laughed.
“You spent twenty years hiding and still arrived too late.”
Amelia stepped from the vehicle.
“Gabriel.”
The masked figure turned.
Slowly, he removed the mask.
Chaplain Gabriel Rowe’s face appeared beneath it.
He looked almost exactly as Amelia remembered from the wedding.
Calm eyes.
Gentle expression.
No visible anger.
“You always were perceptive,” Gabriel said.
“Are you Sebastian Hart?”
Theodore closed his eyes.
Gabriel smiled.
“That name belonged to a frightened child.”
“So it is true.”
“Truth is a word powerful families use when they finish editing history.”
Nathaniel moved to Amelia’s side.
Gabriel looked at him.
“Your father told you to watch her, but you fell in love. An unfortunate weakness.”
“You arranged our meeting,” Nathaniel said.
“I arranged proximity. You created the sentiment.”
“Why?”
“To unite the Hart and Blackwood inheritances.”
Amelia felt the meaning settle.
“Our marriage was part of your plan.”
“The trust required both bloodlines.”
“What trust?”
“The original Orpheus charter.”
Victor swore quietly.
Gabriel continued.
“Your grandfather and Nathaniel’s grandfather built Orpheus together. They created a succession structure ensuring control passed only when Hart logistics and Blackwood weapons were reunited through marriage.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“You wanted our companies combined.”
“I wanted what was promised to me.”
Theodore struggled against the restraints.
“You were never promised anything.”
Gabriel struck him across the face.
Amelia stepped forward.
Samuel raised a hand.
“Do not.”
Gabriel looked at Amelia.
“Your father abandoned me in an institution where children disappeared. Then he inherited everything.”
“You burned the house.”
“I was seven.”
“You killed the nanny.”
Gabriel’s eyes changed.
“She locked me in the room.”
Theodore spoke through blood.
“Eleanor died trying to save you.”
“She died saving you.”
Gabriel pulled Theodore closer to the broken railing.
“This bridge carries an elegant history. Cassandra’s inspection approval weakened the barriers. Julian’s signature protected the liability. Theodore’s car was meant to cross it alone.”
Cassandra stared at him.
“You told me the report was only leverage.”
“You believed what served you.”
Julian released Cassandra as though touching her had become unbearable.
“You planned Theodore’s crash.”
Gabriel smiled.
“The first attempt failed. Tonight will not.”
Amelia looked at her father.
“You caused the accident that killed my mother.”
“No,” Gabriel said.
“Then who did?”
“Ask Samuel.”
Everyone turned.
Samuel’s rifle remained aimed at Gabriel.
But his face had changed.
Theodore whispered, “Samuel.”
Amelia looked at him.
“What did you do?”
Samuel’s voice was rough.
“Helen asked me to sabotage the plane.”
The words struck like a physical blow.
Amelia could not breathe.
Samuel continued quickly.
“She discovered a bomb had already been placed aboard. There was no time to remove it. She ordered me to damage the fuel system so the pilot would abort takeoff.”
“But the plane took off,” Amelia said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“The pilot received a false clearance report.”
“From whom?”
Samuel looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel laughed.
“Not me.”
“Then who?” Amelia shouted.
Theodore stared at the wet roadway.
“Adrian Vale.”
Cassandra went still.
“My father?”
“He certified the plane,” Samuel said. “Whether knowingly or under threat, I never learned.”
Cassandra shook her head.
“No.”
Gabriel looked pleased.
“The dead are so useful. They cannot defend themselves.”
Lightning illuminated the bridge.
A truck engine started behind them.
The unmanned maintenance truck began rolling toward Theodore.
Gabriel had activated it remotely.
Nathaniel fired at the front tire.
The truck swerved but continued.
Amelia ran toward her father.
Gabriel pulled Theodore over the broken railing.
Amelia caught Theodore’s arm.
Nathaniel seized Amelia’s belt.
For several seconds, all three hung against the force of rain and gravity.
Samuel fired.
Gabriel’s weapon fell into the gorge.
Victor tackled him.
Julian rushed forward and helped Nathaniel pull Amelia and Theodore back onto the bridge.
The truck struck the remaining railing and plunged into the river below.
Gabriel fought Victor with startling strength.
Cassandra picked up the fallen gun.
She aimed it at Gabriel.
“You used me.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You were easy to use.”
Her finger tightened on the trigger.
Julian stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Cassandra stared at him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“He destroyed everything.”
“You helped him.”
The truth broke something inside her.
Cassandra lowered the gun slightly.
Gabriel seized Victor’s knife and slashed Cassandra’s side.
Julian caught her as she fell.
Samuel fired again.
The bullet struck Gabriel’s shoulder.
He staggered toward the edge.
Amelia moved to stop him.
Gabriel looked at her with Theodore’s eyes.
“This is not the end,” he said.
Then he stepped backward into the gorge.
Amelia reached the railing.
The river raged below.
No body surfaced.
Behind her, Theodore collapsed.
His pulse was weak.
As Nathaniel called for medical evacuation, Theodore gripped Amelia’s sleeve.
“The funeral,” he whispered.
“What funeral?”
“Mine.”
“You are not dying.”
“They need to believe I did.”
Amelia stared at him.
May you like
Theodore forced out the final words before losing consciousness.
“It is the only way to make the trustee appear.”
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