Chapter 13 - THE RIVER TOOK EVERYTHING
Cold water slammed Evelyn against the tunnel wall.
She refused to release Eleanor.
They were swept toward a broken drainage gate.
Evelyn grabbed an iron ladder.
Her fingers nearly slipped.
“Hold on!” she shouted.
Eleanor could barely respond.
Nathaniel appeared above them.
He reached down through the flooded passage.
“Give her to me!”
Evelyn pushed Eleanor upward.
Nathaniel and two officers pulled her onto the platform.
Then they lifted Evelyn out.
The tunnel collapsed seconds later.
A wall of water buried the passage behind them.
Nathaniel looked toward the sealed vault.
“Where is Julian?”
“Trapped inside.”
“Is there another exit?”
“Eleanor said there was.”
Police divers entered the river downstream.
Fire crews searched the ruined theater.
By sunrise, they found Julian’s jacket caught on a metal grate.
His body was not found.
Eleanor was rushed into emergency surgery.
Evelyn sat beside Lily in the hospital waiting room.
Lily climbed into her lap.
“Is the mean man gone?”
Evelyn stroked her hair.
“I don’t know.”
“Did he steal Grandma’s key?”
“Yes.”
“Can we get it back?”
Evelyn looked down at the empty chain around Lily’s neck.
“We will.”
Nathaniel entered the room.
His face was exhausted.
“The upload completed.”
“Where did it go?”
“To six federal agencies.”
“Three major newspapers.”
“And every member of the Ashford Foundation’s board.”
Evelyn exhaled slowly.
“The truth is out.”
“Most of it.”
Nathaniel sat across from her.
“Box seventeen is missing.”
“Julian took it.”
“That box held the physical evidence connecting him to your father’s death.”
“Without it, we have Margaret’s recording and Julian’s words inside the vault.”
“Is that enough?”
“It may be.”
Evelyn studied him.
“What happens to you?”
Nathaniel did not look away.
“I confessed to internal affairs.”
“I will be charged.”
Lily looked at him.
“Are you going to jail?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Probably.”
“Because you did something bad?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you help us?”
Nathaniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I should have helped your grandmother a long time ago.”
A doctor entered.
“Ms. Vale?”
Evelyn stood.
“How is Eleanor?”
“She survived the surgery.”
“But she is asking to speak with you.”
Evelyn entered Eleanor’s room alone.
Eleanor looked smaller beneath the white hospital blankets.
“You saved me twice,” she whispered.
“Do not make me regret it.”
Eleanor almost smiled.
“There is something Julian never knew.”
“What?”
“Your father left another recording.”
“Where?”
Eleanor looked toward the door.
“Inside Lily’s stuffed rabbit.”
Evelyn froze.
The rabbit was no longer in Lily’s hands.
A nurse had removed it while changing the child’s blanket.
Evelyn rushed back into the waiting room.
Lily was standing beside an empty chair.
“Where is your rabbit?”
“A man said he was going to clean it.”
“What man?”
May you like
Lily pointed toward the closing elevator.
“He had a bandage on his shoulder.”
