CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST ESCAPE
CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST ESCAPE
By the time I reached the dock, Julian’s boat was already fifty yards from shore.
He had abandoned the shotgun.
One hand controlled the wheel while the other held a small black device.
The moonlight flashed across the lake.
Wells came running behind me.
“Marine unit is moving.”
“He has something in his hand.”
“Phone?”
“No.”
The black device had an antenna.
A remote trigger.
I looked back at the cabin.
“Maya said Kerr hid a drive inside.”
Wells understood immediately.
“Bomb?”
“Or fire.”
He shouted into his radio.
“Evacuate the cabin! Explosive threat!”
Officers carried Maya outside.
Two others moved toward the trees.
Julian lifted the remote.
His voice came across the lake.
“You should have let me go!”
Then he pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again.
Still nothing.
Wells gave a cold smile.
“Signal jammer.”
Julian stared at the remote.
His boat struck a patch of shallow water near the old rock line.
The engine jerked.
He nearly fell.
A police boat approached from the southern shore.
Another cut across from the east.
Julian had nowhere to go.
Then he turned directly toward the dam channel.
“That current is too strong,” I said.
“He doesn’t care.”
The channel narrowed between two concrete walls.
Beyond it, water dropped through the spillway.
If he entered too fast, the boat would flip.
Wells spoke into the radio.
“Block the channel.”
The police boat accelerated.
Julian looked back.
For one moment, our eyes met across the dark water.
Then he threw the remote aside and pushed the engine harder.
His boat raced toward the channel.
The marine unit moved into position.
Julian swerved.
The hull struck the concrete wall.
The boat spun violently.
Julian flew into the water.
The current pulled him toward the spillway.
He surfaced once.
“Help!”
The word echoed across the lake.
The police boat turned.
One officer reached toward him with a rescue pole.
Julian grabbed it.
For a second, I thought they had him.
Then he looked at the officers.
He saw handcuffs waiting.
He let go.
The current pulled him backward.
“Julian!” I shouted.
He disappeared beneath the water.
The marine unit searched for twenty-three minutes.
They found him clinging to a maintenance ladder beneath the spillway.
He had not chosen death.
Only another attempt to escape consequence.
When officers dragged him onto the platform, he was coughing, bleeding, and furious.
He looked at me.
“You should have let me drown.”
“No,” I said.
“You don’t get to escape that easily.”
He was taken away under armed guard.
At the cabin, the bomb unit found no explosives.
Instead, Kerr had installed an automated ignition system beneath Dad’s old study shelves.
The remote would have started a fire hot enough to destroy everything hidden behind the wall.
The signal jammer had saved the evidence.
Maya sat inside an ambulance while paramedics treated her.
Her toxicology screen showed a high dose of sedative, but she would recover.
I stood beside her.
“You said your father hid a drive.”
She nodded toward the cabin.
“Behind the fishing photo.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because I want him to stop.”
“Did you know what he was doing?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years ago.”
“How?”
“I found a file on his computer.”
“What kind of file?”
“Videos.”
My stomach tightened.
“Of his patients?”
“Of their families.”
Maya looked toward the lake.
“He recorded every meeting. Every payment. Every threat.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Against the people who hired him.
The same tactic he had used against Julian.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
“Did you copy them?”
She nodded.
“That’s the drive.”
Wells joined us.
“We found the compartment.”
Inside the cabin, the fishing photograph had been removed from the wall.
Behind it was a small black safe.
Maya gave Wells the code.
The safe contained three encrypted drives, six passports, stacks of cash, and a list of names.
Doctors.
Guardians.
Lawyers.
Bank employees.
Nursing home administrators.
Even a county probate clerk.
Kerr’s network was larger than Julian had claimed.
Wells stared at the list.
“This could take down half the elder exploitation system in three counties.”
I looked at Maya.
“Does your father have another copy?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
She looked at me.
“Chloe.”
I thought I had misheard.
“Chloe?”
“My father gave her a drive months ago.”
“Why?”
“He thought Julian might betray him.”
“Where did she hide it?”
Maya shook her head.
“I only heard them arguing about it.”
At the county hospital, Chloe was under guard.
She had spent years helping Julian abuse Mom.
She had also turned against Kerr.
Now she held evidence that could destroy the entire network.
When I entered her room, she looked at me without surprise.
“You found Maya.”
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“Good.”
“Where is Kerr’s backup drive?”
Her eyes opened again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maya heard him give it to you.”
Chloe stared at the wall.
“You’re still lying,” I said.
“I’m protecting myself.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone on that drive.”
“Those people tried to murder my mother.”
“They’ll murder me too.”
“You helped them.”
“I know.”
“Then testify.”
Her laugh was empty.
“You think prison will protect me?”
“It can.”
“No.”
She turned toward me.
“Not from judges. Not from doctors. Not from people who can change medication orders with one phone call.”
Her fear was real.
That made it more dangerous.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Immunity.”
“You assaulted my mother.”
“Then no deal.”
“You need the drive.”
“I’ll find it.”
“You won’t.”
“Where is it?”
She studied me for several seconds.
Then she said, “Inside the one place Julian would never search.”
May you like
“Where?”
“Your mother’s coat.”
