CHAPTER 10 — THE CHOICE
CHAPTER 10 — THE CHOICE
Audrey ran into the main lobby.
“Clara!”
Customers crowded toward the exits.
Smoke filled the ceiling, but there were no flames.
A smoke device had been thrown into a trash bin.
Elena pointed toward the rear service corridor.
“The security door is open.”
They found Clara’s cream shawl near the loading area.
Her phone lay beside it.
The screen displayed a new message.
Bring the recorder to Greyford Bridge. Come alone.
Audrey’s heart pounded.
Elena grabbed her arm.
“You are not going alone.”
“He has Clara.”
“He wants the evidence.”
Audrey looked at the police.
“If he sees them, he might hurt her.”
Elena took the recorder.
“We give him a copy.”
“There isn’t time.”
“Yes, there is.”
While detectives coordinated roadblocks, Audrey called Julian.
He answered immediately.
“I read Sienna’s letter,” she said.
Silence.
Then a broken breath.
“I’m sorry.”
“George took your mother.”
Julian’s voice changed.
“Where?”
“Greyford Bridge.”
“I’m coming.”
“No. Listen to me.”
“Audrey—”
“He has spent three years controlling you. Don’t let him do it again.”
Julian gripped the phone.
“What do you need?”
“Go to the old Westbridge office. Find the original project server. Elena thinks the forged approvals may still exist there.”
“What about Mom?”
“I’ll bring her home.”
Audrey ended the call before he could argue.
Greyford Bridge stretched across a deep river gorge thirty miles outside Richmond.
The unfinished maintenance lane was closed to traffic.
Audrey arrived just before sunset.
George stood near the center barrier.
Clara sat inside his SUV with her hands bound in front of her.
She was frightened but conscious.
George held out his hand.
“The recorder.”
Audrey raised it.
“Release her first.”
“You sound like Sienna.”
“Good.”
His expression darkened.
“She also thought she was brave.”
“You murdered her because she discovered you were stealing.”
“I protected thousands of jobs.”
“You protected yourself.”
George stepped closer.
“Give me the recorder.”
Audrey looked past him at Clara.
Clara slowly shook her head.
Do not do it.
George saw.
He opened the SUV door and pulled Clara out.
“Last chance.”
Audrey held up the recorder.
Then threw it over the bridge railing.
George turned instinctively.
Clara drove her shoulder into him and broke free.
Audrey ran toward her.
But George had already drawn a knife.
He grabbed Clara by the arm.
“You should have stayed silent,” he hissed.
A voice sounded behind him.
“She stayed silent for thirty years.”
Richard stood at the end of the maintenance lane.
May you like
And in his hand—
He held the missing ledger.
