Chapter 14 - What Elaine Didn’t Know
The agents would not send Nora onto the pier.
She argued.
They refused.
Then one of them asked what Elaine meant about Ben owing her something.
Nora looked toward her brother.
He was standing beside Patricia.
For a moment, he looked like the boy who used to hide broken dishes at the bottom of the trash.
“The account’s recovery file,” he said.
Adrian turned.
“You said you didn’t have it.”
“I lied.”
Ben rubbed his forehead.
“Elaine thought she could move the money without the foundation’s authorization if she had the original recovery credentials. I took the file before the crash.”
“Where is it?” the agent asked.
“In the records Nora recovered.”
Ruth had already turned the hard drive over.
An agent left to retrieve the relevant team.
Nora stared at her brother.
“You could have told them that hours ago.”
“I wanted something left.”
“For what?”
“In case nobody protected us.”
Her anger faltered.
Not vanished.
Faltered.
They had all learned to keep one hand closed.
By the time they reached the marina, dawn had begun thinning the darkness.
Nora stayed in a command vehicle with Celia.
Adrian wore a concealed microphone and followed the agents’ directions to the marked position beside the pier.
A camera feed showed Elaine under a yellow dock light.
Owen stood in front of her.
She had a hard-sided case in one hand.
The ledger, perhaps.
A gun in the other.
Celia made a small sound.
Nora took her hand.
Adrian stopped.
“Let him go.”
“Where’s Nora?”
“She gave the file to the investigators.”
Elaine’s expression emptied.
“You stupid man.”
“It’s over.”
“No. It becomes expensive. That isn’t the same thing.”
Nora leaned toward the screen.
Elaine pressed the gun against Adrian’s coat when he came within reach.
Owen started crying.
Adrian looked at the boy.
“Your mom’s here.”
Elaine shoved him toward the boat.
Then she spoke softly.
The microphone caught every word.
“I kept your father’s mess alive for thirty years. I paid the right people. I buried the wrong ones. And now you want to become decent?”
Adrian didn’t look away.
“No.”
Elaine blinked.
“I want to stop helping you.”
Owen suddenly coughed.
A sharp, frightened cough.
His backpack lay several feet away.
Celia stood inside the vehicle.
“He needs his inhaler.”
On the screen, Adrian looked at the backpack.
Then at the water.
Elaine shoved Owen toward the narrow boarding ramp.
May you like
His foot slipped.
And the boy disappeared over the edge.
