Chapter 14 - THE LAST LIE
The manhunt lasted all night.
Roadblocks went up.
Dogs searched the woods.
Helicopters swept the river.
David had been shot.
He was losing blood.
But Sarah knew desperate men were dangerous.
Andrew took Alex home under police protection.
Elizabeth and Mia stayed too.
Nobody wanted to be alone.
At sunrise, Andrew sat at the kitchen table.
Alex drank hot chocolate.
Mr. Hops rested beside him, wrapped in a towel.
Andrew looked at the toy.
“I think he needs surgery.”
Alex almost smiled.
“Elizabeth can fix him.”
Elizabeth looked over from the stove.
“I can try.”
Alex touched the place where the ribbon had been.
“No green ribbon.”
Andrew swallowed.
“No green ribbon.”
For the first time in six months, the house felt quiet without feeling dead.
Then the lights went out.
Elizabeth froze.
Andrew stood.
The backup generator should have started immediately.
It didn’t.
A crash came from the basement.
Mia whispered, “What was that?”
Andrew grabbed Alex.
“Upstairs. Safe room.”
They moved fast.
Elizabeth locked the kitchen door behind them.
Then glass broke in the hall.
Andrew pushed everyone toward the stairs.
A voice came from the darkness.
“You should’ve left the river alone.”
David.
Elizabeth gasped.
He stepped into the hallway.
Pale.
Bleeding.
Gun in hand.
Andrew put Alex behind him.
“How did you get in?”
David smiled.
“Caroline showed me every entrance years ago.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
“You’re finished.”
“Maybe.”
David pointed the gun at him.
“But you won’t enjoy winning.”
Elizabeth said, “Police are outside.”
“Not anymore.”
Andrew realized why the power was out.
David had cut the security system.
Maybe he had created a distraction.
Maybe officers were searching the property line.
David stepped closer.
“I want the backup.”
Andrew stared.
“What backup?”
David laughed.
“Caroline never trusted one copy.”
Andrew didn’t answer.
David looked at Alex.
The boy tightened his grip on Mr. Hops.
David smiled.
“There it is.”
Andrew’s blood turned cold.
The rabbit.
Elizabeth whispered, “No.”
David said, “Caroline loved hiding things in toys.”
He aimed at Alex.
“Give it to me.”
Alex shook his head.
Andrew said, “David.”
“Quiet.”
“It’s a stuffed rabbit.”
“No. It’s insurance.”
Alex suddenly looked at the toy.
He seemed to remember something.
Then he whispered, “Mom told me.”
Andrew looked at him.
“What?”
Alex reached inside the torn seam.
His small fingers pulled out something Elizabeth had never seen.
A tiny silver memory card.
David smiled.
“There.”
Alex stared at it.
Then he looked at his father.
Andrew held out his hand.
David cocked the gun.
“Give it to me.”
Alex moved.
But instead of handing the card to David, he threw it into the fireplace.
David screamed.
“No!”
He ran toward it.
Andrew tackled him.
The gun fired.
Elizabeth grabbed Alex.
Mia screamed.
Andrew and David crashed onto the floor.
David punched Andrew.
Andrew hit back.
Years of grief exploded inside him.
Caroline’s funeral.
Alex’s silence.
The empty bedroom.
The lies.
The guilt.
He hit David again.
David reached for the gun.
Then a voice shouted from the doorway.
“Don’t move!”
Sarah Hale stood there.
Weapon raised.
David froze.
Andrew backed away.
Sarah handcuffed him.
Only then did Alex walk toward the fireplace.
He used the metal tongs.
Andrew frowned.
“Buddy?”
Alex pulled the memory card from beside the flames.
It had never gone into the fire.
He had thrown a button.
The real card was safe.
Andrew stared at his son.
Alex looked almost embarrassed.
“Mom said bad people look where you want them to look.”
Sarah smiled for the first time all night.
“Your mom was pretty smart.”
Alex hugged the rabbit.
“Yeah.”
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But the card contained one final recording.
And Caroline had made it for Andrew.
