Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN AT THE TERMINAL
The old ferry terminal smelled of wet wood and gasoline.
Clara stood beneath a broken departure sign with one hand inside her jacket.
“Don’t turn around too fast.”
The woman behind her sounded breathless.
Clara turned slowly.
Ruth Bell looked twenty years older than the last time Clara had seen her. Her coat was soaked. One lens of her glasses was cracked.
“You worked in the evidence room,” Clara said.
Ruth nodded.
“You gave me Daniel’s watch.”
“I was told it came from the boat.”
“But you knew it didn’t.”
“I knew it hadn’t been in water.”
Clara’s anger arrived so quickly it almost steadied her.
“And you let me bury an empty coffin.”
Ruth’s face crumpled.
“They showed me pictures of my daughter walking to school.”
For a moment, neither woman spoke.
Then Ruth held out an envelope.
“My husband died last month. My daughter lives overseas. I’m tired of being afraid in an empty house.”
Inside were printed photographs and a small memory card.
“Where did you get these?”
“An investigator brought in a camera recovered near Pier Nineteen. The property record vanished. I kept a copy before they destroyed it.”
“Why contact me tonight?”
“The dock transfer. They’re clearing the old buildings tomorrow. Whatever your brother hid won’t survive.”
Footsteps sounded beyond the ticket booth.
Ruth grabbed Clara’s sleeve.
“I think someone followed me.”
Two men appeared near the gate.
Clara recognized one: a driver Julian used for jobs that never appeared on company schedules.
“Clara,” he called. “Mr. Cross wants a word.”
She pushed Ruth toward a maintenance door.
“Move.”
The first shot shattered the departure sign.
Clara ducked as glass rained onto her shoulders.
They ran down a narrow corridor. Ruth stumbled. Clara caught her beneath the arm and dragged her through the door.
A car horn blasted outside.
A battered sedan swung toward the curb.
“Get in!” Naomi shouted.
Clara shoved Ruth into the back seat and climbed after her.
Naomi accelerated before the door closed.
“You said thirty minutes,” Clara gasped.
“You sent me a deserted terminal at midnight. I gave you ten.”
A black SUV surged into the street behind them.
Naomi took a hard right.
Ruth pressed the envelope into Clara’s hands.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Your brother wasn’t alone when they took him.”
She pulled out one final photograph.
May you like
Arthur stood beside Julian on the pier.
The date printed at the bottom was the night Daniel disappeared.
