CHAPTER 13 THE FALL
THE FALL
The emergency brakes caught after two floors.
The elevator slammed to a stop.
Nathaniel hit the floor hard.
Vale crashed against the control panel.
Lucas screamed from the corner.
Smoke seeped through the doors.
Nathaniel forced himself upright.
His ribs felt broken.
Blood ran down his arm.
Vale reached for the fallen gun.
Lucas kicked it beneath the wheelchair.
Vale grabbed the boy by the collar.
Nathaniel tackled him.
The damaged elevator groaned.
A second cable snapped.
The floor tilted.
Nathaniel pinned Vale against the wall.
“Where is Vivienne?”
Vale laughed.
“Running.”
“She always runs.”
“You used your own daughter.”
“I trained her.”
“You destroyed her.”
Vale’s smile became cruel.
“She was destroyed long before she met me.”
The elevator shifted again.
Nathaniel looked toward Lucas.
“Climb onto my back.”
The boy hesitated.
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
Nathaniel reached toward him.
“But I will not leave without you.”
Lucas climbed onto his back.
Vale lunged for the gun again.
Nathaniel kicked him away.
Through the ceiling hatch, Marcus shouted.
A rescue cable dropped into the elevator.
Nathaniel secured it around Lucas.
“Pull him up.”
Lucas wrapped both arms around Nathaniel’s neck.
“No.”
“You have to go first.”
“Promise you’ll come.”
Nathaniel looked into the boy’s eyes.
“I promise.”
Lucas was lifted through the hatch.
Vale attacked before Nathaniel could reach the second harness.
The two men crashed into the damaged doors.
Metal bent outward.
Below them was a dark shaft.
Vale tried to force Nathaniel over the edge.
Nathaniel caught his wrist.
For a moment, Vale hung above the darkness.
Nathaniel could have released him.
No one would have blamed him.
Vale looked up.
“You do not have the courage.”
Nathaniel tightened his grip.
“I am not you.”
He attempted to pull Vale back.
Vale reached into his coat.
A small knife flashed in his hand.
He stabbed Nathaniel’s forearm.
Nathaniel’s fingers opened.
Vale fell without another word.
The sound of impact came several seconds later.
Marcus pulled Nathaniel through the hatch.
They reached the roof as firefighters entered the building.
Elena held Lucas near an ambulance.
When she saw Nathaniel, she ran toward him.
Lucas reached him first.
“You promised.”
Nathaniel knelt despite the pain.
“I promised.”
Elena wrapped both of them in her arms.
For one brief moment, the three of them stood together beneath the flashing lights.
Then Marcus approached.
“Vivienne escaped through the eastern tunnel.”
Nathaniel looked toward the river.
A black car was speeding away from the hospital.
Federal vehicles followed.
Elena touched the cut on her neck.
“She will come back.”
Nathaniel took her hand.
“Then we will be ready.”
A paramedic arrived carrying Eleanor’s coat.
He handed Elena an envelope found inside the pocket.
It was addressed to Sofia Reyes.
Elena opened it.
The first line made her knees weaken.
SOFIA, WHEN YOU READ THIS, YOUR DAUGHTER WILL FINALLY KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING OVER HER FROM INSIDE HARTWELL MANSION.
May you like
Elena looked toward Mrs. Bell, the elderly housekeeper standing beside the ambulance.
Mrs. Bell began to cry.
