Chapter 16 - THE NORTHERN HANGAR
The propeller filled the hangar with violent wind.
Loose documents flew from the office desk.
Celeste stood beside the aircraft holding the empty envelope she believed contained Amelia’s code.
She had not yet seen the real letter.
Ethan kept Sophie behind him.
“You cannot leave.”
“The southern doors still open onto the runway.”
“Federal agents control the property.”
“They control the road.”
“Not the lake.”
The plane was fitted with floats as well as wheels.
Celeste could take off from the flooded runway and land across the Canadian border.
She held up Sophie’s false passport.
“The world believes documents before it believes children.”
“Not this time.”
Ethan showed her the original Blackstone amendment.
“The guardianship order is gone.”
“The accounts are frozen.”
“Pike is in custody.”
“Lydia is cooperating.”
“Richard told us everything.”
Celeste’s expression changed at Richard’s name.
“He always lacked courage.”
“He was brave enough to stop Pike.”
“Did he survive?”
Ethan did not answer.
Celeste laughed without humor.
“Richard spent years pretending he cared about Amelia.”
“He cared about whatever version of himself required the least shame.”
Sophie stepped partly from behind Ethan.
“Why did you lock me in the case?”
Celeste looked at her.
For a moment, she appeared almost regretful.
“I needed to move you without the cameras seeing.”
“You could have asked me to walk.”
“You would have screamed.”
“Because you were taking me away from Daddy.”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
“You would have had a safe home.”
“With no name?”
“With no Whitmores.”
“My name is Sophie.”
The answer unsettled Celeste more than any accusation.
She had reduced the child to a beneficiary, an identity document, and a piece of revenge.
Sophie reminded her that a child existed beneath the plan.
Ethan moved toward the aircraft controls.
Celeste raised a small pistol.
“Stop.”
He stopped.
“Give me the real letter.”
“No.”
“The fund belongs to the people your family destroyed.”
“That is exactly what Amelia wrote.”
“It belongs to my mother first.”
“Your mother deserves justice.”
“She does not deserve money stolen from other victims.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with fury.
“The Whitmores took her house.”
“Then we restore it.”
“She died before it could matter.”
“Then we put her name among the people Blackstone harmed.”
“A plaque?”
“A public record.”
“A full investigation.”
“Every truth Thomas hid.”
Celeste lowered the pistol slightly.
For one second, Ethan believed she might surrender.
Then the rear hangar doors opened.
Graham Pike entered.
He had escaped custody during transport by causing the police vehicle to crash on the flooded access road.
His wrists remained partially cuffed.
He carried an officer’s weapon.
“You should never negotiate with a beneficiary,” Pike said.
Celeste turned.
“You said you were taking the northern road.”
“You were supposed to wait.”
Pike looked toward the aircraft.
“You planned to leave without me.”
“You planned to abandon all of us.”
Pike aimed at Sophie.
“Give me the code.”
Celeste stepped between the weapon and the child.
The movement surprised everyone.
Pike smiled coldly.
“You are becoming sentimental.”
“No.”
Celeste raised her own pistol.
“She is the only person who can open the fund.”
“She is no longer necessary.”
Pike already possessed Thomas’s biometric access device.
He had cut it from the old terminal.
All he needed was Ethan’s fingerprint and the final code.
The aircraft engine roared louder.
Pike moved toward Ethan.
Celeste moved toward Pike.
Sophie noticed fuel leaking beneath the plane.
A loose hose had torn during startup.
She pointed toward it.
May you like
“Daddy.”
A spark flashed beneath the engine.
