Chapter 11 - The Chapel in the Woods
Theodore Pierce’s chapel did not appear on any estate map.
Margaret knew where it was because she had been there once.
Thirty-four years earlier.
The night Theodore told her Rachel had to disappear from Pierce affairs forever.
The road narrowed through the woods.
Rain had begun.
Christopher drove too fast.
Gideon sat beside him.
Margaret and Juliette were in the back.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Juliette whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
Christopher kept his eyes on the road.
“For which part?”
Juliette flinched.
“The pool.”
“The lies.”
“Emma.”
“All of it.”
Christopher said nothing.
Juliette continued.
“I didn’t mean for her to sink.”
“That sentence will never help you.”
“I know.”
“She trusted you.”
Juliette started crying again.
Christopher’s voice stayed calm.
“She asked me whether you would be her mother.”
Juliette covered her face.
Christopher remembered that conversation.
Emma had been sitting on his office floor drawing.
Juliette had entered wearing the engagement ring.
Emma had asked if that meant she could call her Mom someday.
Juliette had smiled.
Christopher had believed the smile.
Now he knew it had been another performance.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
Christopher turned sharply onto a muddy track.
“Because you’re not getting it.”
Juliette nodded.
“But help me get those children back.”
“I will.”
Gideon looked toward her.
Juliette could not meet his eyes.
He whispered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked at him.
“About Leo?”
“Yes.”
“My father told me Rachel died because your family wouldn’t stay away from ours.”
Gideon’s face hardened.
“Your father helped kill Rachel.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew Theodore was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where my son was.”
“No.”
“Not exactly.”
“That’s not good enough.”
Juliette snapped.
“You think I haven’t hated myself every day?”
Gideon turned away.
Juliette’s voice broke.
“I thought Leo was dead for two years.”
“Then I learned he was alive.”
“I received one video every six months.”
“No location.”
“No sound outside the room.”
“No way to find him.”
“They said if I went to police, they would send me one finger at a time.”
Gideon closed his eyes.
Christopher gripped the wheel harder.
This family did not simply keep secrets.
It manufactured cages.
The chapel appeared between the trees.
Small.
Stone.
No lights outside.
Christopher stopped fifty yards away.
“Everyone stays low.”
Gideon checked his weapon.
Margaret took Christopher’s arm.
“Theodore has cameras.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
Christopher looked around.
Branches.
Stone posts.
Old lanterns.
Gideon spotted the first camera.
Then another.
“They know we’re here.”
Christopher stepped from the vehicle.
A bell rang.
One deep note.
Juliette froze.
Then a second.
Then a third.
Gideon looked toward her.
“What?”
“That’s the obedience signal.”
Christopher ran.
The chapel doors were unlocked.
Inside, candles burned.
Rows of pews.
No people.
A recording of a choir played quietly.
Then Christopher saw Emma.
She stood at the altar.
Alone.
White dress.
Bare feet.
Christopher stopped.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
Her face was expressionless.
Christopher walked forward.
“It’s Daddy.”
Emma backed away.
He stopped.
“Sweetheart?”
She whispered.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Christopher’s chest tightened.
“Who told you that?”
Emma looked toward a side door.
Theodore entered.
Leo walked beside him.
The boy’s face was equally blank.
Gideon raised his weapon.
Theodore placed one hand on Leo’s shoulder.
Gideon stopped.
“Let him go.”
Theodore smiled.
“Daniel.”
“Let my son go.”
“You abandoned him before he was born.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Ignorance has consequences.”
Juliette stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
Theodore laughed.
“You have already proven unreliable.”
Emma looked at Christopher.
He held out his hand.
“Come here.”
She shook her head.
“You lie.”
Christopher’s heart broke.
“What?”
“You said Mommy left.”
He froze.
Rachel.
Theodore smiled.
Emma continued.
“You said she went to heaven.”
“She did.”
“No.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“He said you made her go away.”
Christopher looked at Theodore.
The old man smiled.
“You bastard.”
Emma flinched.
Christopher immediately lowered his voice.
“Emma.”
“I never hurt your mother.”
“He said you didn’t want me.”
Christopher felt every failure he had ever made gather in that room.
Keeping her paternity secret.
Teaching her to call him Christopher in public.
Traveling constantly.
Believing Juliette.
Leaving Emma alone with adults who resented her existence.
He crouched.
“I was afraid.”
Emma looked at him.
“That’s not the same as not wanting you.”
She said nothing.
Christopher continued.
“I should have told everyone the truth the day I learned you were mine.”
“I didn’t.”
“That was wrong.”
Emma’s lower lip trembled.
“I should have told you about your mother.”
“I should have told you she loved you.”
“I should have told you I loved her.”
Theodore’s face tightened.
Christopher ignored him.
“I made mistakes because I thought secrets would protect you.”
“They didn’t.”
Emma whispered.
“No.”
Christopher nodded.
“No.”
“They didn’t.”
He opened his arms.
“But I am done choosing secrets.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
The bell rang again.
She flinched violently.
Theodore spoke.
“Emma.”
She turned toward him.
“Come here.”
Christopher saw fear override everything else.
She took one step toward Theodore.
Then another.
Christopher realized Juliette had been right.
Theodore had already begun conditioning her.
“Emma.”
She stopped.
“Look at me.”
The bell rang.
She covered her ears.
Christopher moved.
One of Theodore’s guards emerged from behind a pillar.
Gideon fired.
The guard dropped his weapon.
Chaos erupted.
Christopher ran toward Emma.
Theodore grabbed her arm.
Emma screamed.
Christopher hit Theodore’s wrist.
The old man lost his grip.
Christopher lifted Emma.
He turned.
Another guard tackled him.
Emma fell onto the carpet.
Juliette grabbed her and pulled her behind a pew.
Gideon fought toward Leo.
Margaret struck one guard with a brass candle stand.
Theodore staggered toward the side door.
Christopher shoved the guard away.
“Gideon!”
“I see him!”
Gideon reached Leo.
The boy stared at him.
“Who are you?”
Gideon’s face collapsed.
“I’m your father.”
Leo shook his head.
“No.”
Gideon crouched.
“Yes.”
“No.”
The bell rang.
Leo screamed.
“Stop the bells!”
Christopher shouted.
Juliette covered Emma’s ears.
Margaret looked upward.
“Bell tower!”
Christopher saw a rope beside the wall.
He grabbed it and cut it with a decorative knife from the altar.
The ringing stopped.
Then the electronic speakers began producing the same sound.
Theodore had planned for everything.
Christopher looked toward the control room.
Margaret understood.
She ran.
A gunshot sounded.
Margaret stopped.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Juliette screamed.
Christopher grabbed Emma and dropped behind the altar.
Gideon returned fire.
Theodore was gone.
Again.
Christopher looked at Margaret.
She was conscious.
“Go!”
She shouted.
“He’ll take the river tunnel!”
Christopher looked at Emma.
He could not chase Theodore and protect her simultaneously.
Gideon saw the conflict.
“I’ll go.”
Christopher looked at him.
“Take Leo.”
Gideon stared.
“Christopher.”
“Your son needs you more.”
Gideon hesitated.
Then nodded.
Juliette knelt beside Leo.
He moved away from her.
She started crying.
“Leo.”
The boy stared at her.
“You’re the woman in the videos.”
Juliette covered her mouth.
Christopher’s heart twisted.
Emma grabbed his neck.
“Daddy.”
He held her.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Outside, engines roared.
Theodore was escaping.
Christopher closed his eyes.
He had to let him go.
Emma came first.
Always.
Gideon helped Margaret.
Juliette stood beside Leo.
Christopher carried Emma out of the chapel.
Rain struck his face.
For one brief moment, relief appeared.
Then Gideon’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Christopher looked at him.
Gideon listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“Pierce House.”
Christopher’s stomach turned.
“What happened?”
Gideon looked toward Emma.
Then back at Christopher.
“The fire reached the records room.”
Christopher’s jaw tightened.
“We knew that.”
“No.”
Gideon swallowed.
“The fire department found three bodies.”
Christopher stared.
“Who?”
“They’re not sure about two.”
“And the third?”
Gideon’s face went pale.
“Dr. Halden.”
Christopher stopped breathing.
Halden had remained near Arthur.
“Where is my father?”
Gideon said nothing.
“Where is Arthur?”
“We don’t know.”
Christopher looked at Margaret.
She whispered.
“Theodore.”
Christopher’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Arthur’s voice came through.
Weak.
“Christopher.”
“Father?”
A man spoke in the background.
Theodore.
“Tell your son what you did.”
Arthur breathed painfully.
“Christopher…”
“Where are you?”
Arthur began crying.
Christopher had never heard his father cry.
Then Arthur whispered.
“Rachel’s accident wasn’t the first time our family tried to kill her.”
Christopher went cold.
“What?”
Arthur continued.
“When she was pregnant with Emma…”
His breathing broke.
“I paid someone to make her lose the baby.”
Christopher stopped moving.
Emma was still in his arms.
Arthur whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
The call ended.
Christopher stared at the phone.
May you like
His father had just confessed to trying to kill Emma before she was even born.
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