Chapter 15 - David’s Tunnel
The hidden exit ran through a tunnel David designed.
It led from the laboratory to an abandoned ranger station two miles away.
Mark reached the station before police.
He took a radio and contacted me.
“Laura, meet me at the mountain road.”
“The place where David died.”
“Why?”
“Because I have his final notebook.”
“If I am arrested, it disappears.”
Detective Brooks told me not to go.
Hailey looked at the map.
“He wants Mom alone because he still thinks she believes him.”
“I do not.”
“That is why you should go.”
The police prepared a controlled meeting.
I wore a concealed microphone.
Officers positioned themselves across the ridge.
Mark stood beside the broken section of guardrail where David’s car had fallen.
He held a weathered notebook.
“You look tired,” he said.
“You made my daughter sick.”
“You always begin with blame.”
“You always begin with concern so people forget the danger.”
His smile disappeared.
I had finally learned how he worked.
“Give me the notebook.”
“Come closer.”
“No.”
“David trusted me once.”
“David recorded that you killed him.”
“He recorded fear.”
“Not truth.”
Mark opened the notebook.
The pages contained David’s handwriting.
The final entry described the capsule flaw.
It also named a federal buyer who financed Acheron.
Mark claimed the government would bury every crime if he surrendered the notebook.
“Help me leave,” he said.
“I release the evidence.”
“You expect me to save you?”
“I expect you to save Hailey’s future.”
“If the buyer remains hidden, they will come for her again.”
I moved one step closer.
“Then tell me the name.”
Mark smiled.
“Senator William Crane.”
A rifle shot cracked across the mountain.
The bullet struck Mark’s chest.
He fell against the guardrail.
May you like
Someone had been watching from the trees.
The federal buyer had sent a shooter.
