Chapter 11 - THE BURNING GALLERY
Flames moved behind the museum windows.
The eastern gallery had been evacuated since the gala.
Firefighters gathered beneath the stone facade.
Police surrounded every entrance.
Elias pulled Mara behind an emergency vehicle.
“You stay here.”
“The hidden elevator can reach the restoration wing.”
“We are not using an undocumented elevator inside a burning building.”
“The public stairs will collapse before you reach the lower level.”
Elias looked toward the flames.
“You cannot know that.”
“I supervised the restoration plans.”
“The plans you received were altered.”
“The load-bearing walls were not.”
Sebastian arrived with Nora.
An officer removed his cuffs under Elias’s order.
Sebastian carried Gabriel’s tunnel map.
“The freight elevator opens beneath the west foundation.”
Mara pointed toward the smoke.
“The fire is east.”
“For now,” Elias said.
Nora took Mara’s hands.
“You do not have to go inside.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Julian would leave you there.”
“He already did.”
“Then let him face what he created.”
Mara looked toward the museum.
“This is not about Julian anymore.”
The original collection could still be hidden beneath Halcyon.
If the building collapsed, forty-eight stolen works might disappear forever.
Her mother was trapped inside.
So was the truth about Gabriel.
Mara entered the tunnel with Elias, Sebastian, and four tactical officers.
The freight elevator shook as it rose.
Smoke entered through the cage.
When the doors opened, they found the hidden archive corridor flooded with emergency lights.
Beatrice’s voice echoed through the speakers.
“Mara has always loved dramatic entrances.”
Elias motioned for silence.
They moved beneath the eastern gallery.
A trail of blood marked the floor.
It led toward another steel door.
Mara used Gabriel’s seal against the locking plate.
The door opened.
Julian sat tied to a chair.
Lena lay unconscious beside him.
Beatrice was gone.
Mara rushed toward her mother.
Lena still had a pulse.
Elias cut Julian free.
Julian collapsed against the wall.
“Where is Beatrice?” Elias asked.
Julian coughed.
“She took the ledger.”
“Where?”
“The central vault.”
Sebastian looked at the tunnel map.
“There is no central vault.”
Julian laughed weakly.
“Gabriel did not build it.”
“Who did?”
“Beatrice.”
A violent explosion shook the ceiling.
Dust fell around them.
The eastern fire had reached the restoration chemicals.
Elias ordered two officers to carry Lena out.
Julian grabbed Mara’s wrist.
“Do not follow Beatrice.”
Mara pulled free.
“Why?”
“She has the Saint Aurelia panel.”
“The painting you framed me for stealing.”
“She will destroy it.”
“Why should she?”
Julian looked toward the far corridor.
“Because the painting contains the final names.”
Mara remembered restoring the panel five years earlier.
Hairline marks had been visible beneath the saint’s halo.
She thought they were previous conservation notes.
They were not.
Gabriel had hidden evidence inside the painting.
Julian tried to stand.
His legs failed.
“You knew,” Mara said.
“I discovered it after your father died.”
“Did you damage his brakes?”
Julian looked away.
“Answer me.”
“It was not supposed to kill him.”
Mara felt the same emptiness she had felt during Lena’s confession.
“You cut the brake line.”
“Beatrice said the car would stop before the terminal.”
“And you believed her?”
“I was twenty-six.”
“You were old enough to understand murder.”
Julian’s face tightened.
“I spent twelve years protecting you from what she would do.”
“You spent twelve years protecting yourself.”
Another explosion sounded above them.
The lights went dark.
Emergency lamps flickered on.
From the corridor came the scrape of metal.
Beatrice appeared at the far end.
She held the ledger beneath one arm.
In her other hand was a flare.
Behind her stood a rolling storage case large enough to hold the missing panel.
“Family reunions are so disappointing,” she said.
Mara stepped toward her.
“Put down the flare.”
Beatrice smiled.
“Bring me the seal.”
Julian moved beside Mara.
Beatrice aimed a gun at him.
“You should have died beside the champagne trolley.”
Julian froze.
Mara looked from the gun to the flare.
Beatrice intended to shoot Julian, ignite the corridor, and leave with the trust.
“Mara,” Julian whispered.
For the first time, his voice contained no command.
Only fear.
Beatrice extended her hand.
“The seal.”
Mara opened her fingers.
May you like
Gabriel’s silver clasp rested in her palm.
Then she threw it into the flames behind Beatrice.
