Chapter 13 - THE RIVER TERMINAL
The freight terminal had been abandoned for sixteen years.
Its warehouses stood beside the river like blackened teeth.
Rain swept across the loading yard.
Three cargo trucks waited beside an unmarked ship.
Elias stopped the vehicle behind a concrete barrier.
Federal agents were approaching from the south.
Harbor police moved across the water without lights.
Mara looked toward the largest warehouse.
A crane was lowering sealed storage cases onto the ship.
Forty-eight paintings were leaving the country.
Beatrice had prepared the shipment before the gala.
Julian’s collapse had accelerated her plan.
“She has people inside every agency,” Sebastian said.
“That is why Gabriel failed.”
Elias checked his weapon.
“Gabriel failed because he worked alone.”
Mara opened the car door.
“You are staying here.”
“No.”
“You are not law enforcement.”
“I am the only person who can identify the panel.”
Elias looked toward the warehouse.
“You do not leave my side.”
They entered through a broken service entrance.
Rows of storage crates filled the building.
Each carried the Halcyon Museum’s conservation seal.
Nora photographed the identification numbers.
Sebastian opened the nearest crate.
Inside was a Renaissance portrait believed to be hanging in Gallery Seven.
Mara touched the edge of its frame.
“The painting inside the museum is a forgery.”
“How long has this been here?” Elias asked.
“Judging by the wrapping, six years.”
They moved deeper into the warehouse.
Voices sounded beyond the loading platform.
Beatrice stood beside the storage case containing Saint Aurelia.
Her injured shoulder was wrapped in white fabric.
Blood had soaked through it.
Lena’s silver pendant hung from Beatrice’s neck.
A dozen armed men surrounded her.
A buyer waited near the ship.
Beatrice placed the ledger on a metal table.
“The museum no longer exists as an asset,” she said.
“The land transfer will be completed before sunrise.”
The buyer examined the papers.
“The seal?”
Beatrice opened the Saint Aurelia case.
The painted panel appeared beneath the lights.
The saint’s face was calm.
Her hand rested upon a broken wheel.
Mara saw tiny lines carved into the gold leaf.
Names.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Her father had hidden the entire network inside the painting.
Beatrice lifted a knife.
She intended to cut the painted seal from the panel.
Mara stepped onto the platform.
“You always destroy what you cannot own.”
Every head turned.
Beatrice laughed.
“Your father said something similar.”
“He was right.”
“He was sentimental.”
“He trusted you.”
“He investigated me.”
“After you betrayed my mother.”
Beatrice looked toward the ship.
“Lena was never built for courage.”
“She survived you.”
“She served me.”
“Only because you threatened her child.”
Beatrice’s expression sharpened.
“You think motherhood makes people noble?”
“No.”
Mara moved closer.
“I think fear makes people predictable.”
Beatrice raised the knife.
“Then you should be terrified.”
“I was.”
Mara looked toward the warehouse windows.
Red lights appeared outside.
Police vehicles surrounded the terminal.
Federal agents entered from three directions.
Beatrice’s men lifted their weapons.
The buyer stepped backward.
Beatrice pressed the knife against Saint Aurelia.
“One move and I destroy the evidence.”
Elias remained hidden behind the crates.
Mara had to keep Beatrice watching her.
“Destroy it.”
Beatrice hesitated.
“You heard me.”
“You spent your life preserving things.”
“I preserve art.”
Mara looked at the ledger.
“I do not preserve cages.”
Beatrice’s hand tightened.
“You need this painting.”
“No.”
Mara removed a small memory card from her bracelet.
“I photographed every inch of it during restoration five years ago.”
Beatrice stared at her.
“The names are already copied.”
It was partly a bluff.
Mara had photographed the panel.
She had not understood the code at the time.
But the images existed.
Sebastian was already transmitting them to prosecutors.
Beatrice realized the painting no longer protected her.
She threw the knife toward Mara.
Elias fired.
The blade struck the floor inches from Mara’s feet.
Agents flooded the platform.
Gunfire erupted near the ship.
Beatrice grabbed the ledger and ran toward the crane controls.
She slammed the emergency lever.
The suspended storage cases began swinging above the platform.
One crashed into the warehouse wall.
Another dropped into the river.
Mara ran toward Saint Aurelia.
Beatrice kicked the case closed and engaged the crane hook.
The panel rose above them.
The cable carried it toward the ship.
Mara climbed onto the loading platform.
Elias shouted her name.
Beatrice followed with the ledger pressed beneath her coat.
They reached the narrow crane walkway.
Rain and river wind struck them.
Below, agents arrested the remaining guards.
Beatrice stood between Mara and the control cabin.
“You should have stayed Julian’s obedient wife.”
Mara stepped forward.
“You should have let me go.”
Beatrice pulled a second knife from her sleeve.
Then Julian’s voice came from behind them.
“She was never yours to keep.”
Julian stood at the end of the walkway.
May you like
His burned arm was bandaged.
In his uninjured hand, he held Beatrice’s fallen gun.
