Chapter 14 - THE LAST CHOICE
Beatrice looked at Julian with disbelief.
“You were supposed to be in custody.”
“I was taken to a hospital.”
“You escaped again?”
Julian lifted the gun.
“I learned from you.”
Mara watched him carefully.
Julian had not come to save her.
He had come for the ledger.
If he possessed it, he could bargain with prosecutors.
Beatrice understood the same thing.
“You cannot shoot me,” she said.
“You still need my testimony.”
“I need the book.”
Her smile returned.
“There you are.”
The crane walkway shook in the wind.
Below them, the Saint Aurelia case moved toward the ship.
Mara stood between Julian and Beatrice.
“Give Elias the gun.”
Julian did not look at her.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“You do not control where I stand anymore.”
Beatrice laughed.
Even with blood on her dress and agents beneath her, she enjoyed watching them turn against each other.
“She will never forgive you,” Beatrice said.
Julian tightened his grip on the gun.
“I do not need forgiveness.”
“That is the first honest thing you have said.”
Mara extended her hand.
“Give me the gun.”
Julian finally looked at her.
For a moment, the warehouse disappeared.
They were back inside the private dining room.
A locked door stood behind Mara.
Divorce papers lay torn across the table.
Julian still believed he could decide which exits existed.
“Do you remember the night I asked you to leave the museum with me?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You said your father built Halcyon for the public.”
“He did.”
“I could have taken you away from all of this.”
“You had already killed him.”
Julian’s face changed.
“I did not know the brakes would fail completely.”
“You knew enough to remain silent.”
“I loved you.”
“You loved what owning me protected.”
The word struck him harder than anger would have.
Beatrice moved suddenly.
She lunged toward Julian.
Mara grabbed her injured shoulder.
Beatrice screamed and turned the knife.
The blade cut Mara’s sleeve.
Julian aimed the gun.
Mara saw his finger tighten.
“Do not shoot.”
Beatrice froze.
Julian’s eyes were fixed on her.
“Give me the ledger.”
Beatrice held it over the railing.
“If I fall, it falls.”
“Then do not fall.”
Julian stepped closer.
The wet metal beneath his shoe shifted.
His balance broke.
Beatrice grabbed his bandaged arm and pulled him toward the railing.
Julian cried out.
The gun slid across the walkway.
Mara reached for him.
Beatrice kicked the weapon into the river.
Julian hung over the edge with one hand locked around the rail.
Beatrice stepped on his fingers.
“You were always replaceable.”
Mara could have let him fall.
The river moved thirty feet below.
Julian looked up at her.
In his face, she saw every lie.
She saw her father’s funeral.
She saw the locked dining room.
She saw the false medical records.
She saw herself wearing black because Julian believed even her clothing belonged to him.
Mara moved toward the railing.
Beatrice smiled.
“Let him go.”
Mara grabbed Julian’s wrist.
Beatrice’s smile vanished.
With her other hand, Mara struck Beatrice’s injured shoulder.
Beatrice stumbled backward.
Elias reached the walkway and caught her before she reached the stairs.
Agents forced her to the ground.
The ledger slid beneath the railing.
Sebastian caught it from the platform below.
Mara pulled Julian back onto the walkway.
He collapsed at her feet.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
“You saved me,” he whispered.
Mara looked down at him.
“No.”
Julian’s breathing stopped for a moment.
“I saved myself from becoming you.”
Elias placed Julian in handcuffs.
Mara walked toward the crane controls.
She stopped the cable before Saint Aurelia reached the ship.
The panel remained suspended above the river as dawn began breaking behind Manhattan.
Beatrice was led past Mara.
“You think the crowd moved aside because they believed you?”
Mara looked at her.
“They moved because they recognized you.”
Beatrice’s expression hardened.
“They will turn on you again.”
“Perhaps.”
“You will spend the rest of your life proving you are not what we said.”
Mara watched the agents carry the ledger away.
“No.”
May you like
She turned toward the rising sun.
“I will spend it deciding who I am without you.”
