Chapter 5 - LAURA’S WARNING
Mara kept her weapon pointed at the door.
“Step away from it.”
Laura’s voice came from the corridor.
“We don’t have time.”
“Step away.”
“I am bleeding, Detective.”
Mara looked at Claire.
Claire nodded urgently.
“That’s her.”
Mara opened the door a few inches.
Laura stumbled inside.
Blood covered the shoulder of her black coat.
Claire gasped.
“Laura.”
She rushed toward her sister.
Mara shut and locked the door.
Laura leaned against the wall.
“The bullet grazed me.”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
Claire grabbed a towel.
“At least let me see it.”
“Later.”
Laura looked at Ethan.
For the first time her expression softened.
“You found your mother.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You knew she was alive.”
“I suspected it.”
“You were at the funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
Pain crossed Laura’s face.
“I was trying.”
Ethan’s anger rose.
“You could have told everyone.”
“I had no proof until I saw Richard in the loading bay.”
“You had a video.”
“And Richard shot at me because of it.”
Mara stepped between them.
“Where is the phone?”
Laura smiled faintly.
“Not with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere Richard cannot reach.”
“Did the video upload?”
“Yes.”
“To where?”
“Three encrypted servers and one attorney.”
Mara studied her.
“You came prepared.”
“I have been preparing for nine months.”
Claire pressed the towel to Laura’s shoulder.
Laura winced.
Mara glanced toward the smoke under the door.
“Did Richard start the fire?”
“Yes.”
“You saw him?”
“No.”
“But you know.”
“He uses diversions.”
“That’s not evidence.”
Laura looked toward her.
“Then ask the officer unconscious behind the medication cart.”
Mara opened the door slightly.
She looked down the corridor.
One of the two officers assigned outside the room was lying near the wall.
The second officer was missing.
Mara closed the door.
“What happened?”
“I came out of the stairwell.”
“The lights went off.”
“Someone in hospital scrubs attacked the officer.”
“Man or woman?”
“Man.”
“Face?”
“Mask.”
“And Richard?”
“Probably already inside the building.”
Claire’s hand trembled.
Ethan noticed.
He reached for her.
Laura saw it too.
“You need to get Ethan out.”
Mara shook her head.
“The elevators are locked.”
“Then the service stairs.”
“The alarm is active.”
Laura stared at her.
“That is exactly why Richard chose a fire alarm.”
Mara understood.
“He wants everyone moving.”
“He wants confusion.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
“And he knows I won’t leave without my son.”
Laura nodded.
Mara checked the corridor through the narrow glass panel.
People were moving toward stairwells.
Hospital employees directed patients away from the western wing.
“Why would Richard risk coming here?”
Laura answered.
“Because the flash drive is incomplete.”
Claire looked at her.
“What?”
“The drive Ethan found is a payment index.”
“You’ve seen it?”
“I created it.”
Mara turned sharply.
“You created Richard’s ledger?”
“I copied Richard’s ledger.”
“That is different.”
Laura ignored the accusation in the detective’s voice.
“The list identifies names and amounts.”
“It does not contain the original transaction records.”
“Where are those?”
Laura looked at Claire.
“Your house.”
Claire frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I searched everything.”
“You searched the places Richard knew you would search.”
“What does that mean?”
“Remember Nathan’s grandfather clock?”
Claire went still.
Ethan looked between them.
“The broken clock in the den?”
Laura nodded.
“It isn’t broken.”
Claire stared.
“You hid evidence in my house?”
“I hid evidence in Richard’s house.”
“You could have gotten Ethan killed.”
Laura’s eyes flashed.
“I was trying to stop Richard from stealing eighty-six million dollars and murdering witnesses.”
“You should have told me.”
“I did.”
“You told me there were documents.”
“I couldn’t tell you where.”
“Why?”
Laura looked away.
Claire understood.
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I didn’t trust who might be listening.”
“You thought Richard had surveillance inside the house.”
“I knew he did.”
Ethan felt another chill.
“Where?”
Laura looked at him.
“Smoke detector above the kitchen.”
“Lamp in the library.”
“Garage keypad.”
“And one inside your mother’s car.”
Claire shut her eyes.
“He heard everything.”
“Almost everything.”
Mara lowered her voice.
“So Richard is coming here for what?”
Laura looked toward Ethan.
“For him.”
Claire immediately stepped in front of her son.
“Why?”
“Because Richard thinks Ethan knows where the second key is.”
“What second key?”
Laura opened her mouth.
A violent bang struck the hospital room door.
Everyone froze.
Another bang came.
Then a man shouted.
“Police!”
Mara did not move.
“Name and badge number.”
“Officer Grant, 4197.”
Mara looked at Laura.
Laura shook her head.
The voice came again.
“Detective Quinn, open the door.”
Mara walked closer.
“What happened to Officer Salazar?”
A pause.
Then the man answered.
“He’s helping with evacuation.”
Mara’s face hardened.
Officer Salazar was the man unconscious by the wall.
She raised her weapon.
“Back away from the door.”
The handle moved.
Locked.
Then came a metallic scraping sound.
Someone was trying to force the lock.
Claire took Ethan toward the bathroom.
Laura stopped them.
“No.”
“What?”
“Not the bathroom.”
“Why?”
“No second exit.”
Another bang shook the door.
Mara looked around.
“Window?”
“Seventh floor.”
Laura pointed toward a maintenance panel beside the cabinets.
“What’s behind that?”
Claire frowned.
“Medical service corridor.”
Mara stared.
“How do you know?”
“I studied the hospital plans.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard donated half this wing.”
The lock began bending.
Mara rushed to the panel.
It was secured with two screws.
Ethan grabbed a metal tray.
“Use this.”
Mara wedged the edge into the seam.
Laura helped.
The panel popped free.
Behind it was a narrow passage used for plumbing and electrical access.
“Go.”
Claire pushed Ethan inside first.
Laura followed.
Mara entered last and pulled the panel closed behind them.
Seconds later, the hospital room door burst open.
Boots entered.
Ethan held his breath.
Through a thin crack, he saw a man in dark hospital scrubs.
The man carried a gun with a suppressor attached.
He searched the room.
Then a second person entered.
Ethan saw only expensive shoes.
Richard.
His voice was almost calm.
“They were here.”
The masked man answered.
“They can’t be far.”
Richard walked toward the bed.
He touched the pillow where Claire’s head had rested.
Then he looked toward the wall.
Ethan felt Claire grip his arm.
Richard walked directly toward the maintenance panel.
He stopped inches away.
Silence.
Ethan could hear his own heartbeat.
Richard raised one hand.
Then a radio crackled from the masked man.
“Police entering stairwell C.”
Richard lowered his hand.
“Move.”
They left.
Mara waited another twenty seconds.
Then she whispered, “Go.”
The service passage was barely wide enough for one person.
Ethan crawled forward.
Pipes rattled above his head.
Smoke filtered through vents.
They reached an intersection.
Laura pointed left.
“Laundry elevator.”
Mara frowned.
“It won’t operate during a fire alarm.”
“Not the elevator.”
Laura pointed downward.
“The shaft has a maintenance ladder.”
Claire stared.
“You want Ethan climbing seven floors down an elevator shaft?”
“Would you rather use the stairs Richard is watching?”
Ethan looked over the edge.
A ladder descended into darkness.
He swallowed.
“I can do it.”
Claire shook her head.
“I go first.”
Mara agreed.
“If he falls, you catch him.”
Claire climbed onto the ladder.
Ethan followed.
Laura came next.
Mara remained above.
They descended.
Sixth floor.
Fifth.
Fourth.
Ethan’s hands began aching.
On the third floor, voices echoed from above.
Someone had entered the shaft.
Laura looked upward.
“Faster.”
Claire descended.
Ethan followed.
Then a flashlight beam appeared above them.
“There!”
A bullet struck the metal ladder.
Ethan screamed.
Claire shouted.
“KEEP MOVING!”
Another shot rang out.
Sparks exploded beside Laura.
Mara returned fire from above.
The shaft filled with deafening echoes.
Ethan reached the second floor.
Claire kicked open a maintenance door.
“Ethan, jump!”
He leaped through.
She caught him.
Laura followed.
Mara landed last.
They ran through a storage corridor.
At the end was an emergency exit.
Claire pushed the bar.
The door opened into an alley.
Fresh air hit them.
They ran toward the parking lot.
Then Laura suddenly stopped.
“No.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
Laura stared toward the street.
A black sedan waited across from the hospital.
The driver was watching them.
Mara raised her gun.
The sedan accelerated away.
Laura looked at Claire.
“That wasn’t Richard.”
“Who was it?”
Laura’s face had become even more frightened.
“The man Richard works for.”
Claire stared.
“You told me Richard was the one running everything.”
Laura shook her head.
“That’s what I believed.”
“And now?”
Laura looked at Ethan.
May you like
“Now I think Richard was only protecting someone much worse.”
---
