Chapter 12 - BENEATH THE FALLING GLASS
The first glass panel crashed near the orchids.
Ethan pushed Victor beneath a stone table.
Julian ran toward the exit.
A steel frame fell across the doorway and trapped him inside.
Claire rushed toward Sophie.
Eleanor dragged the child backward.
Snow and glass rained through the broken roof.
Nathan appeared behind Eleanor.
He struck her wrist.
The blade fell.
Claire grabbed Sophie and turned away as another panel shattered.
Ethan reached them.
He covered Claire and the child with his body.
A metal beam struck his shoulder.
He fell to one knee.
“Ethan!”
“I’m okay.”
He was not.
Blood spread beneath his torn jacket.
Claire pulled him toward the stone table.
Victor helped drag him beneath it.
Nathan wrestled Eleanor near the control panel.
She seized a broken piece of glass and cut his arm.
Julian freed himself from the fallen frame.
He raised his gun toward Eleanor.
She looked at him.
“You would not dare.”
Julian’s hand shook.
“You killed my mother.”
“I made you strong.”
“You made me useful.”
Eleanor stepped toward him.
“You were nothing before me.”
Julian lowered the gun slightly.
Eleanor smiled.
Then Julian turned and fired at the roof mechanism.
The remaining locks jammed.
The collapse slowed.
Nathan tackled Eleanor to the ground.
Police officers entered through the damaged side wall.
“Drop the weapon!”
Julian placed the gun on the floor.
Detective Ruiz crossed the greenhouse and handcuffed Eleanor.
For the first time, Eleanor appeared afraid.
Claire held Sophie against her chest.
The child buried her face against Claire’s neck.
Ethan touched Sophie’s hair.
“She’s real.”
Claire looked at him through tears.
“She’s yours.”
Sophie lifted her head.
Ethan smiled despite the pain in his shoulder.
“Hi, Sophie.”
The child stared at him.
Claire whispered into her ear.
“This is your daddy.”
Sophie touched Ethan’s face.
“Daddy?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“I’m your daddy.”
Paramedics carried Victor and Nathan from the greenhouse.
Ethan refused treatment until Claire and Sophie were safe.
Detective Ruiz led Eleanor toward the exit.
Eleanor stopped beside Claire.
“You think breaking the card saved you?”
Claire looked at her.
“I gave the real card to Detective Ruiz at the hospital.”
Eleanor’s face went white.
Claire stepped closer.
“The one inside the rabbit was empty.”
Ruiz smiled faintly.
“We copied every file before leaving Baltimore.”
Eleanor stared at Claire with pure hatred.
“You have no idea what you released.”
“I released the truth.”
“No.”
Eleanor leaned close.
“You released him.”
Before Claire could ask who she meant, Eleanor was pulled away.
Outside, police vehicles covered the mountain road.
Reporters had already begun gathering near the barricades.
Ethan was placed on a stretcher.
Claire walked beside him while carrying Sophie.
Victor was loaded into another ambulance.
Nathan sat nearby with his injured arm bandaged.
As the vehicles prepared to leave, Ruiz received a call.
She listened for several seconds.
Her expression darkened.
“What happened?”
Claire asked.
Ruiz lowered the phone.
“The forensic team opened the files.”
“They found payments to judges, doctors, police officers, and members of the Hawthorne board.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Who authorized them?”
“Most were authorized by Eleanor.”
Ruiz hesitated.
“But the largest payments came from an account belonging to someone else.”
“Who?”
May you like
Detective Ruiz looked toward Victor’s ambulance.
“Victor Hawthorne.”
