Chapter 14 - Plant Three
Police surrounded the abandoned Hale factory before dawn.
Willow did not go alone.
She went wearing a wire.
Richard believed otherwise.
She entered through the rusted eastern door.
The building smelled of oil, wet concrete, and thirty years of abandonment.
Marion sat beneath a hanging work light.
Her hands were tied.
Richard stood behind her holding a pistol.
“You look like your mother.”
Willow stopped twenty feet away.
“I’ve heard that a lot this week.”
Richard smiled.
“Evelyn had the same talent for mistaking stubbornness for courage.”
“Untie Marion.”
“No.”
“You asked for me.”
“And you came.”
Richard seemed almost proud.
“Donovan raised you exactly as I expected.”
Willow stared at him.
“What truth did my father never know?”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
“Evelyn was leaving him.”
Willow’s heart jumped.
“No.”
“She planned to disappear with you.”
“Why?”
“Because she learned Michael intended to expose me.”
Willow frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
Richard laughed.
“Your mother knew exposure meant war.”
“She wanted you away from all of us.”
“Even Michael.”
Marion began shaking her head.
“He’s lying.”
Richard struck the back of her chair.
“Quiet.”
Willow did not move.
“Then why did she drive that night?”
Richard’s eyes sharpened.
“She was going to the airport.”
Willow remembered the crash report.
Her mother had died south of Oak Park.
Not toward O’Hare.
Richard continued.
“She had documents in the car.”
“The original Hale voting certificate.”
“I needed it.”
Willow realized something.
“You didn’t mean to kill her.”
Richard’s face changed.
It was small.
But she saw it.
“You only wanted to stop the car.”
Marion began crying.
Richard looked at her.
That was confirmation enough.
“You ordered someone to damage the brakes.”
Willow’s voice remained steady.
“You expected her to crash before reaching the airport.”
Richard’s hand tightened around the gun.
“She was supposed to be frightened.”
“She was supposed to stop.”
“Evelyn always pushed too far.”
Willow heard every word through the wire.
So did police outside.
Richard realized it a second too late.
His eyes dropped toward Willow’s coat.
“You’re wired.”
He raised the gun.
Marion screamed.
Lucas appeared from the dark doorway.
“Dad.”
Richard turned instinctively.
Willow moved.
Marion threw her chair sideways.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck a steel beam.
Police stormed through three entrances.
Richard raised the weapon again.
Lucas stood between his father and Willow.
“Put it down.”
Richard stared at his son.
“You would choose her?”
Lucas answered quietly.
“No.”
He looked at Willow.
“I’m choosing not to become you.”
Richard’s gun lowered one inch.
That was enough.
Officers tackled him.
As Richard hit the concrete floor, Willow saw the faded Hale logo behind him.
May you like
The empire had begun in this building.
Now Richard Sterling was being arrested inside its ruins.
