Chapter 14 - The train station had been abandoned for twenty years.We arrived before dawn.
Fog rolled over the tracks.
Every sound echoed.
Daniel stayed behind the building.
Wesley and Emily remained in the car.
I walked alone.
A man stood beneath the old clock.
He turned.
My knees nearly gave out.
It was him.
My husband.
Older.
Gray hair.
A scar above his eyebrow.
But it was him.
“Margaret.”
I couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I had no choice.”
“No choice?”
I walked toward him.
“You had eight years.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I thought they would kill you.”
“They nearly did anyway.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
“Wesley knew.”
“No.”
“He knew something.”
“He knew enough to be manipulated.”
“And Emily?”
“I didn't know.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because Thomas found me.”
“The entire time?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
“Everywhere.”
He looked toward the tracks.
“I spent eight years dismantling the network.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
“Who helped you?”
He looked at Daniel.
“Your investigator.”
I turned.
Daniel stepped from the shadows.
I stared at both of them.
“You knew each other?”
Daniel nodded.
“He contacted me years ago.”
I felt betrayed again.
“You all knew except me.”
My husband took a breath.
“That was the only way.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He walked closer.
“That trust was never just about money.”
“I know.”
“It was a weapon.”
“Against Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“Then why use my house?”
“Because Thomas could only access the money through you.”
“And you needed me.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“You used me.”
He looked devastated.
“I protected you badly.”
I looked at him for a long time.
Then asked the question that mattered.
“Why did you come back now?”
“Because Thomas found the second archive.”
“What second archive?”
He looked at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“The one your family has been fighting over isn't the real archive.”
I felt cold.
“Then what is?”
He pointed toward the railroad tunnel.
“The original.”
“The evidence?”
“No.”
“The money?”
“No.”
“What then?”
He whispered,
“Names.”
Thousands of names.
People inside every institution.
People powerful enough to destroy anyone who exposed them.
“And Thomas wants it.”
“Yes.”
“Richard?”
“Working for him.”
“Marcus?”
“His son.”
“Cora?”
My husband looked away.
“Complicated.”
“She betrayed us.”
“She was threatened.”
“You always protect the guilty.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“She was protecting Wesley.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Cora appeared from the tunnel.
Her face was bruised.
She was holding Emily's son.
Emily ran toward her.
Then stopped.
Cora handed the child over.
“I never wanted anyone hurt.”
Wesley approached.
“Why did you help them?”
“Because Thomas had my father.”
Wesley froze.
“What?”
Cora's eyes filled with tears.
“My father.”
I looked at her.
“Richard?”
She shook her head.
“Thomas.”
Silence.
“My father was supposed to be dead.”
She looked at my husband.
“He rescued me when I was a teenager.”
My husband whispered,
“And I later discovered she was his daughter.”
Everything stopped.
Cora was Thomas's daughter.
Wesley had married the daughter of the man destroying his family.
He had no idea.
Neither had I.
Then Thomas's voice echoed from the tunnel.
“You've all become sentimental.”
He stepped into the light.
Gun in hand.
“You should have stayed dead.”
My husband raised his weapon.
Thomas smiled.
“It's time to end this.”
He fired.
The bullet struck my husband's chest.
He collapsed.
I screamed.
Thomas ran into the tunnel.
Wesley dropped beside his father.
Blood spread across his shirt.
My husband opened his eyes.
“Margaret.”
“Stay with me.”
He grabbed my hand.
“One last thing.”
“What?”
He whispered four words.
“The house is not yours.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He looked terrified.
“It's hers.”
May you like
He pointed toward Cora.
Then his eyes closed.
