CHAPTER 4 — THE MAN WHO SURVIVED
The second gunshot struck the metal railing above Charles’s hand.
Sparks exploded across the observatory.
Charles jerked backward.
Daniel moved down the gallery stairs with his weapon trained on him.
“Don’t touch it.”
Charles looked at the gun lying less than three feet away.
Then at Arthur.
Arthur was on his knees near the broken platform, both hands locked around Lily’s wrist.
Her body hung over the dark opening.
Below her, the freight train thundered through the abandoned tunnel.
The sound swallowed everything.
“Daddy!” Lily screamed.
“I have you!”
Arthur’s right shoulder burned.
The cracked metal beneath his knees bent lower.
A bolt tore loose and fell into the darkness.
Daniel shouted over the roar.
“Don’t move!”
“I’m trying not to!”
Lily’s fingers were slipping.
Arthur tightened his grip.
“Look at me, sweetheart.”
She stared up at him, terrified.
“Don’t look down.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“My hand hurts.”
“I know.”
“Don’t let me go.”
Arthur’s face twisted.
“I will never let you go.”
Behind him, Victoria lay on the floor near the telescope. Blood darkened the side of her crimson dress, but her chest was still moving.
Sarah Bell stood frozen beside the doorway, still holding the gun she had fired.
Charles glanced at her.
“You ruined everything.”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“You said no children.”
“You believed me?”
Charles suddenly kicked the loose gun across the floor.
It slid beneath the edge of the broken platform.
Daniel shifted his aim.
That was the moment Charles had been waiting for.
He lunged at Sarah.
The two of them crashed into the steel door.
The gun in Sarah’s hand fired again.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Daniel ran toward them.
At the same time, the platform beneath Arthur tore loose.
Metal screamed.
Arthur dropped flat on his stomach.
Lily fell another foot.
Her cry cut through him.
The approaching train passed directly beneath them.
Hot wind blasted upward through the opening.
Arthur’s suit jacket snapped violently around his body.
For one terrible second, Lily disappeared inside the smoke and darkness.
Then the train’s lights flashed beneath her silver shoe.
Arthur saw how close she was.
Too close.
He looked around desperately.
A heavy electrical cable hung from the side of the telescope.
“Daniel!”
Daniel turned.
“The cable!”
Daniel understood immediately.
He grabbed it and ran toward Arthur.
Charles shoved Sarah against the wall.
She collapsed.
Daniel threw the cable.
Arthur caught it with one hand while holding Lily with the other.
The train roared beneath them.
The final freight car passed.
The sound began to fade.
But the platform continued breaking.
Arthur looped the cable around his forearm.
“Lily, I need you to do something.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I can’t!”
“You are the bravest person in this room.”
She sobbed.
Arthur lowered his voice.
“You’re going to reach up with your other hand.”
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
“Daddy—”
“Trust me.”
Lily looked into his eyes.
Then slowly lifted her free hand.
Arthur released her wrist for less than a second.
She grabbed his sleeve.
He caught her under the arm and pulled.
The platform dropped again.
Arthur slid forward.
Half his body went over the edge.
Daniel wrapped both arms around Arthur’s waist.
“Pull!” Arthur shouted.
Daniel drove his heels against the floor.
Arthur dragged Lily upward.
Her fingers clawed at his jacket.
Then her shoulder cleared the opening.
Arthur pulled her against his chest.
The remaining platform collapsed beneath them.
Daniel fell backward, dragging Arthur and Lily away just before the entire section crashed into the tunnel.
Lily buried her face against Arthur’s neck.
He held her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“I’ve got you.”
She was shaking violently.
“I’ve got you.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nothing else existed.
Not Charles.
Not Victoria.
Not the guns.
Only Lily’s heartbeat against his chest.
Then Daniel shouted.
“Arthur!”
Arthur turned.
Charles had Sarah by the throat.
He held a broken piece of metal against her neck.
“Drop the gun,” Charles said.
Daniel aimed directly at him.
“Let her go.”
Charles dragged Sarah toward the side exit.
Blood ran down her temple.
“You come closer, she dies.”
Daniel didn’t move.
Charles smiled.
“You were always too careful, Daniel.”
Arthur looked at him.
“You know each other?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Charles continued backing away.
“He never told you?”
Daniel’s eyes stayed on Charles.
“Not now.”
“Oh, I think now is perfect.”
Charles reached the door.
“Daniel Cross wasn’t simply your wife’s investigator.”
Arthur stared at him.
Charles’s smile widened.
“He was her father.”
The room went silent.
Arthur looked at Daniel.
Daniel did not deny it.
Lily lifted her head from Arthur’s shoulder.
Charles laughed.
“That’s right. Emily Sterling was not born an Ashcroft.”
Arthur knew Emily had been raised by her mother. She had rarely spoken about her father. She told Arthur he had left when she was young.
Daniel’s face looked suddenly older.
“Emily wanted Arthur to know in her own time.”
“But she died before she could tell him,” Charles said.
He reached the door.
“And you spent two years watching your granddaughter from a distance.”
Lily looked between them.
“Granddaughter?”
Arthur’s arms tightened around her.
Daniel’s eyes filled with pain.
Charles used the distraction.
He shoved Sarah toward Daniel and ran.
Daniel caught her before she hit the floor.
Arthur lowered Lily carefully.
“Stay behind the telescope.”
“No!”
“Lily.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t leave me.”
Arthur looked toward the open side door.
Charles was escaping.
Then he looked back at his daughter.
He chose instantly.
He knelt beside her.
“I’m staying.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
“I’ll get him.”
Sarah caught his arm.
“No.”
Her voice was weak.
“He knows the tunnels.”
Daniel stared into the darkness beyond the doorway.
By the time law enforcement reached the observatory, Charles was gone.
Detective Cole arrived with a tactical team.
He looked at the collapsed floor, the blood, the shattered equipment, and the unconscious Victoria.
Then he looked at Arthur.
“You should have called me.”
Arthur held Lily.
“I didn’t know who to trust.”
Cole glanced at Daniel.
“And now?”
Arthur looked at the man who might be Lily’s grandfather.
“Now I’m even less sure.”
Paramedics treated Lily first.
Her wrist was badly bruised but not broken.
Arthur refused treatment until she was safely inside the ambulance.
Victoria was still alive.
The bullet had entered her side and missed major organs.
Sarah sat beneath a blanket, her hands trembling.
Detective Cole approached her.
“You fired the weapon?”
Sarah nodded.
“At Victoria Vance?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sarah looked toward Lily.
“To stop her.”
Cole watched her carefully.
“You were part of the kidnapping.”
Tears filled Sarah’s eyes.
“I didn’t know they would take her.”
“You were standing beside her in the photograph.”
“They told me Arthur had agreed to a private guardianship evaluation.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Sarah looked at him.
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“But it’s true.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“You helped kill my wife.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Daniel moved between them.
“She can give us Charles.”
Arthur looked at him.
“She can also give us Emily.”
Sarah began crying.
“I didn’t know what the medication would do.”
Arthur stared at her.
“You injected it.”
“No.”
Her answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
Arthur noticed.
“What did you do?”
Sarah looked at Detective Cole.
Then at Daniel.
Finally, she looked at Arthur.
“I changed the labels.”
The night seemed to stop around them.
Arthur’s voice dropped.
“What labels?”
“Emily had been receiving vitamin infusions.”
Arthur remembered.
After Lily’s birth, Emily had suffered severe fatigue. A private wellness doctor had recommended weekly infusions at home.
Sarah continued.
“Dr. Vale gave me two identical bags.”
“One contained vitamins.”
“And the other?”
Sarah’s mouth trembled.
“I was told it contained a sedative.”
Arthur could barely speak.
“You switched them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They paid me.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand.”
Arthur laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That was the value of my wife’s life?”
Sarah looked down.
“I had debts.”
Arthur stepped forward.
Daniel caught his arm.
“Arthur.”
He shook him off.
“What happened after you changed the bags?”
Sarah’s breathing became uneven.
“I left.”
“You left?”
“I was told another nurse would finish the infusion.”
“There was no other nurse.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You never checked?”
Sarah’s tears fell harder.
“I was afraid.”
Arthur’s voice rose for the first time.
“You were afraid?”
Lily flinched.
Arthur stopped immediately.
He turned toward her.
She was watching him from the ambulance.
He forced himself to breathe.
Then he looked back at Sarah.
“What was in the second bag?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“But Robert Vale did.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel spoke.
“Robert disappeared four months after Emily’s death.”
Sarah looked at him.
“No.”
Daniel frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t disappear.”
“Where is he?”
Sarah’s face went pale.
“He died.”
Arthur stared.
“How?”
“I saw his body.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“That’s impossible.”
Sarah’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Charles killed him.”
Arthur looked toward the tunnel.
“Why?”
“Because Dr. Vale kept a second report.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What second report?”
“The real toxicology results.”
Arthur felt the air leave his lungs.
Sarah continued.
“He told Charles he wanted more money.”
“Blackmail.”
“Yes.”
“And Charles killed him.”
Sarah nodded.
“Where is the report?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said Vale kept it.”
“He hid it.”
“Where?”
Sarah looked toward Victoria being loaded into another ambulance.
“His daughter knows.”
Arthur followed her gaze.
Victoria’s eyes were closed.
Or appeared to be.
As the paramedics lifted her stretcher, her right hand moved beneath the blanket.
Only slightly.
Arthur saw it.
She was awake.
She had heard everything.
He walked toward the ambulance.
A police officer blocked him.
“Sir.”
Arthur stopped.
Victoria opened her eyes.
For the briefest second, they looked directly at each other.
Then she whispered something Arthur could not hear.
The doors closed.
The ambulance pulled away.
Detective Cole turned to Sarah.
“You’re coming with us.”
She nodded.
Before the officers led her away, she looked at Arthur.
“There’s something else.”
Arthur waited.
Sarah lowered her voice.
“Emily did not die the night you think she did.”
Arthur went still.
“What?”
Sarah swallowed.
“The woman you identified at the morgue…”
She looked toward Daniel.
May you like
“…was not Emily.”
End of Chapter 4
