Chapter 10 - THE CLOCK UNDER THE SCHOOL
There were four hundred children inside.
Renick reached the school with federal agents minutes after evacuation began.
Teachers rushed students across the lawn.
Parents screamed behind barricades.
Bomb technicians entered the basement.
Belle remained with Micah and Brinley in the SUV.
Then Brinley whispered, “My blue bird.”
Belle looked at her.
“What?”
“My blue bird is inside.”
“It’s okay.”
“No.”
Brinley started crying.
“My mommy gave it to me.”
The stuffed bird was the last gift Brinley’s mother had given her before she died.
Renick heard through the open door.
He turned toward the school.
Belle grabbed him.
“Don’t.”
“It’s her mother’s.”
“It’s a stuffed animal.”
“It matters to her.”
“You matter more.”
Renick stopped.
Brinley climbed from the vehicle.
“Daddy.”
He crouched.
She wiped her tears.
“You don’t have to get it.”
Renick looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Micah says people are more important than stuff.”
Renick looked toward Micah.
“Smart kid.”
Micah shrugged.
“My mom says it.”
Belle smiled.
Then the bomb squad commander ran toward them.
“The device is fake.”
Renick frowned.
“What?”
“No explosive compound.”
Sully swore.
“Diversion.”
Renick’s phone rang.
Patrick.
“You always did run toward fires.”
Renick looked around.
“Where are you?”
Patrick laughed.
“Somewhere you should’ve protected.”
Renick’s face changed.
“The estate.”
They raced back.
Too late.
Smoke rose above the Kavanaugh mansion.
Patrick’s men had attacked while security was focused on the school.
But they had not come for money.
They came for the files.
Daniel’s original documents were stored inside Renick’s study.
Flames consumed the east wing.
Renick ran toward the building.
Belle blocked him.
“No.”
“The evidence!”
“Copies exist.”
“Daniel’s originals don’t.”
Belle stared at the burning house.
Then she remembered.
Daniel’s letter.
One line she had not understood.
Truth survives where children keep their treasures.
She turned toward Micah.
“Your dad’s box.”
Micah’s eyes widened.
Years earlier, Daniel had made him a wooden toy chest.
Inside its false bottom, Belle found a second set of records.
Daniel had never trusted a single hiding place.
Renick laughed when he saw them.
A broken, exhausted laugh.
“Your husband was paranoid.”
Belle smiled through tears.
“He was an accountant.”
“Apparently that’s worse.”
Firefighters battled the blaze until midnight.
Patrick lost his chance to destroy the evidence.
But he gained something else.
Chaos.
And under cover of that chaos, he disappeared again.
Days became weeks.
The federal case grew.
Renick formally dismantled several illegal businesses.
Assets were surrendered.
Witnesses came forward.
The Kavanaugh empire began collapsing.
And Renick allowed it.
Then, on a rainy November morning, Belle received a package.
Inside was Brinley’s blue stuffed bird.
Its stomach had been cut open.
A note was stuffed inside.
COME TO THE PLACE DANIEL DIED.
ALONE.
OR RENICK WILL NEVER LIVE TO SEE TRIAL.
Belle looked out the window.
Across the street, Renick’s usual security vehicle sat empty.
Its windshield was cracked.
Blood covered the driver’s seat.
May you like
Renick was gone.
Patrick had taken his own son.
