Chapter 17 - The Greenhouse
The abandoned greenhouse glowed in the lightning like a broken glass skeleton.
Ortiz ordered Ethan to stay behind the deputies.
He ignored her.
Inside, rows of dead planting tables stretched through the darkness. Rain leaked through shattered roof panels. Somewhere deeper inside, metal clanged.
"Bella!"
No answer.
Then a whisper came from behind a stack of empty crates.
"Dad?"
Ethan ran.
Isabella crawled out barefoot, one wrist red where plastic cord had rubbed her skin.
He dropped to his knees and pulled her against him.
"Oh, God. Bella."
She clung to his neck.
"I knew the voice wasn't you."
"Then why did you go outside?"
"Because it said bluebird. I thought maybe you were in trouble."
Ethan's heart cracked all over again.
"How did you get away?"
"Beatriz tied the cord too loose. She was crying and yelling at somebody on the phone."
"Where is she now?"
Isabella pointed toward the far end of the greenhouse.
A door slammed.
Beatriz ran into the orchard.
Ortiz and a deputy followed.
Ethan stayed with Isabella.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?"
"For not seeing what was happening."
She looked at him with exhausted seriousness. "Can we talk about that later?"
Despite everything, he almost laughed.
"Yeah. We can."
A gunshot cracked outside.
Isabella screamed.
Ethan covered her with his body.
Ortiz shouted, "Police! Drop it!"
Another shot.
Then silence.
Ethan's blood went cold.
He told Isabella to stay behind the concrete planter and moved toward the door.
Ortiz appeared first, breathing hard.
"I'm okay," she said. "Warning shot from Beatriz. Nobody hit."
"Where is she?"
"Running toward the old boathouse."
Isabella stood behind Ethan.
Her face changed.
"Dad."
"What?"
"There's gasoline in the boathouse."
Ethan remembered the old emergency tanks stored there years ago.
Then orange light flashed between the trees.
May you like
The boathouse had caught fire.
And from inside it came Beatriz's scream.
