Chapter 13 - The Foundry
The foundry smelled of rust, oil, and river water.
Grace followed Lily's voice through a maze of dead machinery.
"Lily!"
"Mommy!"
Richard Ashford appeared on an iron platform above her.
He held Lily by one arm.
Grace stopped breathing.
"Let her go."
Richard looked almost disappointed. "You were supposed to disappear years ago."
"I did."
"Not well enough."
The same words Victoria had used.
Grace's eyes flicked toward the shadows.
Victoria heard them too.
Nathan moved silently along the lower level while Maya circled toward the platform stairs.
Richard raised a pistol.
"Where is Victoria?"
"Here," she called.
She stepped into the open.
Richard's expression softened in a way that made Grace sick.
"Come upstairs, sweetheart."
Victoria did not move. "Did you order Voss to cut Ethan's brakes?"
Richard smiled faintly. "This isn't the time."
"I need to hear you say it."
"Victoria."
"Say it."
His face changed.
"Ethan was going to destroy everything. Your future. Mine. The Coles'. He gave me no choice."
Maya's hidden recorder captured every word.
Nathan emerged below the platform. "You always had a choice."
Richard swung the gun toward him.
In that instant, Lily bit Richard's hand.
He shouted.
Grace ran for the stairs.
A gunshot exploded through the building.
Victoria screamed.
Nathan tackled Richard against the railing.
Lily slipped free, but her small foot caught between two metal bars.
She dangled over the lower floor.
"Mommy!"
Grace dropped to her stomach and caught Lily's wrist with one hand.
Pain ripped through her injured shoulder.
She nearly lost her grip.
Nathan was still fighting Richard ten feet away.
Victoria stood frozen below.
Grace looked down at her.
"Victoria!"
For one terrible second, Victoria did nothing.
Then she ran beneath Lily and lifted both arms.
"Let her fall! I've got her!"
Grace stared at the woman who had attacked them twenty-four hours earlier.
May you like
Her shoulder gave way.
Lily slipped.
