Chapter 12 - The Boathouse
Theo saw Elena through the window.
"Lena!"
Celeste spun around. The man beside Theo grabbed the boy's arm, and Adrian broke from cover before Mason could stop him.
"Let him go!"
She stepped away from Theo and pointed toward a table. A thick ledger lay beneath a desk lamp.
"Sign the transfer papers. Give me control of the foundation, and your son walks out of here."
"You kidnapped a child to steal a charity," Adrian said. "You killed Nora for money."
"Nora was going to destroy everything I built. She wanted to hand the foundation to strangers and expose the accounts. I only needed her to stop interfering. The fire was supposed to scare her. I didn't know it would spread so fast."
Elena stood at the side entrance, phone recording in her apron pocket. Her hands shook, but she kept her voice steady.
"You locked her in."
Celeste looked at her with open hatred. "She was alive when I left. I had a choice to make, and I made it. She chose to fight me."
"You told me Mommy died because Lena left," he said. "You said Lena was bad."
Celeste's expression hardened. "Your father needed someone to blame. I gave him someone."
He moved toward Theo. The man blocking the boy reached for his belt, but Mason crashed through the rear door and knocked him down. Grace shouted for the police. Sirens rose outside.
Celeste snatched the ledger and hurled a lantern toward a pile of old canvas. Flame spread along the floor. Smoke rolled up to the ceiling.
Elena ran to Theo and pulled him behind the life jackets. Adrian shoved the burning canvas away from the exit, but a beam dropped across the narrow passage.
"Go!" he shouted.
May you like
Elena lifted Theo into her arms. "Not without you."
The smoke thickened. Through it, Celeste vanished toward the dock with the ledger under her arm.
