Chapter 15 - The Shot
The bullet struck the jet's metal stair rail. Marcus stumbled backward, and Hannah's officers pinned him to the ground.
Adrian barely noticed. He was running to Evelyn.
Her skin was cold. She gripped his jacket with trembling fingers.
“I tried to come home,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“They told me Sophie was dead.”
Adrian felt something inside him tear. “She's alive. She's safe. She asks for you every day.”
Evelyn began to sob. He held her while paramedics checked her pulse and breathing.
Behind them, Marcus shouted that Sloane was lying. Sloane shouted that Marcus had arranged the burial. Both men were led away in handcuffs.
Evelyn touched Adrian's face. “There's something else,” she said.
“Whatever it is, we'll handle it.”
“No. You have to listen. Elena didn't die at the clinic.”
Adrian went still.
The shot echoed off the hangars. Adrian expected pain, but the bullet struck metal and showered sparks across the stairs. He dropped to the ground as Hannah's officers rushed Marcus. Sloane tried to run, slipped on the wet concrete, and disappeared beneath two officers. Someone was yelling for the engines to shut down.
Adrian reached Evelyn and fumbled with the wheelchair strap. His hands were shaking too badly to work the buckle. 'Slow down,' she whispered. It was such an Evelyn thing to say that he almost laughed. He dropped to his knees, pressed his forehead against hers, and felt her breath on his cheek. She was real. She was alive. She smelled faintly of antiseptic and the rain.
May you like
The medic arrived with a blanket. As they lifted Evelyn onto a stretcher, she grabbed Adrian's sleeve. 'Elena tried to open the service door,' she said. 'She could have saved herself. Instead she came back for me.' Adrian looked across the tarmac at Rosa, who stood behind the barricade with both hands clasped over her heart. He knew the truth would give her a daughter to mourn and a reason to be proud, all at once.
“She died trying to get me out.”
