CHAPTER 23: THE ROOM BENEATH THE HOSPITAL
Emma wedged a metal pipe beneath the closing door.
“Move!”
Harrison lifted Rebecca while Khloe searched the chamber.
Shelves covered every wall.
They contained inspection reports, photographs, recordings and financial documents protected in sealed containers.
They could not carry everything.
Smoke poured through the entrance.
Ava found a red fireproof box marked with Elizabeth’s initials.
“This one!”
Khloe grabbed it.
The pipe beneath the door began bending.
Emma and Ava crawled beneath the narrowing opening.
Harrison pushed Rebecca through next.
Khloe remained behind with the box.
The metal door dropped lower.
“Hurry!” Harrison shouted.
Khloe slid the box across the floor.
Harrison caught it.
The door struck Khloe’s shoulder as she rolled beneath it.
For one second, her coat became trapped.
Flames reached the chamber.
Khloe tore free and followed the others into the tunnel.
Behind them, the hidden archive burned.
They reached the ambulance bay seconds before part of the contaminated wing collapsed.
Firefighters carried Rebecca outside.
The demolition supervisor stared at the smoke rising from beneath the center.
“That wasn’t part of our operation.”
Rourke had attempted to destroy the evidence before the city could demolish the building.
At the hospital, Rebecca explained what happened.
She had removed the structural report from behind Elizabeth’s portrait after receiving a message threatening Emma.
She agreed to meet Rourke at the old pump house.
Martin followed her and was captured as well.
“I should have told you,” Rebecca said.
Khloe sat beside her bed.
“You were trying to protect Emma.”
“I was repeating Daniel’s mistake. I thought secrecy would protect someone I loved.”
“Where is the structural report?”
Rebecca looked toward Emma.
“Inside the lining of her old red suitcase.”
Emma stared at her.
“The suitcase you gave me when I entered witness protection?”
“I knew no one would connect it to Northbridge.”
Federal agents recovered the report from Emma’s apartment.
It proved the replacement supports had failed every required safety test.
Daniel’s signature appeared on the approval page.
So did Charles Rourke’s.
Khloe opened Elizabeth’s fireproof box.
Inside were three items.
A video cassette.
A ledger containing the names of the Northbridge families.
And a sealed document marked:
TO MY CHILDREN—ONLY WHEN THE ROOM IS OPENED TOGETHER.
Harrison unfolded the letter.
Elizabeth had written:
Khloe and Harrison, if you are reading this, then silence has once again placed our family in danger. Your father is not innocent. But neither is he the architect of everything that followed. You must hear his confession before deciding what deserves to survive.
The old video cassette was converted into a digital file.
Daniel appeared on the screen.
He looked younger, exhausted and terrified.
“My name is Daniel Cole,” he began. “I approved the Northbridge supports after Charles Rourke assured me the altered reports were legitimate.”
He lowered his eyes.
“When I learned the truth, fourteen workers were already dead.”
Daniel described the settlements, the threats and Samuel Ruiz’s death.
Then he said something none of them expected.
“Charles did not create Meridian to protect my children. Elizabeth did. But Charles changed the final agreement before it was registered.”
Daniel held up a page.
“If I disappear or die, control will eventually pass to the person listed as preservation trustee.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“That person is Charles Rourke.”
The recording distorted.
Daniel’s final sentence was almost inaudible.
Emma increased the volume.
“The only way to stop him is to find the fifteenth name.”
The screen went black.
Harrison examined the victim ledger.
May you like
Only fourteen names appeared.
But the final page had been torn out.
