Chapter 17 - The Last Fire
The dock caught fire faster than anyone expected.
Mara ran toward the terminal, shouting that Celia was trapped below. The river wind drove flames along the wooden railings.
“Where is she?” Ruth asked.
“In the storage room,” Mara said. “Nico locked her there.”
Eli started down the burning stairs.
Ruth grabbed his sleeve. “Wait for the fire department.”
“She may not have time.”
He pulled free.
Ruth followed.
Smoke swallowed the lower level. The storage room door was chained from the outside. Eli kicked the lock until it broke.
Celia Vail lay on the floor beside a rusted heater. She was in her late fifties, with Iris’s eyes and Victor’s sharp cheekbones.
“Can you stand?” Eli asked.
“My ankle.”
Ruth and Eli lifted her between them.
Above, something collapsed. Sparks rained through the stairwell.
“The river,” Ruth said. “There’s a service ladder.”
They carried Celia toward the back wall. A ladder descended into the dark water beneath the terminal.
“I can’t swim,” Celia said.
“You don’t have to,” Ruth replied.
They lowered her first. Eli followed. Ruth was halfway down when the floor above gave way.
Nico appeared through the smoke.
“Ruth!” he shouted.
She looked up.
“The confession!”
She held it against her chest.
Nico stood surrounded by fire, his pistol lowered at his side. For a second, he looked less like a director and more like a frightened boy trapped in a house built by someone else.
“Give it to me,” he said.
“No.”
“You don’t understand what happens when this becomes public.”
“People learn the truth.”
“Families break.”
“Families can heal.”
“Not mine.”
“That is your choice.”
Nico stepped toward her. The beam beneath his foot cracked.
Eli climbed back up. “Jump!”
Nico looked at him. “You think she chose you because of blood?”
“She chose me every day.”
The beam broke.
Nico fell toward the river.
Eli caught his wrist.
Ruth reached for Eli’s belt. “Let him go!”
“I can pull him up.”
Nico clung to the edge, smoke streaming around him.
“Why?” he gasped.
Eli strained. “Because I’m not you.”
Ruth and Eli pulled together. Nico rolled onto the platform just as the terminal roof collapsed behind them.
Firefighters arrived at the riverbank. They dragged everyone to safety, including June, who had suffered burns to one hand while cutting the chain.
Nico was arrested on the dock. This time, no judge released him within hours. The cameras had recorded the weapon, the fire, the threats, and his attempt to destroy the confession.
Celia was taken to the hospital. Iris rode with her.
Mara remained beside Eli.
“You saved him,” Ruth said.
“I didn’t do it for him.”
“I know.”
“I did it for me.”
Ruth touched his shoulder.
He looked at her. “I am still Tomas.”
“Yes.”
“And I am still Eli.”
“Yes.”
“Can I be both?”
Ruth’s eyes filled. “You have always been both.”
June approached them, her burned hand wrapped in gauze.
“The confession survived,” she said.
She held up a waterproof evidence bag.
Ruth took it. “So did you.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“It is to me.”
June looked at Eli. “I am sorry.”
He did not answer immediately.
Then he said, “You will have to say that again.”
June nodded. “As many times as you need.”
Behind them, the old terminal burned against the morning sky.
May you like
The last fire had not destroyed the truth.
It had made it impossible to bury.
