Chapter 16 - The Roadblock
Silas entered the concrete room as if he were arriving for a meeting.
“June,” he said. “You look tired.”
June stood beside the desk. “You look exactly as you did when you signed the relocation orders.”
“Those orders helped people.”
“They emptied buildings before the fires.”
“The buildings were unsafe.”
Mara watched his face. “Then why did you alter the inspection dates?”
“Because the inspectors were incompetent.”
“Why did you pay Northstar Renewal?”
“Because Northstar handled emergency housing.”
“Why did your private medical company receive payments from the same account?”
Silas looked toward the radio.
He understood the trap.
“You think a conversation proves anything?”
“No. Your answers do.”
“My answers are explanations.”
“For crimes?”
“For decisions.”
The distinction sounded rehearsed.
Outside, a police vehicle moved across the snow. Its lights flashed red against the tunnel wall.
Silas stepped toward the envelope.
“Give it to me.”
Mara did not move.
“Tell me about Adrian Venn.”
Cole flinched.
Silas glanced at him. “Your brother was a tragic casualty.”
“You told him the fire was unavoidable.”
“It was.”
“You knew the building had been cleared.”
“The tenants had been relocated.”
“Three people remained.”
“Trespassers.”
Cole’s face went blank.
“You called Adrian a trespasser?”
Silas turned to him. “He refused to leave.”
“You said he was trapped.”
“I said what I needed to say.”
The admission hung in the room.
Mara saw Cole look at the radio. The tiny red light blinked steadily.
Silas noticed too. He lunged toward it.
Cole intercepted him. They collided against the desk, sending the envelope to the floor.
June grabbed it.
Silas shoved Cole aside and reached for her. Mara stepped between them, though fear shook her legs.
“Don’t touch her.”
“You are exhausting,” Silas said.
“And you are recorded.”
He stopped.
From the tunnel came a police command.
“Silas Venn, step away from the civilians and raise your hands.”
Silas looked at the passage, then at Mara.
“You called them.”
“No,” Mara said. “You did.”
He backed toward the far wall.
The concrete room had another exit, hidden behind a stack of old file boxes. Silas kicked them aside and opened a narrow door.
“He’s escaping,” June said.
Mara reached for the radio. “The door leads to the grain elevator.”
Cole grabbed Silas’s coat.
Silas struck him and ran.
Police entered from the tunnel. Two officers secured Cole while Calder moved toward the hidden door.
“Mara, are you injured?”
“June is chained upstairs. Dana has a weapon.”
“Where is Dana?”
“The blue house.”
Calder handed Mara to an officer. “Stay here.”
“Silas is going to the elevator.”
“We know.”
She looked at the radio. “You transmitted the call?”
“I hoped.”
“They heard enough.”
Calder disappeared through the hidden door.
Above them, another series of shouts echoed across the property. A police siren rose and fell. Then a single gunshot cracked in the distance.
Mara gripped June’s arm.
“That wasn’t from here,” June said.
The officer beside them spoke into his radio. “Suspect down. No officers hit. Repeat, suspect down.”
Mara closed her eyes.
She did not feel relief. Not yet. Silas was still a person, and people survived endings they had earned.
A few minutes later, Calder returned with a bloodied sleeve and the blue envelope in her hand.
“He’s alive,” she said. “He ran into the elevator yard and slipped on the ice. The weapon was unloaded.”
“Dana?”
“In custody.”
“Cole?”
“Cooperating.”
Mara looked at the envelope.
“Then don’t let anyone call this a misunderstanding.”
May you like
Calder nodded.
“We won’t.”
