Chapter 26 - Fire on the Forth
The fire started twelve minutes early.
Harrison must have realized something was wrong.
One moment, Warehouse 17 was a black silhouette against the rainy sky.
The next, orange flame rolled from a shattered upper window.
“Move!” Fiona shouted.
Police vehicles surged forward.
Fire crews followed from the road.
I jumped out before Logan could stop me.
“Claire!”
Smoke already poured through the corrugated roof.
Officers breached the side entrance.
Inside, metal groaned under heat.
I stayed behind the police line as promised.
For perhaps twenty seconds.
Then Bianca came stumbling through the darkness.
Her coat was torn.
Blood covered one side of her face.
“Arthur’s still inside!”
Fiona grabbed her.
“Where?”
“North office!”
An explosion shook the building.
Flames blasted through the roof.
Logan ran toward the entrance with two firefighters.
My heart stopped.
“Logan!”
He disappeared inside.
Everything after that happened in fragments.
Sirens.
Rain.
Smoke.
Shouting.
A firefighter dragging Arthur into the yard.
His wrists were still bound.
He collapsed onto the wet pavement, coughing violently.
“Where’s Logan?” I screamed.
Nobody answered.
Then Harrison emerged through a loading door.
He was carrying the Northern Book.
And a handgun.
Officers shouted commands.
Harrison grabbed Bianca by the hair and pulled her against him.
The gun pressed beneath her jaw.
“Back away!”
Everyone froze.
Harrison’s eyes found mine.
“You.”
He smiled.
“This is all because of you.”
“No,” I said.
Rain ran down my face.
“It’s because you couldn’t survive being ordinary.”
His smile vanished.
“You inherited everything.”
“I inherited responsibility.”
“You took my career.”
“You falsified evidence.”
“You destroyed my brother.”
“Arthur chose to help you.”
“You sent Bianca to prison.”
“She forged medical records.”
“You always have an answer!”
His scream echoed across the yard.
Bianca closed her eyes.
I kept my voice level.
“That’s because the truth is easier to remember.”
Harrison’s hand trembled.
Behind him, a shadow moved.
Logan.
He had emerged through another doorway.
Soot covered his face.
He saw the gun.
He saw me.
He stopped.
Harrison did not notice.
I continued talking.
“You still have one choice left.”
“I have nothing!”
“You have the choice not to make this worse.”
He laughed.
“Worse?”
Then Bianca moved.
She slammed her heel onto Harrison’s foot and dropped her weight.
The gun jerked sideways.
Logan charged.
A shot cracked.
I screamed.
Harrison hit the ground beneath Logan.
Police surrounded them instantly.
The gun skidded across wet concrete.
For one terrible second, Logan remained on his knees.
Then he looked toward me.
“I’m fine!”
The bullet had missed him.
It struck the brick wall.
Harrison was handcuffed.
Bianca crawled away shaking.
Arthur lay beneath an oxygen mask while paramedics treated him.
And the Northern Book sat in a puddle.
Burned along one corner.
But intact.
By dawn, Harrison Vance faced charges ranging from kidnapping and aggravated assault to extortion, arson, stalking, and attempted murder.
Arthur was taken to hospital.
Bianca voluntarily entered protective custody.
Logan received treatment for smoke inhalation and a burn on his forearm.
I sat beside his hospital bed, furious and relieved in equal measure.
“You ran into a burning building.”
“There was a man inside.”
“You’re impossible.”
“You married me.”
“That was before I discovered you had suicidal firefighter tendencies.”
He smiled weakly.
“You still love me?”
I kissed his forehead.
“Unfortunately.”
His fingers closed around mine.
Outside the room, Lily and Noah were waiting with Alistair.
Safe.
Alive.
Home.
I thought the nightmare was finally finished.
Then Fiona entered holding an evidence bag.
Inside was Harrison’s second phone.
“We found something you need to see.”
It was a message Harrison had received two days earlier.
Not sent.
Received.
**The Ashford woman must never know who funded you.**
The sender was saved under one name.
**J.W.**
May you like
Julian Whitmore.
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