Chapter 15 - The Last Room
The truck backed into the service entrance while officers shouted for the driver to stop. He jumped from the cab and ran toward the river. State police caught him before he reached the bank.
In the container they found blasting equipment and a work order bearing Martin Voss's company seal. The crew had been scheduled to close the old tunnel permanently at noon.
It was eleven forty-three.
Mara called the bomb squad and ordered everyone clear until specialists made the equipment safe. I stared at the tunnel entrance, knowing my mother might be somewhere behind its concrete walls.
Then Mom's phone rang in my pocket.
I answered. A low breath sounded, followed by my father's voice.
“Have you ever wondered why I didn't come home, Nora?”
“I stopped wondering when I saw Elise in that coffin.”
“I built everything for you girls.”
“You built a grave for your own daughter.”
For a moment he was quiet.
“Bring the original tape to the river dock. Leave your detective friends at the tunnel. You get Ruth, and I leave the country.”
“You don't get a deal.”
“You don't get to make one.”
He put Mom on the line. She sounded weak, but furious.
“Nora, listen. Your father isn't at the dock.”
A scuffle followed. Then Dad said, “She's always been bad at following rules.”
The call disconnected.
Mara had heard it through my speaker. She checked the site map and pointed toward the pumping station on the far bank. It shared a drainage line with the tunnel and had a separate road.
“He wants us watching the dock,” she said. “So we look where he doesn't.”
A burst of radio static interrupted her. Then a voice from the pumping station announced, “We found Ruth Hale.”
I covered my mouth.
May you like
The voice came back, strained and urgent.
“She's alive. But she's not alone.”
