Chapter 15 - THE MAN WHO LOOKED AWAY
Celeste dropped over the ledge after him.
Her left hand caught the maintenance frame.
Her right hand closed around Arthur’s wrist.
For one terrifying second, both of them hung above the street.
Arthur looked up at her.
The fear in his eyes was not fear of death.
It was fear that his daughter would die because of him.
“Let me go,” he said.
Celeste’s injured shoulder burned.
Her fingers began to slip.
“I already lost your mother.”
Arthur’s voice broke.
“I will not take you with me.”
Celeste stared down at him.
“You don’t get to make that choice for me.”
A rope dropped from the roof.
Vivian wrapped it around Celeste’s waist.
Federal agents burst through the stairwell and pulled them upward.
Julian ran toward the opposite edge.
Mercer’s helicopter lifted from the neighboring building.
A cable ladder swung beneath it.
Julian jumped and caught the lowest rung.
Celeste rolled onto the roof beside Arthur.
A dark stain spread across his shirt where the bullet had struck his side.
Medics rushed toward him.
Julian rose higher above the roof.
He looked down at Celeste with a triumphant smile.
Then Vivian picked up the fallen pistol.
She aimed at the helicopter cable.
Celeste pushed the barrel aside before she fired.
“What are you doing?” Vivian shouted.
“If you hit the aircraft, it could crash into the street.”
“He deserves to die.”
“He deserves to answer for what he did.”
Vivian stared at her.
“After everything, you’re protecting him?”
“No.”
Celeste watched Julian disappear into the fog.
“I’m protecting everyone beneath him.”
Arthur reached for Celeste’s hand.
She knelt beside him.
“Your mother,” he whispered.
“What about her?”
“Her body was never identified.”
Celeste’s breath caught.
Arthur struggled to continue.
“Julian handled the remains.”
“You told me you saw her.”
“I saw a closed coffin.”
The medics lifted Arthur onto a stretcher.
Before they carried him away, he looked at Celeste.
“I looked away because I was a coward.”
He closed his eyes.
“Do not look away now.”
Celeste stood slowly.
Admiral Reed approached from the stairwell.
“We tracked the helicopter.”
“Where is it going?”
“Back to Pier Nine.”
May you like
Celeste looked toward the harbor.
Julian had returned to the place where everything began.
