Chapter 19: The Final Chase
Chapter 19: The Final Chase
Detective Brooks gripped his phone.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
Ethan's voice was tense.
"There was a prison transport this morning. On the way back from a court hearing, another vehicle forced the transport van off the road."
Brooks frowned.
"Was anyone killed?"
"No."
"The officers suffered minor injuries."
"But Margaret disappeared before backup arrived."
Ramirez's expression hardened.
"Someone planned this."
Brooks nodded.
"They've been planning it for a long time."
Within minutes, every law enforcement agency in the state received the alert.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT
Margaret Carter
Considered Extremely Dangerous
Roadblocks were established.
Air support was deployed.
Every airport, train station, and highway exit was placed under surveillance.
But Brooks knew Margaret well enough to understand one thing.
She wasn't running.
She was heading toward unfinished business.
And there was only one person she still needed to silence.
Grace.
Back in Willow Creek...
Grace had been placed under police protection.
Two patrol officers stood outside the bookstore.
Another remained inside.
Grace sat quietly in the office behind the sales floor.
She held Richard's final letter in her hands.
"I wish I'd met him," she whispered.
Ava, now walking carefully with the help of a cane, sat beside her.
"He would have been proud of you."
Grace smiled sadly.
"I spent my whole life wondering why no one wanted me."
"And now I learn..."
"My father never stopped looking."
Ava gently squeezed her hand.
"His love found you."
Several miles away...
A silver sedan pulled into an abandoned gas station.
Margaret stepped out of the passenger seat.
She had changed her appearance.
Her gray hair was hidden beneath a dark wig.
She wore sunglasses and a long coat.
The driver remained inside the car.
Margaret looked at him.
"You know what to do."
The man nodded.
Without another word, Margaret walked toward another waiting vehicle.
She had arranged three separate getaway cars.
She intended to leave no trail.
At police headquarters...
The prison transport investigation moved quickly.
Detective Ramirez studied traffic camera footage.
"There."
She paused the video.
A black pickup truck had deliberately blocked the prison van moments before the escape.
The license plate was fake.
But the driver's face was visible for just one frame.
Ramirez enlarged the image.
Brooks immediately recognized him.
"Michael Doran."
"Who's that?" Ethan asked.
"A former private security contractor."
"He worked for Margaret fifteen years ago."
Ramirez checked his record.
"He disappeared after Richard's funeral."
Brooks looked at the map.
"If Doran is helping Margaret..."
"They'll avoid the highways."
He circled a series of rural roads.
"They're heading toward Willow Creek."
Late that afternoon...
Rain clouds gathered over the small town.
Grace insisted on reopening the bookstore for a few hours.
"I can't hide forever," she said.
The officers reluctantly agreed.
Customers slowly drifted in and out.
Everything seemed peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Across the street...
A woman wearing a delivery uniform stepped out of a white cargo van.
She carried a medium-sized package.
Her face was partially hidden beneath a baseball cap.
One officer approached.
"Can I help you?"
"I have a delivery for Ms. Grace Carter."
The officer examined the shipping label.
It looked legitimate.
He turned toward the bookstore.
"Ms. Carter?"
Grace walked to the front.
"I didn't order anything."
The delivery woman smiled politely.
"It's from your father."
Grace froze.
"My father?"
"That's what the sender wrote."
The officer hesitated.
Something didn't feel right.
"Let me inspect the package."
The delivery woman handed it over without protest.
The officer carefully opened the box.
Inside...
There were only old books wrapped in newspaper.
Nothing dangerous.
He nodded.
"Looks fine."
Grace accepted the package.
The delivery woman tipped her cap.
"Have a nice day."
She walked back toward the van.
As soon as she turned the corner...
She removed the cap.
It was Margaret.
She had seen Grace with her own eyes.
She knew exactly where she was.
That evening...
Detective Brooks arrived in Willow Creek with additional officers.
"Any problems?" he asked.
The patrol officer mentioned the delivery.
Brooks immediately examined the package.
The books appeared ordinary.
Until one slipped from the stack.
Inside the cover was a folded note.
Brooks carefully unfolded it.
It contained only one sentence.
"I can reach her anytime."
No signature.
None was needed.
Brooks looked around the bookstore.
"Increase security."
"Nobody enters alone."
Across town...
Margaret stood on a hill overlooking Willow Creek.
She watched police vehicles surrounding the bookstore.
Michael Doran joined her.
"You've seen the girl."
Margaret nodded.
"She looks just like Richard."
"What now?"
Margaret's eyes remained fixed on the town below.
"I've spent thirty years protecting my family."
Doran looked confused.
"By destroying it?"
Margaret answered without emotion.
"I built everything Ethan has."
"If Grace lives..."
"The Carter fortune will never belong to him alone."
Doran quietly replied,
"You're wrong."
Margaret looked at him.
"It was never yours to decide."
For a brief moment...
Margaret said nothing.
Then she turned and walked back toward the car.
"Tomorrow," she said coldly.
"It ends tomorrow."
That night...
Ethan couldn't sleep.
He walked outside the small hotel where the investigation team was staying.
The streets were empty.
Rain had finally begun to fall.
His phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
He answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice whispered.
"Ethan..."
His eyes widened.
"Gregory?"
The connection crackled.
"I don't have much time."
"You're alive?"
"Barely."
"Listen carefully."
"What is it?"
"Margaret isn't coming for Grace."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
"Grace is only the distraction."
"The real target..."
Gregory coughed violently.
"...has always been Ava."
The call suddenly disconnected.
Ethan stared at the silent phone.
His blood ran cold.
He turned and sprinted back toward the hotel.
Inside, Ava's room was empty.
Her cane lay on the floor beside the open balcony door.
May you like
The curtains fluttered in the wind.
She was gone.
