Chapter 13 - The Last Train Yard
Rain fell over the Albany rail yard.
Rows of unused passenger cars sat beneath yellow industrial lights. Rusted tracks disappeared into darkness.
Federal agents positioned themselves around the perimeter.
Eli wore a concealed microphone.
Margaret remained beside him despite repeated warnings.
Richard had demanded they come alone.
They carried a metal case containing a false copy of Thomas’s archive.
The real storage locker had been opened earlier that day.
Inside, agents found duplicate evidence, a recorded statement from Thomas, and documents naming officials who had not appeared in any other file.
One name shocked everyone.
Senator Wallace Crane.
The father of Douglas Crane, chairman of Margaret’s board.
Wallace had served on committees overseeing elder care and insurance regulation for twenty-seven years.
He had protected Anna’s network at the federal level.
Douglas claimed he knew nothing about it.
Investigators were not convinced.
At eleven-forty, a single railcar door opened.
Richard stepped onto the platform.
He looked thinner. His hair was uncombed. A cut crossed his cheek.
But his eyes were clear.
“Eli.”
Eli stood beside Margaret.
“Richard.”
The use of his name rather than Dad made Richard flinch.
“You brought her.”
“She brought me.”
Richard looked at Margaret.
“You always need to control the room.”
“You locked him under a table.”
“I gave him structure.”
“You gave him bruises.”
Richard’s gaze returned to Eli.
“Do you have the archive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it.”
Eli did not move.
“Release whoever you’re holding,” he said.
Richard smiled faintly.
“You learned negotiation.”
A light appeared inside the railcar.
Sarah sat tied to a seat.
Margaret’s heart stopped.
Sarah had disappeared from police protection two hours earlier. Her assigned officer had been found unconscious.
Richard had one remaining insider.
He held a pistol near Sarah’s shoulder.
“The case,” he said.
Margaret moved forward.
Eli stopped her.
“No.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“You’re going to let your aunt die?”
“You said you needed me.”
“I need what you carry.”
“You also need the password.”
Richard studied him.
“What password?”
“The archive erases if the biometric lock is forced.”
It was a lie.
But Richard believed Eli understood systems he did not.
“Come inside,” Richard said.
“Sarah comes out first.”
“Halfway.”
Richard untied Sarah’s ankles but left her wrists bound.
She stepped onto the platform.
Margaret moved toward her.
Richard grabbed Sarah’s arm.
“The case.”
Eli placed it on the ground and pushed it forward.
Richard released Sarah.
She ran to Margaret.
Agents waited for a clear line of fire, but Richard pulled Eli into the railcar before they could move.
The door slammed.
The train began rolling.
Richard had connected the car to a maintenance locomotive controlled remotely.
Margaret ran beside it until she slipped on the wet gravel.
“Eli!”
The train accelerated.
Federal vehicles followed.
Inside the car, Richard pointed the gun at Eli.
“Open it.”
Eli knelt beside the case.
“What happens after?”
“We leave.”
“Where?”
“Canada. Then Europe.”
“I’m not going with you.”
“You don’t understand. Your mother will never let you live independently.”
“She asked me what I wanted.”
“She will get tired.”
“Maybe.”
Richard blinked.
Eli continued.
“People get tired. That does not mean they become you.”
“Open the case.”
Eli entered a random code.
The case displayed an error.
“Again,” Richard said.
“I need the train to stop moving.”
“Why?”
“Motion sensor.”
Richard swore and reached for the control device.
Eli watched his hand.
Then he lunged.
He did not attack Richard.
He struck the emergency brake lever beside the door.
The wheels screamed.
Richard lost his balance.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Eli fell against a seat.
The railcar slowed but did not stop.
Richard grabbed him by the sweater.
“You ungrateful little freak.”
Eli froze at the familiar insult.
For one second, he was back beneath the dining table.
Then he looked at Richard and said, “I am not afraid of your words anymore.”
He drove his shoulder forward.
Richard stumbled.
The side door slid open.
Rain and wind exploded into the car.
Margaret’s vehicle drew alongside the track.
Agents shouted through loudspeakers.
Richard dragged Eli toward the open door and placed the gun against his neck.
“Back off!”
Vehicles slowed.
The train approached a bridge over the Hudson.
Richard looked at Eli.
“You destroyed my life.”
“No,” Eli said. “You recorded yourself destroying it.”
Richard’s face twisted.
He raised the gun.
A shot cracked.
Richard jerked backward.
Detective Bell had fired from a parallel maintenance platform.
The bullet struck Richard’s shoulder.
He dropped the weapon.
Eli kicked it through the open door.
Agents boarded when the train slowed near the bridge entrance.
Richard was forced to the floor and handcuffed.
Margaret climbed into the railcar before anyone could stop her.
Eli sat against the wall, soaked with rain.
She knelt in front of him.
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.”
“Did he shoot you?”
“No.”
She pulled him into her arms.
Across the car, Richard stared at them while an agent pressed gauze against his wound.
“You’ll regret this,” he said.
Margaret looked at him.
“No.”
She held Eli tighter.
“The only thing I regret is not seeing you sooner.”
Richard was taken away in an ambulance under armed guard.
As dawn began to lighten the sky, Eli watched the river through the open railcar door.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I want breakfast.”
Margaret laughed through her tears.
“What do you want?”
May you like
He considered the question carefully.
“Pancakes. At a table.”
