Chapter 11 - THE LAST TRAIN OUT
Union Station locked down before the train doors closed.
Passengers were moved away from platform twelve.
Voss discovered the police perimeter and pulled a handgun inside the first-class car.
Kendra sat across from him, apparently unarmed.
I watched through station cameras from Mara’s command room.
Voss held one case containing the servers.
The other contained explosive charges large enough to destroy the platform and every record on it.
He demanded a clear route south.
Mara opened negotiations.
Voss laughed.
“I negotiated with Hartwells for thirty years.”
“You all mistake delay for control.”
I asked for the microphone.
“You told my mother you would help her.”
“She was naive.”
“She trusted you.”
“That made her useful.”
Kendra’s face hardened.
Voss admitted he helped Daniel arrange the crash.
Years later, he killed Daniel when Daniel threatened to confess.
Then he shaped Kendra into a weapon aimed at Hartwell Group.
He wanted the empire for himself.
Kendra had never been the mastermind.
She had been the longest-running victim.
That did not erase what she did.
But it changed what came next.
I told Voss the company transfer was ready.
He demanded proof.
Russell displayed a false ownership document.
Voss moved closer to the window to inspect it on a station screen.
Kendra quietly slid one hand beneath her coat.
She removed the real encryption key.
Then she threw it through the train’s emergency window.
The brass plate struck the platform and skidded toward an officer.
Voss turned and shot her.
The bullet hit her side.
She fell between the seats.
Mara’s team breached the car.
Voss triggered the explosive timer and ran toward the engine.
Kendra grabbed his ankle despite the blood spreading across her coat.
He kicked her away.
I entered the platform before Mara could stop me.
The timer showed ninety seconds.
Voss reached the engine door.
Victor appeared from the opposite stairwell wearing a hospital gown beneath a borrowed coat.
He had left medical custody after hearing the police scanner.
For once, his reckless pride pointed in a useful direction.
He tackled Voss against the train wall.
The gun slid beneath a seat.
Agents dragged both men apart.
Russell found the explosive case.
The bomb squad could not arrive in time.
Kendra whispered the disarm code from the floor.
“Evelyn.”
I entered it.
The timer stopped at four seconds.
Victor looked at me as officers handcuffed him for violating custody orders.
“I helped.”
“Yes.”
“That does not make us even.”
His face fell.
“I know.”
Paramedics lifted Kendra.
She caught my hand.
“Did Mom really keep your baby picture?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Her eyes closed.
The monitors began alarming before they reached the ambulance.
