Chapter 14 - The Last Door
When I opened my eyes, I was lying on wet grass beneath a dark sky.
Rain touched my face.
Someone had placed an oxygen mask over my mouth.
Flashing emergency lights illuminated the orchard.
I could hear sirens, radios, and the crackling roar of fire.
For a moment, I didn't understand where I was.
Then everything came rushing back.
Tessa.
The pantry.
The crawlspace.
The collapsing porch.
I struggled to sit up.
"Where's my friend?"
A paramedic gently stopped me.
"Ma'am, stay still."
"Tessa! Where is she?"
"They're searching."
I pulled at the oxygen mask.
"She was right behind me!"
The paramedic looked toward the burning house.
Firefighters were moving equipment around the collapsed porch.
Water streamed across the roof.
The rear section of the cottage was badly damaged.
My grandmother's beautiful little home looked like a wounded animal.
But I couldn't think about the house.
Not while Tessa was missing.
Detective Ortiz appeared beside me.
Her coat was soaked with rain.
There was dirt on her face.
"Morgan."
I grabbed her sleeve.
"Please tell me they found her."
She crouched beside me.
"They're working on it."
I started crying.
"She only went there because she was helping me."
Detective Ortiz held my hand.
"Listen to me. You got her away from the locked room. That gave the rescuers a chance."
"But she's still inside!"
"I know."
Her radio crackled.
She listened.
Then stood.
I watched her expression change.
She turned toward the firefighters.
Someone shouted from the other side of the porch.
"We've got her!"
My heart stopped.
Two firefighters emerged through the smoke carrying someone on a rescue stretcher.
Tessa.
Her face was covered in soot.
Her hair was tangled.
She wasn't moving.
I tried to stand.
My legs gave way.
The paramedic caught me.
"Please," I whispered. "Please let her be alive."
The rescue team rushed toward an ambulance.
I could hear urgent medical instructions.
Someone began assisting her breathing.
Another paramedic checked her condition.
I couldn't see enough to understand what was happening.
Detective Ortiz remained beside me.
Then I noticed movement near the orchard gate.
Two deputies were escorting Graham Pike toward a patrol vehicle.
His expensive coat was torn.
His hands were cuffed behind his back.
Daniel Mercer followed, his face pale and empty.
And behind them came Julian.
My husband.
The man who had once promised to love me for the rest of our lives.
He looked toward me.
For one brief moment, our eyes met.
Then he began shouting.
"Morgan! Tell them this is a misunderstanding!"
I stared at him.
He struggled against the deputies.
"You know I wouldn't hurt you!"
I slowly removed the oxygen mask.
My voice was hoarse.
"You gave me a necklace you knew was dangerous."
His expression twisted.
"I didn't know what Graham put on it!"
The deputies tightened their hold as he continued protesting.
I shook my head.
"You asked me to wear it."
"Morgan, please!"
"You asked me again and again."
He looked desperate now.
"We can work this out."
I thought of the woman on the bus.
The cloudy water.
The forged documents.
Nora Sloane.
Ruth's bruised face.
And Tessa lying motionless beside the ambulance.
"No, Julian."
My voice trembled.
"There is no 'we' anymore."
He stared at me.
Then the deputies led him away.
For the first time, his anger no longer frightened me.
He could threaten.
He could lie.
He could pretend he was the victim.
But he no longer controlled my silence.
Detective Ortiz knelt beside me again.
"We have them, Morgan."
I looked toward the patrol vehicles.
"All three?"
She nodded.
"We have grounds to hold them while the investigation proceeds. The evidence we've collected is substantial."
I closed my eyes.
After everything Julian had done, the truth was finally catching up with him.
But the victory felt empty.
Because Tessa was still fighting for her life.
An emergency responder approached.
"Mrs. Avery?"
I looked up.
"Your friend has been taken into the ambulance. She needs immediate hospital care."
"Can I go with her?"
"You need medical attention yourself."
I tried to stand again.
Detective Ortiz steadied me.
"We'll make sure you get to the hospital."
I looked toward my grandmother's cottage.
The firefighters were finally bringing the flames under control.
The orchard was wet with rain.
Several branches had burned.
The porch was almost completely gone.
But the front of the house still stood.
In the darkness, I imagined Grandma Clara standing beside the door.
I could almost hear her voice.
Things can be rebuilt, honey. People are what matter.
I turned toward the ambulance.
The rear doors were open.
Inside, the medical team was working urgently.
Then I heard a paramedic call for additional help.
Another voice answered.
"She's not breathing!"
I froze.
The words didn't make sense.
A moment earlier, I had heard that they found her.
That she was alive.
That she was being treated.
I stared at the ambulance.
"No..."
Someone stepped in front of me.
But I could still hear the emergency responders.
I could still see the frantic movement.
And then one of them shouted the words that shattered what little strength I had left.
"WE'RE LOSING HER!"
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The ambulance doors slammed shut.
And as it sped away through the rain, I realized that saving my own life would mean nothing to me if the woman who had helped me fight for it never came home.
