Chapter 9 - THE LAST PROMISE A FATHER MADE
The water had reached Lily Bishop's knees when Nathan Rowan heard her crying through the courthouse ventilation shaft.
"Please don't leave me!"
Nathan dropped beside the rusted grate.
"I'm here, sweetheart!"
A frightened little voice answered.
"Are you the bad man?"
"No."
"That's what the bad man said."
Nathan closed his eyes.
He thought of Ismerie standing in the hallway, unable to tell which man was her father.
Children learned fear from the adults who taught it to them.
And Charles Voss had taught far too many children to be afraid.
"My name's Nathan," he said. "I'm here with the police."
The girl sniffled.
"Where's my mommy?"
Nathan felt pain twist through his chest.
He knew Rebecca Bishop was dead.
He knew this child had probably spent years being told whatever Voss wanted her to believe.
But he would not lie.
"I don't know where your mommy is right now," he said gently. "But we're going to get you somewhere safe."
Lena crouched beside him.
"The vault door is jammed. Water pressure's holding it shut."
Behind her, a rescue technician examined the building's plans.
"There's a ventilation shaft that crosses the old records room."
Nathan looked at the grate.
"Big enough?"
"For a small adult, maybe."
Lena stared at him.
"No."
Nathan shook his head.
"I've crawled through smaller places."
"Your ribs are still healing."
"A child is drowning."
Lena looked at the rising water.
Then she handed him a safety harness.
"You go in attached to a retrieval line. You come back the second we tell you."
Nathan nodded.
He removed his jacket.
A technician cut through the screws holding the grate.
The opening was narrow.
Dust filled the air.
Nathan eased himself inside.
Metal pressed against his shoulders.
He crawled forward, dragging the rescue line behind him.
Below, water thundered through the courthouse basement.
The ventilation shaft descended sharply.
Nathan's injured ribs protested with every movement.
He kept going.
"Lily?"
A weak voice answered.
"Here."
He looked through a second grate.
A little girl stood on a wooden cabinet, water swirling around its legs.
She had pale hair and wore a faded yellow dress.
Her eyes were enormous.
She looked about five.
Nathan felt sick.
Five years old.
Three days alone in a basement.
And no one had known she was there.
"Hi, Lily."
She stared at him.
"Are you coming down?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a key?"
"No, honey."
She began crying again.
Nathan forced a smile.
"But I have something better."
"What?"
"A really stubborn personality."
She looked confused.
He continued.
"My wife says I don't know when to quit."
For the first time, Lily's mouth moved in something resembling a smile.
Nathan kicked the vent cover.
It didn't move.
He struck it again.
Metal bent.
On the third kick, the grate broke loose and fell into the water.
Nathan lowered himself through the opening.
Cold water reached his waist.
He gasped.
Lily screamed.
"It's okay!"
He splashed toward the cabinet.
"I'm right here."
She stared at him.
"Are you taking me back to Harbor House?"
"No."
"Promise?"
Nathan looked directly into her eyes.
"No one is taking you back there."
Lily began sobbing.
He lifted her into his arms.
She clung to him so tightly that her small fingers dug into his shoulders.
Nathan carried her toward the ventilation opening.
"Lena! I've got her!"
A rescue worker lowered a strap.
Nathan secured it around Lily.
The little girl panicked when he tried to separate her from his arms.
"No!"
He held her face gently.
"Listen to me. The people upstairs are going to pull you out."
"What about you?"
"I'm coming right behind you."
She shook her head.
"That's what they always say."
Nathan swallowed.
He knew exactly what she meant.
He remembered Ismerie's terrified words.
You just came home.
He placed his forehead against Lily's.
"Then watch me, sweetheart."
The rescuers lifted her through the shaft.
Nathan waited until he heard Lena say the girl was secure.
Then he began climbing.
The water rose rapidly.
By the time Nathan reached the ventilation opening, it was nearly at his chest.
He grabbed the cable.
"Pull!"
The line tightened.
He hauled himself into the shaft.
A surge of water struck the cabinet below.
It overturned.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Nathan scrambled forward.
His boots slipped against the metal.
For one terrible second, he thought the current would drag him backward.
Then strong hands caught his wrists.
Lena and a rescue officer hauled him onto the basement stairs.
He collapsed, coughing.
Lena knelt beside him.
"Are you okay?"
Nathan nodded.
"Where's the girl?"
"Safe."
He closed his eyes.
"Good."
A technician hurried over.
"We found something else."
Nathan looked up.
"What?"
The technician held a waterproof document case.
"It was sealed inside the upper vault. We pulled it out when the water loosened the damaged frame."
Lena opened the case.
Inside were original court petitions, bank authorizations, and handwritten transfer ledgers.
Dozens of documents bearing signatures.
Dates.
Amounts.
Names.
One file contained Rebecca Bishop's complaints and a photograph of her two daughters.
Zoey and Lily.
Another contained a false death certificate for Lily.
Nathan stared.
Voss hadn't merely hidden the child.
He had declared her dead.
Lena's face hardened.
"This is enough to connect the guardianship fraud to the people who approved it."
She called her office.
"Secure these originals immediately. We have evidence of falsified death records and unlawful confinement."
Nathan looked toward the stairs.
"Where's Voss?"
Lena's expression changed.
"He hasn't been found."
Nathan rose unsteadily.
"Then it's not over."
Outside, the rain had eased.
Emergency lights flashed across the courthouse lawn.
Meredith stood beside June and Ismerie near a medical vehicle.
Theo sat on the rear bumper, wrapped in a blanket.
Zoey had just arrived with a state child-protection worker.
When Lena brought Lily outside, the older girl froze.
She stared at the little child in the yellow dress.
"Lily?"
The girl looked up.
Zoey's knees buckled.
"Oh, my God."
She ran.
"LILY!"
The sisters collided in a desperate embrace.
Zoey cried so hard she could barely speak.
"I thought you died."
Lily clung to her.
"They told me you didn't want me."
Zoey pulled back and held her sister's face.
"No. No, baby. I looked for you."
Lily began crying.
"I called for you."
"I'm here now."
Nathan watched them from several feet away.
Meredith slipped her hand into his.
For a moment, he didn't pull away.
They stood together, watching two sisters reclaim something that should never have been stolen.
Then Ismerie ran toward him.
"Daddy!"
Nathan caught her.
"Hey, princess."
She touched the scratches on his cheek.
"Are you hurt?"
"A little."
She frowned.
"You're always getting hurt."
Nathan laughed softly.
"You're right. I should work on that."
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I was scared."
"I know."
She leaned back.
"Did you save the girl?"
"Yes."
Ismerie looked toward Lily.
"She looks like she needs a rabbit."
Nathan smiled.
"Maybe she does."
Ismerie thought for a moment.
Then she said, "She can borrow mine."
Nathan kissed her forehead.
"That would be very kind."
For the first time all night, he felt a fragile peace.
Then a gunshot exploded behind them.
People screamed.
Nathan turned.
Charles Voss stood near the river-side entrance of the parking lot.
His overcoat was soaked.
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow.
He held a handgun.
Two state officers ordered him to drop it.
Instead, he seized June, who had stepped toward Theo, and pulled her against him.
"BACK AWAY!"
Nathan instinctively placed Ismerie behind him.
Lena drew her weapon.
"Charles! Put the gun down!"
Voss dragged June toward the emergency vehicle.
"I want a car!"
Lena kept her distance.
"You're surrounded."
Voss laughed wildly.
"Do you know how many people owe me favors?"
He glanced around.
His eyes landed on Ismerie.
His expression changed.
"There you are."
Nathan stepped in front of his daughter.
"Don't."
Voss shoved June away.
She fell against the ambulance door.
He pointed the gun toward Ismerie.
"You ruined everything!"
Meredith screamed.
Nathan moved.
He didn't think about the gun.
He didn't think about the pain in his ribs.
He saw only his little girl standing in the rain, her eyes wide with terror.
He threw himself between her and Voss.
The shot struck him high in the chest.
The impact knocked the breath out of him.
For a moment, he felt nothing.
Then his legs gave way.
He collapsed onto the wet pavement.
"NO!"
Meredith's scream seemed to come from far away.
Lena fired.
Voss staggered as a bullet struck his arm.
His gun fell.
Two officers tackled him.
Handcuffs clicked.
But Nathan barely heard them.
He was staring at the sky.
Rain touched his face.
Meredith knelt beside him.
"Nathan!"
She pressed her hands against his wound.
"Stay with me!"
Nathan tried to breathe.
Pain tore through his chest.
He turned his head.
Ismerie stood beside the ambulance, held by June.
She was screaming for him.
Nathan tried to smile.
His lips barely moved.
"Meredith."
"I'm here."
"Tell her..."
"Don't talk."
His eyes searched for his daughter.
"Tell her I didn't leave."
Meredith began crying.
"Nathan, please."
He struggled for one more breath.
"Tell her... I came back."
His hand went limp.
A paramedic pushed Meredith aside.
"He's losing consciousness!"
Another medic knelt.
"Get the stretcher!"
Nathan heard pieces of voices.
"Gunshot wound."
"Pressure dropping."
"Move!"
Then the world began to fade.
Somewhere nearby, Ismerie was crying.
Daddy.
Daddy.
Daddy.
He wanted to answer.
He wanted to tell her he was still there.
But his chest felt heavy.
The sounds grew distant.
A paramedic shouted.
"We're losing him!"
Nathan's heart stopped.
Meredith watched the portable monitor flatten into a straight line.
And Ismerie, standing beside June, saw the adults rush around her father.
"Why isn't he moving?" she whispered.
June couldn't answer.
The paramedic began chest compressions.
Meredith dropped to her knees.
"No."
Her voice broke.
"Please, God, no."
She had spent ten months believing her husband was dead.
She had finally gotten him back.
Now he lay motionless on the pavement.
Ismerie pulled away from June and ran toward the ambulance.
"DADDY!"
A medic tried to stop her.
She struggled against his arms.
"DADDY, YOU PROMISED!"
Meredith reached for her daughter.
But Ismerie kept crying.
"You said you'd fight to come back!"
Another voice shouted from the ambulance.
"Still no pulse!"
Meredith held her child tightly.
Ismerie's little face crumpled.
Then she screamed the words no parent should ever have to hear.
May you like
"DADDY, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME WITH ANOTHER STRANGER!"
And inside the ambulance, the monitor remained silent.
