Chapter 8 - The Escape
Chaos erupted in the Peabody Library.
Cameras flashed as the detectives approached Brandon. He tried to run, but Austin's men subtly blocked the exits, forcing him back toward the police.
In the confusion, Austin placed a hand on the small of Margaret's back.
"We need to leave. Now," he murmured.
He guided her through a side door used by the catering staff, out into the cool, crisp Baltimore night. A black town car was idling in the alleyway.
Austin opened the door for her. Margaret collapsed into the leather seat, her body finally betraying her as the adrenaline crashed.
She began to sob. Deep, agonizing sobs that tore from her chest.
She cried for her mother. She cried for the five years she had lost. She cried for the bruises she had hidden under long sleeves in the middle of summer.
Austin got in beside her and closed the partition between them and the driver.
He didn't offer empty platitudes. He didn't tell her it was going to be okay.
Instead, he reached into a small cooler between the seats, pulled out an ice pack, wrapped it in a clean handkerchief, and gently pressed it against her swollen jaw.
"He's going to jail," Austin said quietly. "For fraud, for embezzlement, and for medical malpractice. I made sure they found the offshore accounts where he hid the hospital's research funds."
Margaret sniffled, looking up at the fearsome mafia boss who was tending to her like a fragile glass doll.
"Why did you really do this?" she asked. "Two million dollars is nothing to you. You could have killed him quietly."
Austin looked out the tinted window at the passing city lights.
"When my mother was dying," Austin began, his voice rough, "she told me about the nurse with the sad eyes. She told me how you sat with a woman who had no one else, while your own husband was breaking you."
He turned back to her, his dark eyes intense.
"I have done terrible things in my life, Margaret. I live in the dark. But my mother was my only light. When she died, I thought I had nothing left to protect."
He slowly reached out, his thumb gently wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Then I found her notebook. And I saw your name crossed out."
May you like
Margaret held her breath.
"I decided," Austin whispered, "that I wasn't going to let him erase you."
