Chapter 28 - The Glass Tower
Two hours later, under federal escort, Marcus and I arrived at the glass spire of the Dubois Medical Center in downtown Boston. Marcus refused hospital admission until he saw this through, his arm freshly bandaged and his jaw set like stone.
We rode the private elevator up to the 40th-floor executive laboratory suite.
The doors slid open with a soft chime.
Standing by the panoramic window overlooking the glittering skyline of Boston Harbor was Lauren. She was dressed in dark tactical denim, her hair cropped to her shoulders, looking stronger and more lethal than the fragile sister I remembered.
In her arms, wrapped in a pale pink cashmere blanket, was a sleeping newborn infant.
I stopped in my tracks, my hand flying to my mouth. Tears spilled over my cheeks, hot and unstoppable.
"Lauren..." I sobbed.
Lauren turned around. Her eyes, identical to mine, filled with tears as she smiled through her exhaustion. She walked toward me with hesitant steps, holding the baby close.
"Clara," she whispered.
I threw my arms around her, burying my face in her shoulder. The smell of her familiar vanilla scent mingled with rain and antiseptic. For eight months, I had lived in a nightmare where my sister was dead, where our lives had been shredded by greed and cruelty. But her heart was beating against mine. She was alive. She was real.
"I'm sorry," Lauren whispered into my hair, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "I had to let Vance think he killed me. If he knew I survived the fire with my baby, he would have hunted us both down before we could gather the evidence. I had to let you be the shield while I built the trap."
"You came back," I wept, gently touching the tiny, soft cheek of my sleeping niece. "You brought her home."
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"She’s your niece, Clara. Her name is Faith," Lauren smiled gently. "Because faith in you was the only thing that kept me breathing in that darkness."
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