Chapter 8 - The Red Box
Emma didn't think about safety. She didn't think about the police or the gun or the flames.
She grabbed the rusted heavy crowbar that still lay on the attic floorboards near her feet and threw it like a spear straight through the open cell door.
The heavy iron bar struck Arthur’s gas mask squarely across the glass viewport.
The glass shattered. The rubber torn open.
Arthur screamed as the hot, choked air of the cell filled his lungs, dropping the lit flare onto the bare brickwork four inches from the open kerosene can.
Captain Miller lunged forward, his heavy boot kicking the glowing flare out of the cell and across the attic floor, where a trooper immediately smothered it with a canvas fire blanket.
Two troopers dragged Arthur Vance out of the cell by his coat collar, slamming him face-down onto the dusty attic floorboards and pulling his arms behind his back in a sharp click of steel handcuffs.
"Get the bolt cutters!" Miller yelled.
Lily fell to her knees beside Julian, pulling him out of the narrow space into the larger attic floor where the air was clearer near the open dormer window.
The emergency medics scrambled up the stairs three at a time, carrying a portable oxygen tank and a heavy pair of hydraulic cutters.
Snap.
The iron chain around Julian’s ankle snapped like a dry twig.
The old man let out a long, shuddering breath as the oxygen mask was placed over his face. His blue, vein-mapped hand reached out, his fingers catching the sleeve of Lily’s canvas jacket.
"The... the box..." Julian rasped through the plastic mask, pointing a trembling finger toward the floor inside the cell where Arthur had dropped the heavy iron container. "Take... take it..."
Captain Miller reached into the cell and picked up the box.
It was ten inches long, made of heavy cast iron, painted a faded rust-red color, and secured with a massive brass padlock that bore the initials E.V. - 1968.
"This is evidence, Mr. Vance," Miller said softly, holding the heavy box in both hands.
May you like
Julian shook his head weakly, his eyes fixed on Lily and Emma.
"No..." Julian whispered, his voice gaining a terrifying clarity as the oxygen filled his lungs. "It's... it's not evidence... it's... restitution..."
