Chapter 6 - The Unraveling
Katherine launched herself out of the armoire like a storm, her crushed lace wedding gown billowing around her.
She didn't hesitate. She didn't scream. She grabbed the heavy crystal perfume decanter from Grace’s vanity table and hurled it with all her strength directly at Frank’s face.
The heavy glass struck Frank square across the bridge of his nose.
The decanter shattered into a dozen pieces, showering the room in expensive rose water and glass shards. Frank let out a roar of pain and surprise, staggering backward, dropping the iron poker onto the rug as blood gushed from his nose.
“Run, Grace!” Katherine screamed, grabbing Grace’s arm and pulling her toward the doorway.
They burst out into the dark hallway just as the sound of splintering wood echoed from the floor below.
Down in the foyer, heavy boots slammed against the hardwood stairs.
“Grace! Katherine!” Robert’s voice bellowed through the darkness.
Caleb was right behind him, holding a heavy iron flashlight, his white dress shirt torn at the shoulder, covered in coal dust from breaking through the cellar’s old coal chute.
“Mom!” Caleb shouted, sprinting up the grand staircase three steps at a time.
Frank stumbled out of the master bedroom, wiping blood from his eyes with his sleeve, his face distorted with rage. He lunged for the iron poker lying near the door.
Caleb reached the top of the stairs, saw his uncle holding the weapon, and didn't slow down for a fraction of a second.
With a raw, furious scream—a scream fueled by three years of agonizing grief, guilt, and betrayal—Caleb tackled his uncle into the wall.
The impact shook the hallway sconces.
The two men crashed onto the carpet, rolling near the top of the grand staircase. Frank swung his elbow hard, striking Caleb across the jaw, but Caleb didn't let go. He pinned Frank’s wrists to the floor, pressing his forearm against his uncle’s throat.
“Where is she?” Caleb roared, his face inches from Frank’s bloody face. “Where is Beatrice, Frank? Tell me!”
Frank gagged, struggling for air under Caleb’s weight. “You’re... crazy... Caleb...”
“Pier 4!” Katherine called out from the doorway, her voice trembling as Grace held her tightly. “He poured six hundred tons of concrete into Pier 4 of the James River span the night she vanished! He put her inside the bridge!”
Caleb froze, staring down at his uncle. The rage in his eyes shifted into a deep, unbearable horror.
“You put her in the concrete...” Caleb whispered, his voice trembling violently. “My bridge... I helped design that span...”
Frank let out a wheezing, bitter laugh. “You... built her grave... nephew...”
Before Frank could finish the sentence, Robert reached the top of the stairs. Without saying a single word, Robert stepped forward and brought the heavy iron flashlight down onto Frank’s shoulder with precise, devastating force.
Frank went limp, his head thumping heavily against the carpeted floor.
Silence returned to Oakhaven Springs, heavy and thick.
Caleb slowly stood up, looking down at his unconscious uncle, then looking across the dark hallway at Katherine.
Katherine stood framed in the moonlight, her ruined wedding gown covered in dust, her face bruised, her eyes filled with tears.
Caleb took one step toward her, his hands trembling at his sides.
“Katherine...” he whispered, his voice completely broken. “I... I’m sorry. My God, I’m so sorry...”
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Katherine looked at him for a long moment, then turned her face away into Grace’s shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.
Outside, in the distance down the long country driveway, red and blue lights began to flash through the oak trees as the sirens of the Virginia State Police finally broke the quiet night.
