Chapter 11 - THE THREAT
Ben went completely still.
“What did he say?”
Karen looked toward me.
“For once, don’t make this about whether you like me.”
I nearly laughed.
Instead, I said,
“If somebody threatened Ella, start talking.”
Karen told us Thomas had contacted her six months earlier.
He had been living out west.
He had debts.
Bad ones.
He believed Harold cheated him out of Silver Lake.
He knew Ben owned it.
Karen said Thomas demanded money in exchange for staying away from the family.
At first, she paid him.
That explained the recent lake fund.
Not all of it.
But some.
Then the amount grew.
Twenty thousand became forty.
Forty became one hundred.
Karen ran out of money she could hide.
So Thomas suggested selling Silver Lake.
Ben’s voice was cold.
“And you agreed.”
“I was trying to protect everyone.”
“You were trying to sell my property without telling me.”
“I knew what you would say.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Karen’s eyes filled.
“Exactly.”
Ben leaned forward.
“When did he threaten Ella?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Thomas had apparently found Ella’s track schedule online.
He sent Karen a screenshot.
Beneath it, he wrote:
Pretty girl.
Fast too.
Would be a shame if family business reached the kids.
My hands turned cold.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Karen looked ashamed for the first time.
“Because I thought I could fix it.”
Ben laughed bitterly.
“By throwing her medals in the trash?”
Karen flinched.
“That had nothing to do with Thomas.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked away.
Ben waited.
Finally, Karen whispered.
“Because she reminded me of him.”
“What?”
“Thomas ran track.”
Karen stared at the table.
“He won everything.”
“Every race.”
“Every trophy.”
“My parents treated him like he hung the moon.”
“I was always the difficult one.”
“The jealous one.”
“The girl who should clap louder for her brother.”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
“So when Ella came in with medals, you punished her because you were jealous of your brother fifty years ago?”
Karen’s face twisted.
“I didn’t think.”
“No.”
I said.
“You did think.”
“You wanted her to feel smaller because seeing her celebrated made you feel small.”
Karen did not deny it.
Ben stood.
“We’re done.”
She grabbed his wrist.
“Thomas is dangerous.”
Ben pulled away.
“Then we deal with Thomas.”
“You don’t understand him.”
“No.”
Ben looked at her.
“But I understand you.”
“You knew he was threatening Ella and instead of telling us, you created another secret and then took your anger out on the child you claimed you were protecting.”
Karen began crying.
Ben did not sit back down.
He took out his phone.
“We’re reporting the threat.”
Karen panicked.
“No.”
“Why?”
“He has things.”
“What things?”
“Records.”
Ben stared at her.
May you like
Karen’s voice became thin.
“Things that could put me in prison.”
