Chapter 10 - My Mother Finally Talks
Mom sat inside an ambulance wrapped in a gray blanket.
One side of her face was bruised.
I had never seen Dad hit her.
I had also never seen her look so defeated.
When I approached, she began crying.
“Claire.”
I stopped several feet away.
“Where is Lily?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not good enough.”
“Robert pushed me out of the car.”
“Why?”
“Because I told him to let her go.”
For a second, I could not speak.
“You helped him take her.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“I panicked.”
“You always panic in the direction that hurts me.”
She flinched.
Good.
She deserved to.
Mercer stood beside me.
“Mrs. Holloway, we need the vehicle destination.”
Mom rubbed both hands across her face.
“There’s a house in Connecticut.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know.”
Mercer’s expression hardened.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It belongs to a holding company.”
“What company?”
“Holloway Meridian Development.”
Mercer looked at me.
That name had appeared on the USB drive.
Mom continued.
“Robert keeps documents there.”
“What kind of documents?”
“Everything.”
Her voice broke.
“Things he didn’t want Claire to find.”
I crouched until we were eye level.
“Tell me about Grandma.”
Mom began shaking.
“Your father started managing her investments after your grandfather died.”
“She trusted him?”
“At first.”
“What happened?”
“She discovered money was missing.”
“How much?”
“A few hundred thousand at first.”
“And then?”
“She changed her will.”
I felt sick.
“She left everything to me.”
“Most of it.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the only one who visited her without asking for money.”
That nearly broke me.
Mom wiped her eyes.
“Robert found out before she died.”
“What did he do?”
“He convinced me that we deserved part of it.”
“Part?”
“I didn’t know how far he would go.”
“You forged documents.”
“Yes.”
“You helped steal her brownstone.”
“Yes.”
“You helped steal my trust.”
“Yes.”
Every answer sounded like a door locking behind her.
“And my car accident?”
Mom went completely still.
Mercer leaned forward.
“Mrs. Holloway?”
She started crying harder.
“I didn’t know about the car until afterward.”
My stomach dropped.
“So Dad did it.”
“I think so.”
“What about the gas leak?”
“I don’t know.”
“The champagne?”
Her silence answered.
“You knew.”
She whispered.
“He said it would only make you sleepy.”
I stood.
“You watched me raise that glass.”
“I was going to stop you.”
“When?”
She had no answer.
Mercer’s phone rang.
He walked several feet away.
Mom grabbed my hand.
I almost pulled free.
Then she whispered.
“Claire, Robert is not taking Lily to Connecticut.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that house isn’t his emergency place.”
“What is?”
She looked toward Mercer.
Then back at me.
“Your penthouse.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
“He already has a key.”
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