Chapter 12 - Brenda Breaks
Police reached Elaine’s house within twenty minutes.
She was gone.
So was her computer.
Her passport was missing.
A suitcase was missing.
The family portrait above the fireplace had been removed from the wall.
But she had left something behind.
A burned stack of papers in the backyard firepit.
Most were destroyed.
One corner survived.
It showed the Orion Ridge logo.
Elaine had planned for failure.
She had likely planned for escape too.
Authorities issued alerts.
Connor’s attorney claimed his client had no knowledge of his mother’s actions.
Nobody believed him.
Brenda disappeared for six hours.
Then she walked into Naomi’s office alone.
No attorney.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
The woman who had toasted my humiliation now looked exhausted.
“I want a deal.”
Naomi did not react.
“You should have counsel.”
“I’ll get one.”
Brenda looked at me.
“But first Claire needs to hear this.”
I folded my arms.
“Why?”
“Because Elaine is going to kill Connor.”
The sentence stunned me.
Even Naomi paused.
Brenda explained that Elaine never intended for Connor to survive the collapse of Apex.
He believed they would move assets into Orion Ridge and rebuild under his control.
Elaine had other plans.
“Orion isn’t Connor’s?”
I asked.
“No.”
“Whose is it?”
“Raymond’s on paper.”
Brenda swallowed.
“But Mom controls it.”
Once the assets moved, Connor would be blamed for every fraudulent authorization.
Elaine would leave the country.
Raymond would disappear.
Brenda would face charges through Brenwood.
And Connor would become the perfect mastermind.
“What about me?”
I asked.
Brenda looked sick.
“You were supposed to lose control of the trust.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She understood.
“The insurance policy.”
Her eyes dropped.
“I didn’t know about it until three weeks ago.”
“Then you copied the drive.”
“Yes.”
“Why not come to me?”
“Because I was already guilty.”
At least she admitted it.
“I kept telling myself I could fix it.”
Brenda began crying.
“Then Mom showed me the insurance paperwork.”
“What did she say?”
“That if you died after being declared incompetent, nobody would question Connor taking control long enough to settle the trust.”
My stomach twisted.
Naomi leaned forward.
“Did she say how Claire would die?”
“No.”
“Did Connor know?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer mattered more than anything.
I had assumed Connor knew every part of the plan.
Maybe he did.
Maybe Elaine had deceived him too.
It did not make him innocent.
He had still forged my signature.
Still humiliated me.
Still tried to have me declared incompetent.
Still stole millions.
But murder might belong to Elaine alone.
Brenda wiped her face.
“There’s one place Mom might go.”
“Where?”
“Our old lake house.”
Connor’s family had sold it years ago.
Or so I thought.
Brenda said Elaine secretly repurchased it through a shell company after Thomas died.
Raymond maintained the property.
Naomi immediately contacted local authorities.
Before she could finish, Brenda grabbed my wrist.
“There’s something else.”
I pulled away.
“What?”
“Connor called me this morning.”
My pulse jumped.
“From where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Brenda stared at me.
“He said he found out Mom was planning to sacrifice him.”
“And?”
“He wants to testify.”
Naomi stood.
“Where is he?”
Brenda’s lips trembled.
“He told me to bring Claire.”
“No.”
Naomi’s answer was immediate.
But Brenda kept looking at me.
“He said he won’t trust anyone else.”
“I don’t care.”
May you like
Then Brenda said the one thing guaranteed to make me listen.
“He says he knows what really happened to his father.”
