Chapter 11 - Camille’s Confession
Elena did not go alone.
She simply made Camille believe she did.
Marcus remained several hundred feet away while Elena entered an abandoned photography studio outside Providence.
Camille emerged from behind a partition.
She looked thinner than in the photographs.
Older too.
But alive.
Elena stared at her.
“You watched Julian drug me.”
Camille’s eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.”
“And said nothing.”
“I was working for him then.”
“That isn’t an excuse.”
“I know.”
Camille placed a metal lockbox on a table.
“I spent eighteen months trying to become useful enough to make up for it.”
Elena opened the box.
Inside were copies of bank ledgers, audio recordings, and a handwritten journal.
Charles Ashford’s journal.
Camille had found it inside a safe Eleanor ordered Julian to empty after Charles died.
Julian never read the entire thing.
Camille did.
One entry was underlined.
Eleanor has begun moving funds through Lawson and Bell.
If I confront her publicly, she will destroy David as well.
Another entry appeared three weeks later.
David wants out.
I cannot blame him.
I fear Eleanor has learned about the amendment.
The final entry was dated two days before Charles died.
If anything happens to me, Thomas must find Dr. Keane.
Elena looked at Camille.
“Who is Dr. Keane?”
“The physician who signed Charles’s death certificate.”
“Where is he?”
“Arizona.”
“Then why hasn’t anyone spoken to him?”
Camille’s expression became grim.
“Because he vanished one week after Charles’s funeral.”
Elena closed the journal.
“Vanished or was paid?”
“We don’t know.”
Camille pulled out another file.
“But he resurfaced three months ago.”
She handed Elena a photograph.
Dr. Keane was entering a private retirement community.
Elena looked up.
“Why hasn’t Thomas told me?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Why not?”
Camille hesitated.
“Because Thomas isn’t telling you everything either.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
Camille continued.
“Thomas helped me fake my death.”
“I know.”
“He also helped Julian approach you.”
Elena went still.
“No.”
“He was at the charity auction.”
Camille looked directly at her.
“He arranged the table where you and Julian met.”
Elena felt the final piece of trust collapse.
Thomas had not merely known about the trap.
He had helped build it.
Then Camille delivered the worst part.
“And Elena?”
“Yes?”
May you like
“Thomas wasn’t protecting you at the lake house.”
“He was protecting himself.”
