Chapter 13 - WHAT HE CONFESSED
I heard Detective Harmon’s voice through the tiny receiver in my ear.
Keep him talking.
Grant didn’t know I could hear him.
I lifted my hands.
“Okay.”
Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.
Grant nodded toward my phone.
“Call them.”
“I can’t if you shoot her.”
“Then don’t make me.”
“Grant, look at me.”
He did.
“Why did you marry me?”
His face twisted.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You already know.”
“I know what your father says.”
That worked.
Grant hated his father more than he hated me.
“My father is a coward.”
“Then tell me your version.”
He paced.
Gun still in hand.
“We needed Northline.”
“So you targeted me.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
He looked at me.
“I did fall in love with you.”
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
“You don’t hit people you love.”
“People lose control.”
“You broke Claire’s ribs.”
His entire body froze.
“How do you know about Claire?”
“She called me.”
“Liar.”
“She kept the recordings.”
His face turned gray.
“What recordings?”
I said nothing.
“What recordings, Elena?”
“The one where you said your father handled the police.”
Grant swore.
Then something remarkable happened.
He started talking.
Not because he was sorry.
Because he was angry.
“My father did handle it. He handles everything.”
“Like the safety reports?”
“Yes.”
My pulse jumped.
“Like the offshore payments?”
“Paige did those.”
“Grant—”
“She did! She and Mom.”
In my ear, Harmon whispered, Keep going.
I said, “Your mother?”
Grant laughed.
“You think Dad controls this family?”
He looked toward the hallway.
“My mother does.”
That surprised me.
“She set up the charity transfers?”
“She said nobody audits rich people’s charity events because everyone wants invitations.”
Rosa stared at him.
I asked, “Did Meredith know the reports were falsified?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Clear.
Recorded.
I felt sick.
“How many patients?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“No!”
His voice cracked.
“I was trying to save the company!”
“You were trying to save money.”
“You don’t understand business.”
“People got hurt.”
“So do people every day!”
Rosa made a sound behind the tape.
Grant turned.
“Shut up!”
He raised the gun.
I moved forward.
“Grant!”
He swung back toward me.
The gun pointed directly at my chest.
Everything stopped.
His eyes were wild now.
“You should’ve just stayed quiet.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“You could’ve been rich.”
“I already was.”
That confused him.
“What?”
I almost smiled.
“You never even knew how much Northline was worth to me, did you?”
His face flickered.
“You needed my shares more than I needed your name.”
His grip tightened.
I took one step closer.
“You thought I married up.”
“Elena, stop.”
“You thought my father was nobody.”
“Stop.”
“You thought I was nobody.”
“Stop!”
He raised the gun higher.
Then Rosa suddenly kicked the table beside her.
A lamp crashed.
Grant turned.
I dropped.
The library windows exploded inward.
Tactical officers entered from two sides.
“GUN!”
“DROP IT!”
Grant spun.
A shot went off.
Rosa screamed.
I covered my head.
Another shot.
Then silence.
For one terrible second, I couldn’t move.
I looked up.
Grant was on the floor.
Alive.
Bleeding from the shoulder.
Three officers were on top of him.
Rosa was crying.
But alive.
Detective Harmon rushed toward me.
“You hit?”
I looked down.
No blood.
“No.”
Behind me, Grant screamed as officers cuffed him.
“Elena!”
I turned.
His face was pressed against the floor.
“You did this!”
For the first time, I felt no fear at all.
I looked at him.
“No, Grant.”
“You did this!”
“No.”
I stood.
“You finally did it to yourself.”
Then Harmon’s phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
I asked.
May you like
He looked at me.
“They just arrested Meredith.”
