Chapter 14 - THOMAS'S SECRET
Detective Ruiz told me not to go.
Obviously, I went.
Not alone.
And not the way Barbara expected.
Police tracked the message to an abandoned property twenty miles north.
I drove there with an unmarked police vehicle two minutes behind me.
A wire sat beneath my coat.
Rachel stayed at the command point.
Ruiz's last instruction was simple.
"Keep her talking."
I parked outside an old farmhouse.
Barbara stood on the porch.
Alone.
"Where's Thomas?"
"Inside."
"I want to see him."
"You brought the agreement?"
I held up an envelope.
A copy.
She didn't know that.
"First Thomas."
Barbara smiled.
"You finally learned how negotiations work."
"No."
"I learned how you work."
Her smile disappeared.
She opened the door.
Thomas sat at a kitchen table.
His hands weren't tied.
He didn't look injured.
I stopped.
"Thomas?"
He looked ashamed.
Barbara shut the door behind me.
I stared at him.
"You came willingly."
He lowered his eyes.
My heart sank.
Of course.
One more betrayal.
Barbara walked past me.
"Thomas called me."
I laughed bitterly.
"Unbelievable."
Thomas stood.
"Maddie, listen."
"I'm done listening to this family."
"You need to hear this."
"Why?"
"Because I lied."
"About what?"
He swallowed.
"The money."
My skin went cold.
Barbara smiled.
There it was again.
That satisfied little smile.
Thomas continued.
"I knew about some of it."
"How much?"
"Enough."
"Define enough."
"I knew Barbara had companies."
"Did you know she was using my money?"
"Not at first."
"But eventually."
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
Thomas continued.
"I confronted her six months ago."
"What happened?"
"She told me Bradley would go to prison if I exposed it."
"So you stayed quiet."
"Yes."
"How noble."
"I was trying to protect my son."
"And who protected me?"
Thomas had no answer.
Barbara leaned against the counter.
"Nobody asked you to marry him."
I turned toward her.
"No."
"But you were happy to spend my money."
She laughed.
"Your money?"
"Yes."
"You really believe every dollar belongs to whoever earned it?"
I stared at her.
"That's generally how earning works."
She rolled her eyes.
"You married into this family and acted superior from day one."
"I paid your son's debts."
"You made him feel small."
"I built a company."
"You never let him forget it."
I looked at Thomas.
Then Barbara.
Finally, the truth became almost boring.
They resented me for succeeding.
They depended on me.
They resented that too.
Barbara held out her hand.
"The agreement."
"No."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You brought it."
"I brought something."
I handed her the envelope.
She ripped it open.
Inside was a copy of the original postnup.
Her face changed.
"This isn't the original."
"No."
"You lied."
"Yes."
For the first time, it felt wonderful.
Barbara stepped toward me.
"Where is it?"
"Safe."
"With Rachel?"
I said nothing.
She smiled.
"There she is again."
"What?"
"The woman you trust more than your husband."
"My husband earned that."
Barbara's jaw tightened.
"Bradley loved you."
"No."
"He did."
"He loved what I could provide."
She suddenly slammed the papers onto the table.
"You don't know what love is."
The outburst startled even Thomas.
Barbara pointed at him.
"I spent thirty years cleaning up after this man."
Thomas stared at her.
"I built this family."
"You controlled it."
"I protected it."
"You threatened children."
Her face twitched.
That landed.
I continued.
"You tracked my therapy."
"I needed to know what you were planning."
"I was grieving a miscarriage."
"For nearly a year."
My breath stopped.
The room became silent.
Barbara's face told me she knew she had gone too far.
But she couldn't take it back.
I stepped closer.
"You monitored me while I was grieving my baby."
She said nothing.
"Did Bradley know?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Thomas looked at her.
"Barbara."
She turned.
"Don't."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"What did you do?"
Thomas's voice cracked.
Barbara stared at him.
Then she said something strange.
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way."
Every hair on my arms rose.
I whispered.
"What wasn't supposed to happen?"
Barbara said nothing.
Thomas looked terrified.
I stepped closer.
"My miscarriage?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"You said it wasn't supposed to happen that way."
"Maddie."
"What did you do?"
Barbara backed up.
Thomas grabbed the counter.
"Barbara."
She snapped.
"I didn't hurt her."
Nobody moved.
Barbara's breathing became ragged.
"I just wanted her to slow down."
My stomach twisted.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at the floor.
"I switched the supplements."
The room disappeared around me.
"What?"
Thomas whispered.
"Jesus Christ."
Barbara looked up quickly.
"They were herbal."
My knees weakened.
"You switched what?"
"Her fertility supplements."
"With what?"
"Something that was supposed to reduce the chances."
I couldn't breathe.
Thomas started shouting.
"You poisoned her?"
"No!"
Barbara screamed back.
"No!"
"It wasn't poison."
I pressed both hands against the table.
My baby had been gone for five years.
Doctors had called the miscarriage unexplained.
I had blamed my body.
My stress.
My work.
Myself.
Now Barbara stood ten feet away telling me she had interfered with things I had been taking during the pregnancy.
She kept talking.
"I didn't know she was already pregnant."
Thomas looked like he might collapse.
"Maddie..."
I couldn't hear him.
Barbara whispered.
"I found out later."
My voice barely worked.
"And you never told me."
"No."
"Did Bradley know?"
"No."
"Swear."
She stared at me.
Then she looked away.
That was enough.
My heart stopped.
"He knew."
May you like
Barbara said nothing.
And through the wire beneath my coat, Detective Ruiz had heard every word.
