Chapter 11 - WHAT THE WATER GAVE BACK
Daniel hit the water hard.
Police rushed to the edge.
For three seconds, nobody saw him.
Then his head surfaced.
“Help!”
An officer threw a flotation ring.
Daniel grabbed it.
Evelyn stood shaking.
Part of her wanted to walk away.
Part of her wanted to watch him sink.
She hated both parts.
Police pulled Daniel toward shore.
Marcus recovered several pages floating near the dock.
“Some are ruined.”
Evelyn looked at the soaked documents.
“Not all.”
One plastic sleeve had protected a small stack.
She opened it.
Michael’s handwriting.
Her knees weakened.
MERCER KNOWS.
Below that:
VICTORIA W. AUTHORIZED BLUE HARBOR TRANSFERS.
Then one final line.
EVELYN DOESN’T KNOW. DO NOT TELL HER UNTIL I HAVE PROOF.
Evelyn sat down on the dock.
Michael had been protecting her.
Even while she ignored his calls.
Chloe sat beside her.
Neither woman spoke.
On shore, Daniel was handcuffed.
He looked toward them.
“Evelyn!”
She didn’t turn.
“Evelyn!”
Still nothing.
“I can explain!”
Chloe laughed through tears.
“That’s his favorite sentence.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
Chloe wiped her face.
“My mother killed your brother.”
Evelyn stared at the water.
“She may have started it.”
Chloe looked confused.
Evelyn’s voice turned flat.
“Daniel finished it.”
They sat in silence.
Then Detective Hart approached.
“Daniel’s under arrest.”
Evelyn stood.
“For what?”
“At the moment? Fraud, theft, assault, obstruction, conspiracy.”
“And Michael?”
“We’ll build it.”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
He stood near a police cruiser.
Wet.
Handcuffed.
Defeated.
At least he looked defeated.
Men like Daniel rarely accepted reality until a cell door closed.
Hart continued.
“We still need Victoria.”
Chloe looked toward the house.
“She’s gone.”
“Not necessarily.”
Hart lifted a phone.
“We found her vehicle.”
“Where?”
“At the private airport.”
Chloe’s face tightened.
“She has a jet.”
“Not anymore.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What?”
Hart almost smiled.
“Federal authorities grounded it.”
Chloe stood quickly.
“So she’s still there?”
“Maybe.”
Evelyn looked at Marcus.
“We’re going.”
Hart shook her head.
“No.”
Evelyn stared at her.
The detective sighed.
“Fine. But you stay behind the police line.”
At the airport, flashing lights surrounded the Whitmore hangar.
The private jet sat motionless.
Evelyn climbed out.
An officer approached.
“She’s not here.”
Chloe stopped.
“What?”
“The jet was a decoy.”
Evelyn looked around.
“Then where is she?”
The officer held up a tablet.
“Security footage shows her leaving in a maintenance van.”
“When?”
“Thirty-two minutes ago.”
Marcus swore.
Hart asked, “Any destination?”
“No.”
Chloe suddenly spoke.
“Yes.”
Everyone turned.
Her face had gone pale.
“I know where she went.”
“Where?” Evelyn asked.
Chloe looked at her.
“My mother has a cabin in Vermont.”
Hart frowned.
“That’s hours away.”
“No.”
Chloe shook her head.
“She calls it the Vermont cabin.”
“Then where is it?”
Chloe looked toward the dark road.
“It’s twenty minutes from here.”
Evelyn stared.
“Why call it Vermont?”
“Because when I was a kid, my father told me never to ask questions about that place.”
Hart immediately called officers.
Evelyn turned to Chloe.
“What’s there?”
Chloe whispered, “I don’t know.”
But her hands were shaking.
Marcus noticed.
“You do know something.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“When I was fourteen, I followed my mother there.”
“And?”
“I saw a room full of files.”
Evelyn’s heart started pounding.
“What kind of files?”
“Cross Holdings files.”
Silence.
May you like
Chloe opened her eyes.
“And photographs of your family.”
