Chapter 9 - A MOTHER’S SECRET
Chloe backed into the wall.
“No.”
Detective Hart stood.
“Chloe.”
“No.”
“Sit down.”
“My mother did not kill Michael.”
Nobody answered.
That silence hurt more than an accusation.
Chloe looked at Evelyn.
“You believe this?”
Evelyn’s eyes burned.
“I believe evidence.”
“You hate Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You want revenge.”
“No.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“Really?”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“I wanted revenge for eleven months.”
Chloe stared at her.
“And now?”
“Now I want the truth.”
That shut her up.
Marcus looked at Hart.
“Where is my father’s statement?”
“Stored with his estate attorney.”
“My father had an attorney?”
“Apparently.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“I knew nothing about this.”
Evelyn studied him.
She believed him.
Or wanted to.
At this point, both felt dangerous.
Detective Hart’s phone rang again.
She answered.
Her expression tightened.
“What happened?”
She listened.
Then cursed.
Everyone stood.
“What?” Evelyn demanded.
Hart looked at Chloe.
“Your father.”
Chloe’s face emptied.
“What about him?”
“He collapsed at Whitmore House.”
“Collapsed?”
“Possible poisoning.”
Chloe ran.
Evelyn caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“Let go!”
“You don’t know who’s there.”
“My father is there!”
“And your mother may have tried to kill my brother.”
Chloe ripped free.
“That doesn’t mean she hurt Dad.”
“It means you don’t run into that house alone.”
Chloe stared at her.
For one second, the spoiled socialite was gone.
She was just a terrified daughter.
Evelyn grabbed her shoes from the hallway.
“I’m coming.”
Marcus said, “So am I.”
Hart shook her head.
“You’re witnesses.”
Evelyn glared.
“And he’s my company’s largest minority investor.”
Hart looked at her.
“That doesn’t give you police authority.”
“No.”
Evelyn slipped on her heels.
“But it gives me motive to stay close.”
Twenty minutes later, they reached Whitmore House.
Ambulances crowded the circular drive.
Chloe jumped from the car before it fully stopped.
“Dad!”
Paramedics rolled Arthur Whitmore out on a stretcher.
His skin was gray.
Chloe grabbed his hand.
“Daddy!”
His eyes opened weakly.
“Chloe.”
“I’m here.”
He tried to speak.
“What?”
She leaned close.
Arthur’s lips moved.
“Don’t… trust…”
Then his body jerked.
A paramedic pulled Chloe away.
“We need space!”
“Dad!”
They rushed him into the ambulance.
Chloe stood shaking.
Evelyn approached.
“What did he say?”
Chloe wiped her face.
“Don’t trust.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
A housekeeper came running from the front doors.
“Miss Chloe!”
Chloe turned.
The older woman was crying.
“What happened?”
“I saw your mother leave.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes before your father collapsed.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“No.”
The housekeeper continued.
“She was arguing with someone.”
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see.”
“A man?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s pulse quickened.
“Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus asked, “Did you hear anything?”
The housekeeper nodded.
“One sentence.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“What?”
“She said…”
The woman looked terrified.
“She said, ‘We should have killed Evelyn the same night we killed her brother.’”
Chloe made a broken sound.
Evelyn went completely still.
The housekeeper covered her mouth.
Then something crashed inside the house.
Everyone turned.
A window on the second floor shattered.
A figure climbed onto the roof.
Marcus shouted, “Police!”
The figure jumped to the lower balcony.
Evelyn saw his face.
Daniel.
He looked directly at her.
May you like
Then smiled.
And in his hand was the original audit file Michael died trying to protect.
