Chapter 10 - EVELYN’S CONFESSION
Charles laughed when he saw Evelyn.
“You always did enjoy dramatic entrances.”
Evelyn kept the gun aimed at him.
“Tell your men to leave.”
“They don’t take orders from you anymore.”
Ryan stared at his mother.
“Where have you been?”
“Trying to stay alive.”
“You should have thought about that before helping him drug my son.”
Pain crossed Evelyn’s face.
“I know.”
“That does not begin to cover what you did.”
“No.”
“It does not.”
Charles lifted his weapon toward Rose.
Evelyn immediately adjusted her aim.
“If you touch her, I will shoot you.”
Charles smiled.
“You couldn’t stop me seven years ago.”
“You won’t stop me now.”
Evelyn’s hand trembled.
Ryan saw it.
Charles saw it too.
“You watched me kill your husband.”
“You helped Mercer drug your son.”
“You signed every lie I placed in front of you.”
“You are not a hero, Evelyn.”
“I know what I am.”
Her voice broke.
“That is why I have nothing left to lose.”
Detective Reeves slowly moved toward the side of the SUV.
One of Charles’s men noticed.
“Stop.”
The man raised his gun.
Maya grabbed Rose and pulled her behind a stone wall.
Claire followed.
Ryan remained between Charles and the cottage.
Charles looked at him.
“Your father was weak.”
“He wanted to confess everything.”
“He would have destroyed the company.”
“You murdered him for money.”
“I preserved what generations of Whitmores built.”
“You poisoned a three-year-old.”
Charles shrugged.
“Children die every day.”
Ryan lunged forward.
A gunshot cracked through the air.
The bullet struck the ground near his feet.
Maya screamed his name.
Charles aimed again.
Evelyn fired first.
The bullet hit Charles’s shoulder.
His men scattered.
Detective Reeves tackled one.
Ryan charged at Charles.
They fell against the hood of the SUV.
Charles struck Ryan in the face with the gun.
Ryan grabbed his wrist.
They struggled in the snow.
Charles was older but stronger than Ryan expected.
Years of rage gave him strength.
Ryan drove his shoulder into Charles’s chest.
The gun slid beneath the vehicle.
One of the armed men ran toward Maya.
Claire threw herself in front of Rose.
Before the man reached them, Evelyn struck him with the gasoline can.
He turned and hit her across the face.
She fell.
Maya grabbed a broken fence post and swung it into his arm.
The man dropped his weapon.
Detective Reeves rushed forward and handcuffed him.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Backup had found their location through the tracking device in Reeves’s vehicle.
Charles heard the sirens.
He shoved Ryan aside and ran toward the cottage.
Ryan followed.
Inside, Charles overturned a dining table.
He pulled open a floor panel.
A steel case was hidden beneath it.
Ryan grabbed the case.
Charles punched him.
“What’s inside?”
Ryan demanded.
“Your father’s final insurance policy.”
Charles drew a knife.
Ryan stepped back.
Evelyn entered the cottage holding her injured arm.
“Charles, it’s over.”
He turned toward her.
“It was over for you the moment you chose Maya over the family.”
“I never chose Maya.”
Evelyn looked at Ryan.
“I chose myself.”
“That was my greatest failure.”
Charles lunged.
Evelyn fired.
The shot struck the wall.
Ryan tackled Charles before he could reach her.
Police rushed into the cottage.
Charles was pinned to the floor.
Even while officers handcuffed him, he smiled.
“You think arresting me ends this?”
Ryan held the steel case.
“What does that mean?”
Charles looked toward the case.
“Open it.”
Detective Reeves unlocked it using a key found in Charles’s pocket.
Inside were financial records.
Medical files.
Video recordings.
And a sealed envelope addressed to Ryan.
Ryan opened it.
The letter was written in his father’s handwriting.
Ryan,
If you are reading this, Charles has already betrayed us.
Do not trust the company board.
Five of them are part of his operation.
One of them is closer to you than you can imagine.
At the bottom of the letter was a name.
Maya looked over Ryan’s shoulder.
Her face lost all color.
May you like
The name was Elena Torres.
Maya’s older sister.
