Chapter 14 - THE LAST LIE
Lucas looked twenty years older in the hospital bed.
Adrian stood across from him.
Sophie waited outside with Rachel.
“Who went into Emily’s room?”
Lucas stared at the ceiling.
“Margaret.”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
“The bank manager?”
Lucas nodded.
“She and Dad were together for years.”
“Why would Emily trust her?”
“Because Margaret helped Emily collect evidence against Dad.”
Adrian frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if Margaret wanted Dad gone for herself.”
Lucas coughed.
“She played both sides.”
Adrian remembered Margaret insisting on security.
The envelope.
The key.
The bank.
Everything had made her look like Emily’s ally.
“Did Margaret kill her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said she went into the room.”
“She did.”
“Why?”
Lucas looked at him.
“To get something Emily had.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“What recording?”
“Dad confessing to everything.”
A knock interrupted them.
Rachel opened the door.
Her face was tense.
“Margaret disappeared from federal custody.”
Adrian laughed once in disbelief.
“Of course she did.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“She’ll go to the bank.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily never put the original recording in box 317.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Where is it?”
Lucas looked toward the hallway.
“At the bank.”
“Where?”
“Margaret’s office.”
Twenty minutes later, Adrian, Rachel, and federal agents entered First National Trust.
Margaret’s office was empty.
The vault door stood open.
Rachel whispered, “She’s here.”
Adrian saw a light downstairs.
They moved quietly.
Inside the vault, Margaret stood in front of box 317.
She held a gun in one hand.
In the other was a tiny voice recorder.
“Don’t come closer.”
Adrian stopped.
“You helped Emily.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
“Then what happened?”
“She wouldn’t give me the recording.”
“Why?”
“Because she realized I loved Richard.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You helped cover his crimes.”
“I loved him.”
“He used you.”
“I know.”
“Did you kill Emily?”
Margaret began crying.
“I only wanted the recorder.”
“What did you do?”
“I went into her room. She was awake. She told me she had hidden it.”
Adrian’s heart pounded.
“Then?”
“She reached for the nurse button.”
Margaret looked down.
“So I pulled out her oxygen line.”
Rachel’s face turned hard.
Adrian stopped breathing.
Margaret continued.
“I thought she would pass out.”
“You killed her.”
“I panicked!”
“You watched her die.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You watched my wife die!”
Margaret raised the gun.
“Don’t come closer.”
Adrian’s eyes burned.
“Where was Vanessa?”
“She came later. Emily was already crashing. Vanessa thought her own attack caused it.”
Adrian understood.
Vanessa believed she had killed Emily.
Richard believed Vanessa had done it.
Mercer covered the case.
But Margaret had delivered the final blow.
A murder built from multiple people’s greed.
Margaret held up the recorder.
“This is what everyone wanted.”
“Give it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“It’s over.”
“No.”
She backed toward the vault door.
“I can still leave.”
Rachel shook her head.
“You won’t make it ten feet.”
Margaret looked desperate.
Then Sophie’s voice came from the hall.
“Mrs. Hale?”
Everyone turned.
“Sophie!” Adrian shouted.
Margaret swung the gun toward the sound.
Adrian moved instantly.
A gunshot cracked.
Margaret screamed.
Rachel had fired first.
The gun fell from Margaret’s hand.
She collapsed.
Adrian ran to Sophie.
“What are you doing here?”
“I followed the agent.”
“Never do that again!”
Sophie hugged him.
Margaret lay bleeding from the arm.
Alive.
Federal agents handcuffed her.
Adrian picked up the recorder.
He pressed play.
Richard’s voice filled the vault.
“I ordered Vanessa to scare Emily off the road. If she dies, she dies. Lucas will clean the accounts. Mercer will clean the police report. Margaret will clean whatever remains.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
There it was.
Everything.
Emily had beaten them.
Even from the grave.
Sophie looked at the recorder.
“Mommy won?”
Adrian swallowed hard.
“Yeah.”
He smiled through tears.
“Mommy won.”
But Sophie looked down at her teddy bear.
“No.”
May you like
She hugged it against her chest.
“We did.”
