Chapter 18
I did not go outside.
That may sound obvious.
In that moment, it wasn’t.
Every part of me wanted to run down the stairs.
I wanted to see him.
I wanted to ask him why.
I wanted to hit him.
I wanted to drag him to Sarah’s grave.
Instead, I remembered Emily’s hand in mine.
I pressed the panic button beside the bed.
Then I whispered to her, “We’re going to the safe room.”
Our house had a reinforced interior room near the upstairs hall.
I had never used it.
Now I carried Emily inside.
Rebecca followed.
Maria.
Thomas.
Mom.
Everyone moved quickly.
My phone remained connected.
Mark laughed softly.
“You hiding?”
I said nothing.
“You always did let other people fight for you.”
I heard sirens in the distance.
He heard them too.
“You called them.”
“Yes.”
“You couldn’t give me five minutes?”
“You tried to take my daughter.”
“I was trying to save this family.”
“You killed my wife.”
Silence.
My heart pounded.
Then Mark said, “Sarah killed herself.”
I gripped the phone.
“You sabotaged her brakes.”
“She wouldn’t stop.”
There.
Not a full confession.
But close.
I looked at the recording indicator Ruiz had taught me to activate.
Every word was being saved.
“She found out you were stealing.”
“She was destroying everything Dad built.”
“You were stealing from what Dad built.”
“She turned you against me.”
“No.”
My voice became steady.
“You did that.”
Mark breathed hard.
“You always choose them.”
“Them?”
“Sarah. Emily. Anyone who makes you feel noble.”
My stomach twisted.
“They’re my family.”
“I am your family!”
He shouted so loudly I pulled the phone away.
I looked around the safe room.
My mother covered her mouth.
She heard him.
So did Rebecca.
So did Thomas.
Emily stared at me.
I moved the phone away from her.
“You were my brother,” I said.
“Were?”
The word sounded wounded.
It almost broke me.
Almost.
“Brothers don’t kill each other’s wives.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
Silence.
I heard movement outside through the security feed.
Officers crossed the backyard.
Mark spoke again.
“She was supposed to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Digging.”
“So you damaged her car?”
“She was supposed to get scared.”
“Vanessa says you told her Sarah was never supposed to survive.”
Another silence.
Longer.
Then Mark laughed.
“Vanessa will say anything to save herself.”
Police entered the side yard.
I watched through the camera.
“Where are you?”
“You think I’m outside?”
My stomach dropped.
The stones.
The call.
Another distraction.
Ruiz called on a second line.
I answered silently.
“Keep him talking.”
I returned to Mark.
“What do you want?”
“Meet me tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“No.”
“You want the truth?”
“I have the truth.”
“You have Sarah’s little files.”
My pulse jumped.
He knew police had the real evidence.
“How?”
“You think Vanessa is the only person who knows things?”
I looked at Mom.
Her face went pale.
“Who else is helping you?”
Mark ignored the question.
“Tomorrow. Noon.”
“Where?”
“Old Harrison Bridge.”
“That’s surrounded by police now.”
“Not that Harrison.”
He hung up.
I looked at Ruiz’s line.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“What does he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas did.
“The old Harrison farm.”
We all turned.
“What?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Sarah’s grandfather owned land called Harrison Farm.”
“Where?”
“Forty miles east.”
My mother whispered, “Near the old airstrip.”
Ruiz heard everything.
Police began moving before sunrise.
I wanted to go.
Ruiz said no.
Then the prosecutor said no.
Then Rebecca threatened to tie me to a chair.
I stayed.
At 11:50 a.m., tactical teams surrounded the abandoned farm.
Nobody was there.
At exactly noon, my phone rang.
Mark.
“You didn’t come.”
“No.”
“You sent police.”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You finally learned.”
“Learned what?”
“Not to trust me.”
The sadness in his voice was real.
That was the hardest part.
He was not a monster every second.
He was my brother.
A broken, selfish, dangerous man who had once loved me in whatever way he understood love.
“You can surrender.”
“You sound like Mom.”
“She wants you alive.”
“She chose you.”
“She chose the truth.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
“It should never have been a choice.”
He went quiet.
Then said, “Tell Emily I’m sorry.”
My heart stopped.
“Stay away from her.”
“I never wanted to hurt her.”
“You tried to take her.”
“To make you listen.”
“She is not leverage.”
“I know that now.”
“Where are you?”
He disconnected.
Seconds later, Ruiz called.
They had traced the call longer this time.
A warehouse district near the river.
Police converged.
Mark ran.
He crossed two rooftops.
Climbed down a fire escape.
Jumped a fence.
Then reached the river.
Officers surrounded him.
For one horrible minute, Ruiz told me later, he stood at the edge and refused to move.
Then my mother called him.
Police allowed it.
She said one sentence.
“Mark, I love you enough to stop protecting you.”
He dropped the phone.
May you like
Raised his hands.
And surrendered.
