Chapter 3
Marlene froze when she saw me looking at her.
My mother stood so fast her chair scraped across the floor.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Marlene held up both hands.
“Ryan told me where you were.”
Emma made a strangled sound behind the breathing tube.
Her heart rate jumped.
The monitor began beeping faster.
The nurse stepped between us.
“Everyone except one family member needs to leave.”
Marlene took one step forward.
Emma’s panic worsened.
I blocked her.
“You heard her.”
“I only came to check on Emma.”
“You’ve had twenty-three days.”
“Sarah, please.”
“Leave.”
She glanced at my mother.
“Carol?”
My mother looked down.
That small movement told me more than words.
They had been talking.
Working together.
Hiding things together.
“Marlene,” I said quietly, “if you don’t leave, I’m calling security.”
Her face hardened.
For the first time since she appeared on my porch, the helpless-mother act disappeared.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“No. But I’m starting to understand what you did.”
She left.
I waited until the elevator doors closed.
Then I turned to my mother.
“How many times?”
“What?”
“How many times have you spoken to her since the accident?”
Mom didn’t answer.
“Every day?”
“Not every day.”
“Close enough.”
“I was scared.”
“So was Emma.”
The nurse asked me to step outside while they checked her.
My mother followed.
I held up one hand.
“Don’t.”
“Sarah.”
“I can’t listen to another explanation right now.”
I walked down the hall and called the police.
Not emergency services.
The number for the officer listed on the accident report.
A detective named Cole Ramirez returned my call twenty minutes later.
He sounded surprised to hear from me.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
“Sarah Carter. I’m still legally married to Ryan Carter, but I use my maiden name professionally.”
There was a pause.
“I understand.”
“My sister Emma Bennett was a passenger in Ryan’s accident.”
“Yes.”
“Why wasn’t I contacted?”
“You weren’t listed as her emergency contact.”
“My mother was.”
“That’s correct.”
“Was the accident investigated?”
“Of course.”
“Was Jessica driving?”
Another pause.
“You should come to the station.”
That answer scared me.
“I’m at St. Vincent’s.”
“I can meet you there.”
Detective Ramirez arrived forty minutes later.
He was in his mid-forties, calm, careful, and clearly uncomfortable with how much I did not know.
We sat in a family consultation room.
He opened a thin folder.
“Originally, witnesses reported seeing the vehicle leave the road at high speed.”
“Jessica was driving?”
“That was the first statement.”
“First?”
He looked at me.
“Mr. Carter said Jessica Lane was driving.”
“What did Jessica say?”
“She said Ryan was driving.”
I stared at him.
“Ryan can’t remember who was behind the wheel?”
“He claims he remembers Jessica driving.”
“And Jessica claims Ryan was driving.”
“Yes.”
“What does Emma say?”
“She hasn’t been able to give a statement.”
“So nobody knows?”
“We have physical evidence.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does it show?”
“The driver’s airbag contained blood matching Jessica.”
I exhaled.
“So she was driving.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Jessica had a severe cut on her hand before the impact. There was blood throughout the front compartment.”
I hated every answer.
“Was anyone drunk?”
“Jessica had alcohol in her system. Below the legal limit when tested, though the sample was collected later.”
“Ryan?”
“No alcohol.”
“Emma?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“My mother heard Emma say, ‘What are you doing?’ right before the crash.”
Ramirez’s expression changed.
“Your mother didn’t tell us that.”
Of course she didn’t.
I laughed bitterly.
“She’s very committed to not telling people important things.”
He wrote something.
“Did Emma say anything else?”
“She wrote something on my hand.”
“What?”
“Run.”
He stopped writing.
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was in the room?”
“My mother. A nurse. Me.”
“And?”
“Ryan’s mother was standing in the doorway.”
His pen stopped again.
“When Emma saw her?”
“Yes.”
Ramirez closed the folder.
“I need to speak with your mother.”
“Please do.”
He started to stand.
I caught his attention.
“One more thing.”
I showed him the property transfer.
He studied it.
“Where did you get this?”
“My sister found it before the accident.”
“This signature isn’t yours?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“I know my own signature.”
He looked at the sale amount.
“Was Mr. Carter involved in your financial accounts?”
“During the marriage, yes. But the lake house was inherited. It was mine.”
“Did he know that?”
“He absolutely knew that.”
Ramirez asked me to email him everything.
When I returned to Emma’s room, she was awake again.
The breathing tube had been removed.
She looked exhausted.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Sarah.”
I wanted to cry.
Instead I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
“You scared me to death.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
Her eyes moved toward Mom.
“Can I talk to Sarah alone?”
Mom looked hurt.
I didn’t care.
She left.
Emma waited until the door closed.
Then she whispered, “Don’t trust Ryan.”
I gave a humorless laugh.
“That’s one problem I don’t have.”
“I mean it.”
“What happened?”
Emma closed her eyes.
“I found papers in Jessica’s apartment.”
“Mom told me.”
“She didn’t tell you everything.”
“Apparently that’s becoming a family tradition.”
Emma almost smiled.
Then she winced.
“I went there because Ryan called me.”
That surprised me.
“He called you?”
“Two weeks after he left you.”
“Why?”
“He said he made a mistake.”
My heart hardened.
“He told me the same thing yesterday.”
“No. Not leaving you.”
I frowned.
“What mistake?”
Emma looked frightened.
“He said Jessica had found out about the lake house.”
“So?”
“She wanted money.”
“From him?”
“From you.”
I felt sick.
Emma continued slowly.
“Ryan said Jessica started asking questions about your father’s estate before they were even together.”
I stared at her.
“How would she know anything about Dad?”
Emma looked at me.
“Because Jessica knew Ryan before he told you they met.”
“How long?”
“At least three years.”
My stomach dropped.
That was almost two and a half years before Ryan supposedly began the affair.
“Three years?”
“I found messages.”
“Were they sleeping together?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma hesitated.
“But they were planning something.”
“What?”
“To get control of the lake property.”
I stood.
“That’s insane.”
“She knew the resort project was coming before your dad died.”
“How?”
“She worked for the planning office.”
I suddenly remembered Jessica’s job.
Ryan had said she was a consultant.
I never asked what kind.
Emma watched my face.
“Ryan told her you would never sell.”
“He was right.”
“So they needed your signature.”
My hands started shaking.
“Ryan forged it?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
Emma looked toward the door.
“Sarah, that’s why I got into the car.”
“Tell me.”
“I confronted Ryan. He panicked. He said Jessica had gone too far and that he wanted out.”
“Out of what?”
“The whole plan.”
I sat down.
“He said he would give me the original documents and the flash drive with their messages.”
“Where?”
“At a storage unit.”
“And Jessica drove?”
“She showed up before we left.”
“Why did you get into a car with them?”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“Because I thought I could fix it before you knew.”
I shook my head.
“Why does everyone think hiding disasters from me is helping me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What happened in the car?”
Emma’s breathing changed.
I squeezed her hand.
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“Jessica was driving. Ryan was in the passenger seat. I was in back.”
“Okay.”
“They started arguing.”
“About the flash drive?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Ryan told her he was done.”
I almost laughed.
“How noble.”
“He said he wanted to confess everything to you.”
“That sounds like Ryan when he’s cornered.”
Emma nodded faintly.
“Jessica lost it.”
“What did she do?”
“She started speeding.”
“How fast?”
“I don’t know. Too fast.”
Emma shut her eyes.
“I told her to stop.”
“And then?”
“She looked at Ryan.”
Emma’s fingers tightened around mine.
“And she said, ‘If I go down, we all go down.’”
My skin went cold.
“Then?”
“She drove toward the guardrail.”
I stopped breathing.
“You’re saying she crashed intentionally?”
Emma nodded.
“Ryan grabbed the wheel.”
“To stop her?”
“I thought so.”
There was something in her voice.
“What do you mean?”
Emma stared at me.
“At the last second, Jessica tried to pull us back onto the road.”
I leaned closer.
“But Ryan…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Ryan grabbed the wheel and forced it the other way.”
I stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“No.”
“I saw him.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe he panicked.”
“He looked at me.”
My throat tightened.
“What?”
“Right before we went over the embankment.”
Emma began crying.
“He turned around and looked directly at me.”
“What did he say?”
Her lips trembled.
“He said, ‘You should’ve stayed out of it.’”
I couldn’t move.
The man on my porch had begged me to care for him.
He had cried.
Called leaving me a mistake.
But if Emma remembered correctly, the affair was no longer the worst thing Ryan had done.
Maybe not even close.
I picked up my phone.
“What are you doing?” Emma whispered.
“Calling Detective Ramirez.”
She grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“There’s more.”
I looked at her.
“The flash drive.”
“What about it?”
“Ryan thinks it was destroyed in the crash.”
“Was it?”
Emma shook her head.
“I hid it before we left.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
May you like
She whispered the answer.
“In his mother’s house.”
