Chapter 7
The police came to Thomas’s office.
Two officers took statements.
A detective named Angela Ruiz arrived thirty minutes later.
She was calm.
Too calm for how terrified I felt.
She looked at the photograph of Noah.
“Has this man directly threatened your son?”
“No.”
“He sent a picture.”
“I understand.”
“That is a threat.”
“I’m treating it seriously.”
She turned to Mark.
“How much money do you owe Victor Hale?”
Mark looked at the table.
“About ninety thousand.”
I stared at him.
“Ninety?”
Ruiz did not react.
“For what?”
Mark rubbed his hands together.
“Business losses.”
She waited.
Mark sighed.
“And gambling.”
My body went cold.
I stared at my husband.
“You gamble?”
He didn’t look at me.
“How long?”
“Lisa.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Noah stood beside the window.
He turned slowly.
“All those nights you said you were working?”
Mark looked at him.
“Some of them.”
Noah’s face hardened.
I felt something inside me shut down.
Not break.
Shut down.
There had been too many shocks.
Too many lies.
I could not emotionally survive every new one.
So I stopped trying.
Detective Ruiz asked, “Did Mr. Hale lend you money personally?”
“Yes.”
“Is there documentation?”
“Some.”
“Was any of it illegal?”
Mark hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“He runs private games. Loans money. Charges interest.”
“Has he threatened you before?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Rachel spoke.
“That was when you came to me.”
Mark nodded.
Ruiz looked at her.
“And you are?”
“Rachel Carter. Lisa’s sister.”
“You gave Mr. Bennett information about Lisa’s inheritance?”
Rachel lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened to expose what happened the night our father died.”
I laughed once.
Ruiz looked at me.
I shook my head.
“Sorry. It just sounds insane when someone says it out loud.”
The detective’s expression softened.
“I imagine it feels worse living it.”
That almost broke me.
She asked Mark, “How did you know about that night?”
“Victor.”
Rachel stared at him.
“What?”
“Victor told me.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“So you knew Vince was Victor?”
“Yes.”
“You knew he dated me?”
“Yes.”
“You knew he took Dad’s money?”
“I suspected.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
Mark’s voice hardened.
“You were blackmailing me.”
Rachel stood.
“Because you were trying to steal from Lisa!”
“You helped me!”
“To stop you from losing everything and taking my sister down with you!”
“Sit down,” Ruiz said.
Neither moved.
“Now.”
They sat.
Ruiz turned to me.
“Do you and your son have somewhere else to stay?”
“My house.”
“I mean somewhere Mr. Hale wouldn’t expect.”
I immediately thought of Claire.
Then nearly laughed at the absurdity.
No.
Not Claire.
Thomas spoke.
“I have a guest apartment above my garage.”
Everyone looked at him.
“It’s secure. Gated property.”
Ruiz nodded.
“That’s better.”
Mark said, “I’m coming.”
“No,” I said.
“Lisa.”
“No.”
“If Victor is watching—”
“The police are involved now.”
“He doesn’t care about police.”
Ruiz looked at him.
“He will.”
Mark leaned toward me.
“I can protect you.”
Noah laughed bitterly.
Everyone turned.
My son shook his head.
“You’re the reason we need protection.”
Mark looked wounded.
“Noah.”
“No.”
He walked toward the door.
I followed him into the hallway.
“Noah.”
“I can’t be around him.”
“I know.”
“Every time he talks, it’s another lie.”
“I know.”
“I still love him.”
That one almost brought me to my knees.
I pulled him against me.
“I know.”
He cried into my shoulder.
“I hate that I love him.”
“You don’t have to hate him.”
“He hurt you.”
“You can be angry and still love someone.”
“That feels stupid.”
“It’s human.”
He pulled away.
“Do I have to forgive him?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
He nodded.
Behind us, a door opened.
Mark stood there.
He had heard everything.
Noah’s face changed.
Mark wiped his eyes.
Then he walked over.
I almost stopped him.
But he didn’t come close.
He stayed several feet away.
“Noah, I need you to hear one thing.”
My son looked at the floor.
“I lied to your mom.”
Silence.
“I lied to you.”
Noah’s jaw tightened.
“I got addicted to something I thought I could control.”
“Gambling?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you took my school money?”
“Yes.”
Noah nodded slowly.
Mark’s voice shook.
“I told myself I’d win it back.”
“That sounds dumb.”
“It was.”
“You always said gambling was for idiots.”
“I became one.”
Noah looked up.
Mark’s eyes were red.
“I need you to know that none of it was because of you.”
Noah stared at him.
“You told Mom she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
Mark closed his eyes.
“I was talking about divorce.”
“That’s better?”
“No.”
“Why did you want to divorce her?”
Mark looked at me.
For a moment I didn’t want the answer.
Then he said, “Because I thought if I left first, Victor couldn’t use Lisa against me.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I planned to move your inheritance into a protected account.”
Rachel laughed from the doorway.
“Protected for who? You?”
Mark turned.
“I was going to pay Victor and leave.”
I stared.
“So you were stealing my money to protect me from the person you owed money to.”
“Yes.”
“That may be the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”
“I know.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because you would’ve left.”
His honesty made me furious.
“You were planning to leave me.”
“Because I thought that would be safer.”
“No. Because you wanted control.”
He looked at me.
“You decided what I should know. What I should sign. Whether Eric could contact his son. Whether I could handle the truth about Dad.”
He said nothing.
“You’re just like Rachel.”
My sister flinched.
“You both keep calling control protection.”
Nobody answered.
Detective Ruiz stepped into the hall.
“I need to show you something.”
We returned to the conference room.
She had searched Victor’s name.
His photograph filled her tablet.
Rachel stared.
“That’s Vince.”
Victor Hale had changed since she dated him.
Older.
Heavier.
But it was him.
Ruiz said, “He has prior arrests for fraud, extortion, and illegal gambling operations.”
“Convictions?” Thomas asked.
“One fraud conviction. Served eighteen months.”
Mark swore quietly.
Ruiz looked at him.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“There’s more.”
She swiped.
“Victor Hale’s real last name is Carter.”
Rachel grabbed the edge of the table.
“What?”
Ruiz continued.
“Victor Carter Hale.”
My stomach turned.
“Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Like us.”
Ruiz looked at me.
“I checked because of the financial link to your father.”
She placed another document on the table.
“Victor’s mother was Evelyn Carter.”
I stopped breathing.
Rachel whispered, “Dad had a sister named Evelyn.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“She left home before I was born.”
Dad almost never talked about his family.
Our grandparents died young.
I knew he had one sister.
I thought she died years ago.
Ruiz nodded.
“Evelyn Carter was Daniel Carter’s older sister.”
Noah whispered, “So Victor is…”
“Our cousin,” Rachel finished.
The room became silent.
Detective Ruiz continued.
“He wasn’t dating Rachel by accident.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Ruiz looked at Mark.
“And he may not have approached you by accident either.”
Mark went pale.
I thought about Dad’s project.
Mark.
Victor.
The transfers.
The shell companies.
Claire.
A family secret older than my marriage was slowly revealing itself.
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was a video.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
Claire appeared on screen.
She was sitting in a chair.
Terrified.
A man stood behind her.
Victor.
He smiled into the camera.
“Hi, Lisa.”
Noah moved closer to me.
Victor continued.
“I think it’s time your family stopped pretending your father was a good man.”
Claire started crying.
Victor placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Bring the original estate documents to the old Carter house tomorrow at noon.”
Thomas whispered, “No.”
Victor smiled wider.
“And bring Mark.”
The video cut.
Rachel was shaking.
“What estate documents?”
Thomas looked at me.
I looked at him.
Neither of us knew.
Then Mark whispered, “I do.”
We turned.
He swallowed.
“Daniel didn’t leave Lisa just an investment account.”
My heart sank.
“What else?”
Mark answered quietly.
“He left her the Carter property.”
Rachel frowned.
“What property?”
Mark looked at me.
“The old house outside Millbrook.”
I knew the place.
An abandoned farmhouse Dad had always claimed belonged to the county.
May you like
Mark continued.
“And according to Daniel, there’s something buried there that Victor has wanted for almost twenty years.”
