Chapter 15 - Mara's Secret
Mara stared at the wet pavement outside the command van.
"Elena gave me the letter."
"You said it was found at the hospice."
"It was."
"You put it there?"
"Yes."
Anger surged through me.
"Why?"
"Because I was scared."
"You let me believe--"
"I was scared, Graham."
Her voice broke.
"Elena asked me to mail it if anything happened to her. The morning she died, two men came to my apartment. They showed me photographs of my son."
I stopped.
"You have a son?"
"Had."
Mara swallowed.
"He was fourteen. Living with his father in Kentucky. They told me if I mailed the letter, he would be pulled into my criminal case."
"What happened to him?"
"A drunk driver killed him eight months later."
The rage left me all at once.
"I'm sorry."
"I spent years blaming myself for everything. Elena. Sophie. My son. Then I saw Rosalyn at the window."
She wiped her face.
"I couldn't save Elena. I could bring soup."
I had thought of Mara as the mysterious woman who might solve my family.
She was simply another person Hilda's machine had broken.
Detective Ortiz entered.
"Negotiation team is ready. We give Hilda a copy of the ledger."
"No real evidence leaves police custody."
"Agreed."
They printed a convincing duplicate and sealed it in Elena's old document envelope.
I carried it to the east loading bay under a police plan.
Hilda stood on the upper catwalk holding Camille.
My daughter's face was red from crying.
"Daddy!"
Every nerve in my body screamed to run to her.
I stayed still.
"Ledger first," Hilda said.
"Camille first."
"You're not in charge anymore."
"You're right."
That surprised her.
I raised the envelope.
"For two years I thought being in charge meant being a father. It didn't."
Hilda's mouth tightened.
"Give me my daughter."
A red laser dot appeared briefly on the railing near Hilda's hand.
Police sniper.
She saw it.
Her face changed.
Then she grabbed Camille tighter and stepped backward.
The catwalk gate behind her opened.
May you like
Marcus Dawson appeared.
And he had a gun.
