Chapter 17 - The Second Car
My father confessed before sunrise.
Not to murder.
To being there.
“I followed Emily.”
We were in an interview room at the police station.
Brooks recorded everything.
“Why?”
“Because Victor called me. He knew she had the Harbor files.”
“So you chased her.”
“No. I tried to warn her.”
“By following her on an icy road at midnight?”
His eyes closed.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like my wife died while you were chasing her.”
“She pulled over near the old bridge.”
I froze.
The official report said she lost control without stopping.
“What happened?”
“She got out. We argued.”
“About the files?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Another car came.”
“Victor?”
“No.”
“Who?”
My father looked through the one-way glass.
“I couldn’t see the driver.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I saw the vehicle. Black sedan. Tinted windows.”
“What happened?”
“Emily got back into her car and drove away. The sedan followed. I followed both.”
His voice broke.
“At the curve, the sedan hit her rear quarter panel.”
My stomach twisted.
“She spun.”
He swallowed.
“She hit the guardrail.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I stopped. The sedan stopped too.”
“Who got out?”
His eyes filled.
“Celeste.”
The room went completely still.
“No.”
“She was nineteen.”
“Why would she kill Emily?”
“She said Victor told her Emily had destroyed her mother.”
“What?”
“Victor convinced Celeste that Emily leaked Diane’s private records after her death. He spent years feeding her lies about our family.”
I stood.
“Did Celeste know she caused the crash?”
“Yes.”
“Did she see Emily die?”
My father shook his head.
“Emily was alive when we reached the car.”
I grabbed the table.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“What happened then?”
He looked down.
“I called for help.”
“And Celeste?”
“She ran.”
“Then why did Emily die?”
My father started crying.
Because the ambulance never came.”
I stared.
May you like
He looked up.
“Victor canceled the dispatch.”
