Chapter 17 - Mom’s Last Lie
Mom had left the hospital at 12:42 p.m.
Security footage showed her walking out alone.
No struggle.
No one forcing her.
She got into a rideshare and disappeared.
I called her twelve times.
On the thirteenth, she answered.
“Mom, where are you?”
“I’m fixing this.”
My chest tightened. “What does that mean?”
“I should have stopped Brooke when I first knew. I should have told police when your father called. I kept thinking silence would protect the family.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m going to meet Evan.”
I sat straight up.
“No.”
“He called me. He wants the original trust document.”
“Do not go.”
“I already did.”
I heard traffic behind her.
“Mom, listen to me.”
“I love you.”
The call ended.
Reed traced the rideshare drop-off to our old family home, which had been empty since Dad disappeared.
Police surrounded the property.
This time I did not ask to go.
I knew better.
Dad, awake upstairs, called me from his room.
“She went to the house?”
“Yes.”
He swore softly.
“What?”
“The trust isn’t there.”
“Then why would Evan send her there?”
Dad was silent.
I understood before he said it.
“It’s a trap.”
Minutes later, police entered the house.
No Evan.
No Mom.
But on the dining room table sat an old cassette recorder.
Reed pressed play.
Mom’s voice filled the room through his phone speaker.
“I know what you did, Evan.”
Then Evan’s voice: “You knew more than you admitted.”
Mom: “I know you killed those two employees.”
A pause.
Then Evan laughed.
“And Daniel still thinks the fire was about the money.”
Mom asked, “What was it about?”
May you like
Evan’s answer turned my blood cold.
“Ask him who signed the safety inspection.”
