Chapter 11 - Evelyn Called Me at Midnight
Before we reached the textile mill, Evelyn told me the truth about why she ran.
She sat beside me in the SUV.
Cassian rode in the vehicle ahead.
“I wasn't running from him,” Evelyn said.
“I know that now.”
“I was running from Mom.”
“You could have told me.”
“Yes.”
“You keep agreeing with me. It's irritating.”
“I’m trying not to defend something indefensible.”
I looked out the window.
“Why take the suitcases?”
“One had clothes.”
“And the other?”
“Daniel’s evidence.”
That explained why Margaret panicked.
Evelyn had not merely abandoned a wedding.
She had stolen proof.
“Why didn't you go to police?”
“Daniel said some of the names he found were law enforcement.”
“Federal?”
“He didn't know how far it went.”
“So you planned to disappear?”
“For a week.”
“A week?”
“I thought Daniel could secure the evidence and then I'd come back.”
“That went well.”
She winced.
“Fair.”
We drove in silence.
Then she said something I did not expect.
“I knew you would be the person Mom used.”
I turned slowly.
“What?”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Not for the wedding.”
“What then?”
“If she needed leverage.”
Anger rose.
“You knew and said nothing?”
“I tried to get your mother out.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
I remembered.
Evelyn had offered Mom an apartment in Albany, saying a friend needed a tenant.
Mom refused because rent was too expensive.
“I thought you were being generous.”
“I was trying to move her off Aldridge property.”
“Why didn't you explain?”
“Because Mom monitored the household accounts. If she knew I was helping you, she would have stopped it.”
My anger became more complicated.
“Did you know about the trust?”
“No.”
“Not until three weeks ago?”
“No.”
I believed her.
That didn't erase what happened.
But forgiveness wasn't the same as pretending.
“I don't know if I can forgive you.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Sorry.”
Five minutes later her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Blocked number.
We both froze.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice.
Margaret.
“Evelyn.”
Her face went white.
“Mom.”
I reached for the phone.
Evelyn put it on speaker.
“You've disappointed me.”
Evelyn laughed once.
“That makes two of us.”
Margaret ignored it.
“Is Lydia with you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
My heart accelerated.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“You'll find me.”
“We already know about the mill.”
Silence.
Margaret recovered quickly.
“Then Cassian’s people are more competent than Richard thought.”
“Where's Richard?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I stopped expecting anything from you the moment you stood at that altar and told the truth.”
There was something deeply revealing in the sentence.
My crime, to Margaret, had not been betrayal.
It had been truth.
“Why did you keep us in that cottage?” I asked.
“For your mother.”
“Lie.”
A pause.
“Partially.”
“You needed her signature.”
“In the beginning.”
“And later?”
Margaret’s voice hardened.
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“Your father.”
“He was dead.”
“Dead men leave documents.”
I closed my eyes.
“You knew about the bedtime story.”
“Pieces.”
“Did you kill him?”
Evelyn gasped.
Margaret became silent.
“Answer me.”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Who was driving the car that hit him?”
Cold spread through me.
“Who?”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Evelyn whispered, “She did that deliberately.”
“What?”
“She wants you desperate.”
“She succeeded.”
I called Cassian.
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
I told him.
He was quiet.
“Lydia, listen to me.”
“What?”
“Whatever Margaret says, don't react immediately.”
“She knows who killed him.”
“She may know.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“Truth and information are different. She will give you information designed to control what you do.”
I knew he was right.
I hated him for being right.
At the mill, police waited several miles away.
Cassian’s people had already scanned the property.
No obvious weapons.
No sign of Richard.
Margaret sat inside the former manager’s office at a wooden table.
Alone.
She looked elegant.
Composed.
As if she had invited us for tea.
Evelyn entered beside me.
Margaret’s eyes moved to her daughter.
“I expected better.”
Evelyn replied, “That's the problem.”
Cassian remained near the door.
Margaret looked at him.
“Always the bodyguard now?”
“Today.”
She smiled.
Then looked at me.
“You want to know about your father.”
“Yes.”
“Sit.”
“No.”
Her smile faded slightly.
“You've changed.”
“I've had a strange week.”
“Cassian's influence?”
“My own.”
That irritated her more.
Good.
Margaret folded her hands.
“Thomas discovered Charles and Richard were diverting money from Riverside.”
“I know.”
“He approached Dominic Vale.”
“I know.”
“They collected evidence.”
“I know.”
She studied me.
“Then you know enough.”
“Who killed him?”
Margaret looked toward Cassian.
“His father.”
The room went completely still.
Cassian did not move.
Evelyn whispered, “Mom.”
Margaret continued.
“Dominic was driving.”
I stared at Cassian.
He looked stunned.
“No,” he said.
Margaret smiled faintly.
“Ask your mother.”
My throat tightened.
“You said someone hit his car.”
“I said you were asking who was driving the car that hit him.”
She leaned back.
“Dominic Vale.”
Cassian's face lost color.
For the first time, I saw him without armor.
“Why?” I whispered.
Margaret looked at him.
“Because Dominic changed his mind.”
Cassian shook his head.
“About what?”
“Exposing us.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard had information that would destroy the Vale family.”
“What information?”
“Ask Nora.”
Cassian went still.
Margaret stood.
“Your fathers were not heroes.”
She looked at me.
“They were frightened men who made bargains.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I remembered Cassian's warning.
Information designed to control.
“What bargain did my father make?”
Margaret's expression flickered.
There.
A weakness.
She had expected me to focus on Dominic.
I didn't.
“Thomas wouldn't sign something,” I said. “You told me that.”
Silence.
“What was it?”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“An agreement.”
“What agreement?”
No answer.
I stepped closer.
“What did Richard want Thomas to sign?”
Evelyn whispered, “Mom.”
Margaret finally looked at me.
“A confession.”
My blood chilled.
“For what?”
“For stealing Riverside’s money.”
I understood.
They wanted my father to take the blame.
“He refused.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Margaret's face changed.
Not guilt.
Memory.
“Then everything went wrong.”
Before she could continue, the office window exploded inward.
Cassian pulled me down.
Evelyn screamed.
No one was hit.
Outside, an engine roared.
Cassian's security moved immediately.
Margaret crouched behind the desk.
Terrified.
Genuinely terrified.
“Richard,” she whispered.
Cassian looked at her.
“You said you didn't know where he was.”
“I don't.”
Another shot struck the exterior wall.
Police sirens erupted in the distance.
Cassian pushed Evelyn and me toward the hall.
Margaret grabbed my wrist.
“Lydia.”
I pulled free.
She whispered urgently.
“Your father wasn't supposed to die.”
Then security surrounded her.
We were rushed outside.
Richard escaped again.
But Margaret’s final sentence followed me all the way back to the Vale estate.
My father wasn't supposed to die.
Which meant somebody had made a decision that night nobody else expected.
May you like
And if Margaret was telling the truth about Dominic Vale’s car, then Cassian’s father had been there when it happened.
---
