Chapter 14 - WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT MARA DISAPPEARED
Mara told me the truth two days later.
We were alone in her hospital room.
Perrin had gone downstairs with the psychologist.
Ortiz recorded the conversation with Mara's permission.
Mara began with our argument.
"I wanted you to cancel London."
"I remember."
"You thought I was overreacting."
"I remember that too."
There was no anger in her voice.
That made it hurt more.
"I had discovered Simon's transfers."
"Why didn't you show me?"
"I was trying to protect him."
I looked at her.
"He was your brother."
Even after everything, Mara understood me.
"I planned to confront him first."
"And Rhea?"
"I barely knew her."
That surprised me.
Rhea later told me she and Mara had been friends.
Another lie.
"I saw Rhea meeting Simon."
"Then I followed her."
Mara stared at the blanket.
"I discovered Voss."
"Her father."
"Yes."
"Then Bell."
She took a slow breath.
"Bell saw me outside his office."
"He knew?"
"Immediately."
"What happened on the road?"
"Rhea followed me."
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
"She hit my car twice."
"I lost control."
"The car went down the embankment."
I struggled to breathe.
"I woke up before they moved me."
"They?"
"Rhea and Voss."
"Bell wasn't there?"
"No."
"Why didn't they kill you?"
Mara looked toward the window.
"Because I told them I had evidence."
"The ledger."
"Yes."
"I said copies would automatically go to the police if I disappeared."
"Was that true?"
"No."
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
"That sounds like you."
"It bought me time."
"Two years."
Her eyes filled.
"I kept believing I could escape."
I took her hand.
She continued.
"They kept asking where the large ledger was."
"Then the small notebook."
"They didn't know about the small one at first."
"How did Rhea learn?"
"Simon."
My jaw tightened.
"Mara."
"Simon was weak."
"He told Rhea things without realizing what mattered."
"After a while, Rhea started coming to see me alone."
"Why?"
Mara hesitated.
"Because she became obsessed with you."
I felt sick.
"She studied me."
"Asked what you liked."
"What restaurants you loved."
"How you took your coffee."
"What kind of woman you trusted."
I looked away.
Rhea had built herself from Mara's answers.
Every thoughtful gesture.
Every familiar habit.
Every moment when I thought fate had given me someone who understood me.
It had been manufactured.
"Why answer her?"
Mara whispered.
"Because she threatened Perrin."
I closed my eyes.
"She showed me photographs of him."
"At school."
"In bed."
"At the park."
"She said if I stopped cooperating, she would make him disappear."
I squeezed Mara's hand.
"She got inside our house eventually."
"I know."
"How?"
"Bell convinced you she could help with the foundation."
I remembered.
Warren Bell had introduced us at a charity dinner.
He had described Rhea as a brilliant consultant.
Mara looked at me.
"Caleb, you didn't invite her into our life."
"Bell put her there."
The distinction did not make me feel better.
Then Mara said something unexpected.
"Rhea changed."
"What do you mean?"
"At first, this was about money."
"Later, she wanted your life."
"She wanted my house."
"My husband."
"My child."
Mara's voice became hard.
"She didn't just want me dead."
"She wanted me erased."
I looked toward Perrin's empty chair.
"But Perrin remembered."
Mara smiled faintly.
"She underestimated him."
"So did everyone."
Before Mara could answer, alarms sounded in the hallway.
Security officers ran past the door.
Ortiz entered seconds later.
"Lock this room."
"What happened?"
"Someone tried to access the pediatric family floor using hospital credentials."
Mara's face went white.
"Rhea."
May you like
Ortiz nodded.
"She's in the building."
