Chapter 17 - THE END OF RHEA DALTON
Rhea swung the crowbar.
I moved aside.
Metal struck the wall.
She pulled it back and came again.
This time I caught her wrist.
We struggled in the narrow corridor.
She kicked my knee.
I hit the wall.
She tore free.
"You're nothing without her!"
Rhea screamed.
"Do you hear me?"
"You were drowning after Mara disappeared."
"I saved you."
"You drugged my wife."
"I raised your son."
"You starved him."
Her face changed.
"I disciplined him."
"You locked him behind a wall."
"He wouldn't stop asking for her."
"Because she is his mother."
"I could have been his mother."
The words echoed through the corridor.
That was the ugliest truth.
Rhea had not only wanted Mara's place beside me.
She had wanted Mara's place inside Perrin's memory.
When Perrin refused to forget, she punished him.
Rhea raised the crowbar again.
Then Detective Ortiz appeared behind her.
"Drop it."
Rhea turned.
Ortiz's weapon remained steady.
"Put it down."
For a moment, Rhea looked toward the hidden shaft.
She was considering escape.
Then she looked at me.
"You'll never know who started this."
"We'll find out."
"No."
Her smile returned.
"The people above Bell don't get arrested."
"They don't get investigated."
"They don't even get named."
"Bell talked."
It was a lie.
But she believed it.
Her expression changed.
Ortiz noticed.
"Who is the Director, Rhea?"
Rhea laughed.
"You think Warren knew?"
Ortiz remained still.
"You just said he did."
"I said he worked for him."
"So did you."
Rhea's smile disappeared.
She looked toward me again.
"Ask your wife what happened in Geneva."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Ask Mara."
Ortiz stepped closer.
"Drop the crowbar."
Rhea whispered.
"Geneva."
Then she let the weapon fall.
Police handcuffed her.
As officers led her through the hallway, she stopped beside the broken panel where Perrin had been trapped.
For the first time, she looked small.
Ordinary.
Nothing like the woman who had controlled my life for years.
She looked at me.
"I did love you."
I felt nothing.
"No."
I said it quietly.
"You loved replacing someone."
She flinched.
Then officers took her away.
Bell survived the shooting.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
He was transported under armed guard.
His briefcase contained foreign passports, cash and encrypted drives.
Investigators believed those drives might expose the larger network.
But Rhea's final word followed me all the way back to the hospital.
Geneva.
Mara was awake when I entered.
Perrin slept beside her.
I sat quietly.
She looked at my face.
"They caught her."
"Yes."
"Bell?"
"Alive."
Mara exhaled.
I waited.
Then I asked.
"What happened in Geneva?"
Her expression froze.
That answered part of the question.
"You know what I'm talking about."
She looked at Perrin.
Then back at me.
"I hoped we would never have to discuss that."
My stomach tightened.
"Mara."
May you like
She lowered her voice.
"Geneva is where your father introduced me to the Director."
