Chapter 6 - BRENDA’S CAR
Brenda’s vehicle had been abandoned behind a closed roadside motel.
The blood inside was eventually confirmed to be Brenda’s.
But the amount was small.
There was no evidence of a serious injury.
Sarah suspected immediately that Brenda had staged the scene.
Detective Hale agreed.
“She wants us thinking someone else is involved.”
“Daniel?”
“Possibly.”
“But he was already in custody when the car appeared.”
Sarah frowned.
“So she has another person helping her.”
Hale nodded.
That possibility made Sarah more uneasy than Brenda herself.
An enemy she knew was frightening.
An enemy without a face was worse.
Two days passed.
Brenda remained missing.
Sarah temporarily moved with Noah to a secure house arranged through Mark’s attorney.
Elena came with them.
Mark traveled between the secure location and police interviews.
The marriage between Sarah and Mark became increasingly strained.
Every conversation seemed to expose another secret.
On the third evening, Sarah confronted him.
“What else haven’t you told me?”
Mark looked exhausted.
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That’s fair.”
Sarah crossed her arms.
“Then earn it back.”
Mark sat down.
“My father suspected Brenda had been manipulating him for years.”
“How?”
“She controlled information.”
“She told Dad that I wanted to sell the company.”
“She told me Dad planned to cut me out.”
“She kept us fighting.”
“Why?”
“Because when we were fighting, nobody watched her.”
Sarah absorbed that.
“Your father knew before he died?”
“Eventually.”
“And then he changed the will.”
“Yes.”
Mark took a breath.
“But there’s something strange about the amount.”
“Eighteen million?”
“That wasn’t random.”
Mark opened his laptop.
“My father sold a property twelve years ago.”
“The profit was almost exactly eighteen million.”
“So?”
“That property belonged to my mother before she died.”
Sarah knew Mark’s mother had passed away when he and Brenda were teenagers.
“What does that have to do with Noah?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Elena entered.
“I might.”
Sarah and Mark looked at her.
Elena held an old envelope.
“I found this inside the diaper bag Brenda gave Sarah after the funeral.”
Sarah stared.
“What?”
“I was cleaning the side pocket.”
“It was stitched behind the lining.”
Inside the envelope was a letter.
It was written by William Caldwell.
Sarah began reading aloud.
Mark, if you are seeing this, Brenda has probably already forced my hand.
The eighteen million does not belong to her.
It never did.
Your mother left instructions.
Mark’s face lost all color.
“My mother?”
Sarah continued.
The sale proceeds were meant to be divided between you and any children you might have.
I failed to honor that promise for too long.
I allowed Brenda to believe it was family money.
That was my mistake.
The final paragraph was worse.
Brenda knows the truth now.
She also knows I discovered what happened the night your mother died.
Mark dropped into a chair.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
Sarah looked at him.
William’s last sentence waited on the page.
May you like
She read it quietly.
It was not an accident.
