Chapter 10 - My Mother's ConfessionOfficer Harris forced the basement door open.
My mother stood at the top of the stairs.
She wasn't holding a weapon.
She didn't need one.
Her face looked calm.
Too calm.
She looked directly at me.
"I never wanted them hurt."
I laughed.
"You sent them into the cold."
"I wanted them away from the house."
"Because Victor was coming?"
She didn't answer.
My father did.
"Tell her."
My mother's eyes shifted toward him.
"You betrayed me."
"No."
"You promised."
"I promised to protect Elena."
"You promised to protect this family."
"You stopped protecting it years ago."
She shook her head.
"Your father is confused."
I stepped forward.
"You watched my daughters leave."
My mother looked at me.
"Yes."
A confession.
Simple.
Cold.
"Why?"
"Because Victor wanted the drive."
"And if he didn't get it?"
"He would have taken the girls."
"Then why send them outside?"
She looked away.
"Because I thought someone would find them."
My mouth fell open.
"You used my children as bait."
"No."
"You knew they were lost."
"I knew someone was watching."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
My father whispered:
"Elena, she knew the SUV was nearby."
My mother closed her eyes.
"I had no choice."
"There is always a choice."
She looked at me.
"You don't understand what Victor is."
"Then explain."
She sat on the stairs.
"When you were nineteen, he found you."
The photograph.
The one of me with Victor.
"He told me he wanted to meet his daughter."
"Why did you let him?"
"I didn't."
She swallowed.
"He found you himself."
"What happened?"
"I followed you."
I stared at her.
"You watched me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid."
She looked at the floor.
"Victor wasn't interested in being your father."
"What did he want?"
"Access."
"To what?"
"To the records your father had hidden."
I looked at Daniel.
"The money."
My mother nodded.
"Victor had lost everything."
She continued.
"He needed the documents to prove ownership of several offshore accounts."
"And the drive?"
"Contains the transfer records."
"Why does he think I have them?"
"Because you do."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
My mother looked directly into my eyes.
"The drive was never in the house."
"Where is it?"
She smiled sadly.
"Your wedding ring."
I looked down.
The ring Daniel had given me twelve years earlier.
My mother said:
"You've been carrying it all this time."
Before I could process the words, a gunshot exploded upstairs.
Everyone dropped.
The basement windows rattled.
My father screamed.
Officer Harris grabbed me.
Daniel pulled me down.
Then another gunshot.
A voice shouted from above.
"ELENA!"
Victor.
May you like
He had come back.
And he was standing between us and the only way out.
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