Chapter 14 - The Last LieVanessa sat in the interrogation room.
For the first time, she looked small.
No gold gown.
No diamonds.
No mansion.
Just a tired woman beneath fluorescent lights.
Mason entered.
She looked up.
“I wondered when you'd come.”
“You told Lily I killed my father.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed her to fear you.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Because if Adrian killed me, I needed Lily to run.”
Mason stared.
“You thought I would hurt her.”
“No.”
“Then why teach my daughter to fear me?”
“Because Adrian had people inside the police.”
Mason's jaw tightened.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Vanessa reached into her pocket.
A photograph.
She slid it across the table.
It showed Mason's father.
And beside him stood a much younger Adrian.
But the third person in the photograph stunned Mason.
His mother.
Mason stared.
“They were partners.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Your mother built the network.”
Mason shook his head.
“She was a teacher.”
“She was the architect.”
Mason couldn't breathe.
Vanessa continued.
“Your father wanted out.”
“And she stopped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because leaving meant losing everything.”
Mason stared at the photograph.
“What happened the night he died?”
“Your mother poisoned him.”
Mason's hands clenched.
“Then she killed herself six months later?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Mason looked up.
“What?”
“Your mother is alive.”
The room became silent.
“What did you say?”
“She has been living under another name.”
“Where?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Then she gave him an address.
Mason drove there with Emma and Detective Collins.
The house was modest.
Small garden.
White curtains.
A woman opened the door.
Mason stared.
Older.
Gray hair.
But unmistakable.
His mother.
He couldn't speak.
She looked at him.
“Mason.”
He stepped backward.
“You're alive.”
She nodded.
“I had to disappear.”
“You killed Dad.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was going to kill you.”
Mason shook his head.
“You lied to me my entire life.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
His mother looked at Emma.
“And you brought her here.”
Emma stepped forward.
“Did you know my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about Bellmont?”
“Yes.”
“Who started the fire?”
His mother closed her eyes.
“Adrian.”
Emma's hands trembled.
“Why?”
“He was trying to destroy the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
She looked at Mason.
“The ledger wasn't the real danger.”
Mason frowned.
“Then what is?”
His mother whispered:
“The list.”
“What list?”
“The list of people who ordered the crimes.”
Emma froze.
“Who is on it?”
His mother looked directly at her.
“Everyone.”
She walked inside.
Pulled a locked box from beneath the floor.
Opened it.
Inside was a document.
Mason read the first name.
Then the second.
Then the third.
He stopped.
His own name was there.
Emma stared.
“How?”
His mother whispered:
“Because someone ordered your death six years ago.”
Mason looked up.
“Who?”
His mother didn't answer.
A gunshot shattered the window.
The woman fell.
Emma screamed.
Mason turned toward the street.
A black SUV sped away.
On the ground lay the final page of the list.
May you like
And one name was circled in red.
MASON WHITMORE.
