Chapter 9 - A Mother’s Bargain
I turned so fast that Detective Reed grabbed my arm.
“What?”
I put Eleanor on speaker.
“Say that again.”
“Maya is with Charles.”
Reed motioned for everyone around us to stay quiet.
“Did she go willingly?” I asked.
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Around twenty minutes ago.”
“How?”
Eleanor’s breathing shook.
“He came to my house. Maya was there.”
“Why was Maya with you?”
“She came to confront me.”
That sounded exactly like Maya.
“What does Charles want?”
“You.”
Reed shook his head.
I ignored him.
“Where?”
Eleanor began crying.
“I don’t know.”
“Stop lying.”
“I swear!”
“You’ve lied for years.”
“I know.”
The words came out broken.
For the first time, Eleanor Mercer sounded human.
“I know what I’ve done.”
“Then fix one thing.”
She inhaled shakily.
“Charles said to tell you to stop talking to police and destroy anything you took from your condo.”
“The condo is burning.”
“He knows.”
That stopped me.
Of course he knew.
“He wants the original financial records,” she continued.
“So the fire was about those records.”
“Yes.”
Reed mouthed, Keep her talking.
I asked, “What are they?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Payments.”
“For what?”
“I never asked.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Claire, please.”
“For what?”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Settlements.”
I looked at Reed.
“What settlements?”
“Women.”
A cold rage replaced my fear.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe you didn’t know?”
“I knew enough.”
That sentence told me everything.
She had spent years choosing comfort over truth.
“When Natalie disappeared,” I said, “what happened?”
Eleanor started sobbing.
“I heard them arguing.”
“Who?”
“Adrian and Natalie.”
“And then?”
“A scream.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did you see her afterward?”
“No.”
“What did you see?”
“Adrian had blood on his shirt.”
Reed’s face hardened.
“And Charles?”
“He told me Natalie had fallen.”
“Fallen where?”
“The basement stairs.”
“Was she alive?”
Eleanor didn’t answer.
“Was she alive?”
“I don’t know!”
“Yes, you do.”
A long silence.
Then she whispered:
“She was breathing.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
I felt something inside me turn to stone.
“You let them take her.”
“I was afraid.”
“You were protecting your son.”
“I was protecting everyone.”
“No. You were protecting yourself.”
Eleanor cried harder.
Then another voice came through the phone.
Male.
Smooth.
Controlled.
Charles.
“Enough.”
Reed’s eyes widened.
Eleanor screamed, “Charles—”
A slap cracked through the speaker.
Then Charles said, “Claire, you always were the difficult one.”
“Where’s Maya?”
“She’s alive.”
“Let me hear her.”
A muffled cry.
Then Maya’s voice.
“Claire, don’t—”
The line crackled.
Charles returned.
“You have something I need.”
“What?”
“The backup drive from your safe.”
I looked at Reed.
He nodded slowly, signaling me to continue.
“What happens if I give it to you?”
“Maya goes home.”
“And if I don’t?”
May you like
Charles’ voice stayed almost cheerful.
“Then the quarry gets another secret.”
