Chapter 12 - the place where the wedding music could not reach)
The address was less than a mile away.
An abandoned greenhouse once used by Mercer House gardeners.
Arthur refused to let Mara go.
Grant did too.
For entirely different reasons.
Nathan wanted police.
Vanessa wanted to negotiate.
Claire wanted the entire property locked down.
Mara listened to all of them.
Then she looked at Lily.
The little girl sat inside the mansion with Claire's mother, eating cake because someone had decided children should not have to wait for adults to stop destroying each other before receiving dessert.
Mara kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back."
Lily frowned.
"Promise?"
Mara's chest tightened.
"I promise."
She walked outside.
Arthur followed.
"Mara."
"They asked for me."
"That does not mean you walk into a trap."
"If Emily is alive, every minute matters."
"I have security."
"Then have them follow at a distance."
Arthur stared at her.
"You shouldn't have to do this."
Mara looked at him.
"I shouldn't have had to do a lot of things."
He lowered his eyes.
She softened slightly.
"But I'm still here."
Arthur nodded.
Grant appeared.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"Mara."
"No."
"If this is connected to the crash, they may want me."
"They asked for me."
"I was in the car."
"And you spent three years lying about it."
Grant flinched.
Mara continued.
"You don't get to decide when we're a team again."
Claire stood several feet away.
Grant glanced toward her.
There was no wedding left between them.
Only questions.
Mara turned and walked.
The greenhouse sat beyond a line of old oak trees.
Broken glass covered parts of its roof.
Vines had consumed one wall.
Mara entered through a rusted door.
"Emily?"
Nothing.
She moved deeper.
Her prosthetic foot crunched against dry leaves.
Then she heard breathing.
Behind an overturned worktable lay Emily Harris.
Alive.
Hands bound.
Mouth taped.
Mara rushed to her.
"It's okay."
She removed the tape.
Emily gasped.
"Run."
Mara froze.
A voice came from behind her.
"Don't."
Mara turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Late fifties.
Gray hair.
Expensive dark suit.
Nathan's description.
The man who had paid him.
He held no weapon that Mara could see.
That did not make her feel safer.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who hoped this could remain buried."
"Bellhaven?"
His expression changed slightly.
"So Eleanor really did leave records."
"Who are you?"
"Thomas Vale."
The name meant something.
Mara remembered seeing it on Mercer Foundation boards years earlier.
"You worked for Arthur."
"I worked with Arthur."
Emily struggled against the rope.
"You killed my father."
Thomas looked at her.
"Your father died of a heart attack."
"After you threatened him."
Thomas's face remained calm.
"I suggested he maintain the agreement he accepted."
Mara stared.
"You paid Nathan."
"Yes."
"You threatened my family."
"I never wanted you harmed."
"You chased us off a road."
Thomas's expression shifted.
"I did not."
Grant's voice came from outside.
"He's telling the truth."
Mara spun.
Grant entered.
"What are you doing here?"
"Not letting you repeat my mistake."
Thomas smiled.
"Grant Mercer."
Grant ignored him.
"You weren't in the SUV?"
Thomas shook his head.
"I arranged the payment to Nathan. I arranged for Harris to alter his statement. I tried to contain the crash afterward."
Mara felt sick.
"You bribed a police officer."
"I protected an agreement."
"You destroyed my life."
"No. Grant did that when he lied."
Grant stepped forward.
Thomas continued.
"But the SUV was not mine."
Mara stared.
"Then whose was it?"
Thomas looked toward the greenhouse entrance.
"Ask Arthur."
A voice came from outside.
"No."
Arthur entered with two security officers.
Thomas laughed.
"Of course."
Arthur looked at him.
"Let Emily go."
"She can leave."
Arthur frowned.
Thomas lifted both hands.
"I never intended to keep her. I needed the box."
Emily shouted, "He took it!"
Arthur stared.
"Where is it?"
Thomas smiled.
"Gone."
Security moved toward him.
Thomas did not resist.
Mara walked to Emily and untied her.
Emily rubbed her wrists.
"There's something he doesn't know."
Thomas looked at her.
Emily smiled despite the tears on her face.
"The box was empty."
Thomas's expression finally cracked.
"What?"
"My father moved everything."
"Where?"
Emily looked at Mara.
"He mailed the originals three days before he died."
Mara asked, "To whom?"
Emily reached into the lining of her jacket.
A folded postal receipt remained hidden inside.
She handed it to Mara.
Mara read the destination.
Her stomach dropped.
The package had been sent to a law office.
Her law office.
The attorney who had represented her during the divorce.
Grant saw the name.
"No."
Mara looked at him.
"You know something."
Grant shook his head.
"Mara, that lawyer wasn't yours."
"What are you talking about?"
"He worked for us."
Mara felt the world go silent.
May you like
Grant's voice became quiet.
"Vanessa hired him."
