Chapter 5 - mile marker 27
Evelyn did not sleep.
At dawn, she left Sophie with Margaret Shaw inside the attorney’s secured suite and drove to mile marker 27.
She told no one where she was going.
The mountain road curved above a steep forested valley. A weathered guardrail marked the place where Elise’s car had broken through six years earlier.
Someone had placed fresh white roses beside the road.
Evelyn parked and followed a narrow path down the slope.
Near the base of an old pine tree, she found a metal memorial plate bearing Elise’s name.
It had not been installed by the family.
Behind the plate was a keyhole.
Arthur’s brass key fit.
A small compartment opened inside the tree.
It contained a disposable phone, an old photograph, and a sealed letter.
The photograph showed Elise standing beside Marcus Reed.
Both were much younger.
Behind them stood Arthur Hawthorne.
The date was seven months before Arthur’s reported death.
Evelyn opened the letter.
My daughters,
If one of you finds this, then I failed to stop the Blackwood agreement.
The trust was never designed to reward wealth. It was designed to prevent one family from controlling the company, the foundation, and the evidence stored beneath the Bellmere.
Do not trust the wedding contract.
Do not trust any confession involving Sophie.
The person who destroys the child’s reputation intends to control her shares.
The final sentence had been underlined.
One of the brides will betray the others.
Evelyn read it again.
One of the brides.
Not the bride.
Her disposable phone rang.
She answered cautiously.
A man’s voice spoke.
“You should not be at mile marker 27.”
“Who is this?”
“Look uphill.”
A black SUV was parked near Evelyn’s car.
Preston stood beside it.
The call ended.
Evelyn placed Arthur’s letter inside her coat.
Preston began walking down the path.
“You have a habit of entering places that do not belong to you,” he said.
“My father placed something here for me.”
“Arthur placed many things where they did not belong.”
“Were you at this road six years ago?”
Preston stopped several feet away.
“I was attending university in London.”
“The Blackwood crest was on the uniform of the man who approached Elise’s car.”
“Our crest appears on hundreds of company uniforms.”
“Ask me how I know.”
He smiled without warmth.
“I assume you found a recording.”
“You tried to delete it.”
“If I had tried, you would not still possess it.”
Evelyn watched his face.
He was telling the truth, or at least part of it.
“Who called my hotel room using Elise’s voice?”
Preston’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.”
“Who sent the confession?”
“That was family legal preparation.”
“Your preparation.”
“Sign it and leave.”
“You know I won’t.”
“Then Sophie will pay for your pride.”
Evelyn stepped toward him.
“If you go near her, I will make sure every guest at that wedding learns what happened here.”
Preston looked past her toward the memorial plate.
“You think this is about a car accident.”
“It is.”
“No. Elise’s death was the first failed transfer of the Hawthorne Trust.”
He moved closer and lowered his voice.
“Tomorrow’s wedding is the second attempt.”
“Who made the first?”
Preston glanced uphill.
The black SUV’s rear door was open.
A woman sat inside.
Only her white-gloved hand was visible.
Preston spoke quickly.
“If you want Sophie alive and free, do exactly what I tell you. Attend the wedding. Let them find the phone. Sign the confession before midnight.”
“You are asking me to surrender her inheritance.”
“I am asking you to surrender paper instead of losing the child.”
The SUV sounded its horn.
Preston’s fear was unmistakable.
He turned and began climbing toward the road.
“Who is in the car?” Evelyn called.
He stopped.
“The person who taught Marianne Hawthorne how to become a widow.”
The SUV drove away before Evelyn reached the road.
May you like
In the dust beneath its tires, she found a broken pearl.
The pearl matched the earrings Celeste planned to wear at the wedding.
