Chapter 10 - Mason’s Bargain
Sarah should have called Detective Ruiz immediately.
Instead, she let Mason into the old calving office beside the barn.
That was her next mistake.
She wanted the truth before lawyers could interrupt it.
Mason locked the door.
Sarah remained standing.
“Start talking.”
“I changed Andrew’s pills.”
The sentence landed without drama.
No excuse.
No hesitation.
Sarah stared at him.
“You killed him.”
“No.”
“You just confessed.”
“I changed them. I didn’t know they would kill him.”
“You threatened him the night before he died.”
“I was trying to scare him into signing the ridge deal.”
“You threatened Lily.”
“Because I knew she saw the medicine box.”
Sarah moved toward him.
Mason stepped back.
“Don’t.”
“You murdered my husband.”
“I was told the pills would make him tired and confused for a few days.”
“By Thomas?”
Mason looked away.
“Say his name.”
“Yes.”
Sarah’s hands shook.
“Why?”
“Andrew had removed my signing authority. He was going to cancel Calder Ridge and report the old contamination. Thomas said if Andrew appeared medically incompetent for a few days, the board could authorize temporary control.”
“And you believed that?”
“I needed the sale.”
“Because of your gambling?”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“That was the beginning.”
“How much?”
“I owe people more than seven hundred thousand.”
Sarah stared.
“So Calder Ridge paid Red Creek.”
“Thomas arranged it.”
“How much was yours?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand.”
“And his?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Mason rubbed his face.
“Thomas gave me a bottle. Same medication, stronger dose. He said switch two days in Andrew’s organizer.”
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“Then Andrew died.”
“After that Thomas told me there was no going back.”
Sarah’s eyes burned.
“And the codicil?”
“Fake.”
“Andrew’s signature?”
“Thomas took a signed authorization page.”
Sarah’s voice dropped.
“And the break-in?”
“Thomas paid someone.”
“The threat to Lily?”
Mason looked sick.
“I didn’t send the picture.”
“But you threatened her in the yard.”
“I needed to know what she remembered.”
“With a shovel?”
“I wasn’t going to hit her.”
“You backed a child toward a pit.”
“I lost control.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“My daughter still wakes up screaming.”
Mason closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Outside, tires crunched on gravel.
Mason froze.
“Did you call anyone?”
“No.”
The office door handle moved.
Sarah’s heart slammed.
Mason whispered, “He followed me.”
The lights went out.
Sarah grabbed her phone.
No signal.
Then someone struck the outer door once.
Hard.
Mason whispered, “Back window.”
Sarah did not trust him.
She also did not want to be trapped.
They climbed through the narrow rear window into a freezing equipment lane.
A black SUV was parked beyond the barn.
Thomas’s Mercedes was not there.
Sarah called Ruiz as soon as her phone regained signal.
By the time deputies arrived, the SUV was gone.
Ruiz listened to Sarah’s account without interrupting.
Then she said, “You met alone with a homicide suspect and didn’t record him.”
Sarah felt stupid.
“He confessed.”
“To you.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
Mason stood twenty feet away smoking with shaking hands.
Ruiz looked at him.
“Now his attorney will say you pressured him.”
“He came to me.”
“Can you prove that?”
Sarah said nothing.
Ruiz’s frustration showed.
“You keep getting close to the truth and then touching it with your bare hands.”
Mason did agree to formal questioning.
But once Thomas’s associate arrived, he recanted everything.
He claimed Sarah had threatened to accuse him unless he blamed Thomas.
Sarah watched through the glass as the opportunity collapsed.
Outside the sheriff’s office, Jenna asked, “Did he tell you anything we can independently verify?”
Sarah thought.
“The bottle came from Thomas.”
“Anything else?”
“Thomas said the pills would only make Andrew confused.”
Jenna shook her head.
“We need more.”
Sarah remembered Mason’s exact words.
“Calder Ridge paid Red Creek. Two hundred fifty thousand was Mason’s.”
“That we can trace.”
“And the rest?”
Jenna looked at her.
“If Mason got a quarter million, someone else may have gotten half a million.”
Thomas.
The next morning Jenna traced the remaining Calder Ridge advance.
Five hundred thousand dollars had left Red Creek two days before Andrew died.
It had not gone to Thomas’s law firm.
It had gone into a newly created Wyoming limited liability company.
Owner:
Margaret Whitmore.
Sarah stared at the screen.
Margaret walked into the room at that exact moment.
Sarah turned the laptop toward her.
“What did you do?”
Margaret looked at the transfer.
Her face went white.
“I’ve never seen that company.”
Jenna asked, “Did Thomas ever have authority to create entities for you?”
Margaret whispered, “Yes.”
“How recently?”
“Years ago. Estate planning.”
Sarah understood.
Thomas had put half a million dollars in Margaret’s name.
May you like
Not to pay her.
To frame her.
