Chapter 8 - Margaret’s Price
Margaret refused another interview.
Her attorney, Harold Keane, delivered a statement claiming she had no knowledge of any object hidden inside Rebecca’s bracelet.
Detective Morales did not believe it.
Neither did Ethan.
Then Margaret requested a private meeting with him.
Rachel objected.
“You should not meet an active suspect without counsel.”
“I’ll bring you.”
Margaret refused if Rachel attended.
Ethan refused if she did not.
Eventually the meeting took place at Rachel’s office.
Margaret entered wearing pearls, a gray suit, and the expression of a woman attending a board luncheon rather than defending herself against an investigation into her daughter-in-law’s disappearance.
She looked at Ethan.
“You’ve aged.”
“So have you.”
“I am your mother.”
“That stopped being a complete defense when you hit Mia.”
Margaret flinched.
“I regret that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do it?”
“She was wearing Rebecca’s bracelet at your wedding rehearsal.”
“That explains nothing.”
Margaret’s composure cracked.
“I had spent six years trying to keep Rebecca’s chaos from destroying this family, and there it was again.”
“Chaos?”
“She intended to expose your father.”
“He was dead.”
“She intended to destroy his name.”
“If he committed crimes, the name was already damaged.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“You sound exactly like her.”
For the first time Ethan understood why that insult had been directed at Mia.
Rebecca had refused family mythology.
Margaret considered that betrayal.
“What did you remove from the bracelet?”
Margaret looked away.
“There was a memory card.”
Ethan’s heartbeat changed.
“What was on it?”
“I never opened it.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to Victor.”
“When?”
“The night Rebecca disappeared.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Victor said Rebecca had illegally copied confidential trust documents.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believed the material belonged to the family.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“Rebecca was family.”
Margaret’s voice rose.
“She married into us.”
There.
The truth.
For Margaret, blood outranked marriage.
Power outranked truth.
Lucas outranked Rebecca.
“What happened in the bridal suite?”
Margaret became still.
“Rebecca asked us to meet.”
“All three of you?”
“She demanded Lucas and I come upstairs. Victor arrived because trust documents were involved.”
“What happened?”
“She accused Lucas of stealing.”
“Was he?”
Margaret looked down.
“Yes.”
Ethan absorbed the admission.
“How much did you know?”
“Not everything.”
“How much?”
“I knew he had borrowed from accounts he shouldn’t have.”
“Borrowed?”
“He intended to replace it.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“And you covered it.”
“He was my son.”
“So was I.”
“You didn’t need me.”
The answer shocked him.
Margaret’s eyes filled unexpectedly.
“Lucas always needed someone.”
“You made him need you.”
“He was different from you.”
“You mean weaker.”
“He was sensitive.”
“You mean irresponsible.”
Margaret slammed a hand against the table.
“You always had everything!”
Rachel quietly said, “Mrs. Whitmore.”
Margaret stopped.
Ethan watched her.
The family secret was not only financial.
Margaret had built her identity around rescuing Lucas.
Rebecca threatened to remove that role by forcing consequences.
“What happened to Rebecca?”
Margaret’s breathing changed.
“She confronted Lucas. They argued.”
“Then?”
“She told him she was going to federal investigators.”
“What did Lucas do?”
“He grabbed her phone.”
“Then?”
“She tried to take it back.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Lucas pushed her.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“How hard?”
“She fell.”
“Where?”
“Against the stone hearth.”
The bridal suite had a decorative fireplace.
Ethan remembered the final video frame.
Rebecca sitting on the floor.
“What happened next?”
“She was conscious.”
“Was she bleeding?”
“A little.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Margaret’s face collapsed.
“Because Victor said if we called anyone, Rebecca would accuse Lucas of assault and expose everything.”
“So you chose the company.”
“I chose my son.”
“You had two.”
Margaret stared at him.
Ethan continued.
“What happened after the camera was cut?”
“Victor removed Rebecca’s memory card.”
“From the bracelet?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Rebecca said she was leaving.”
“Did she?”
Margaret hesitated.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Lucas wouldn’t let her.”
Ethan stood so abruptly the chair moved.
Rachel raised a hand.
“Ethan.”
He stopped himself.
“What did he do?”
“Rebecca threatened to go downstairs and tell you everything.”
“I was at the hospital fundraiser in the west ballroom.”
“Yes.”
“She could have reached me.”
“Yes.”
“But she didn’t.”
Margaret began crying.
Ethan had rarely seen her cry.
It did not move him.
“What did Lucas do?”
“He told Victor to bring the car.”
“Which car?”
“Lucas’s.”
“Where did they take her?”
Margaret whispered, “Northstar.”
Silence.
Ethan leaned over the table.
“Was she alive when they left?”
“Yes.”
“Did you go with them?”
Margaret’s eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
The admission changed everything.
She had not merely covered up later.
She had accompanied Rebecca.
“Why?”
“I thought we could make her understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That exposing Lucas would ruin all of us.”
“What happened at Northstar?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I won’t say without an agreement.”
Ethan stared.
Rachel said, “There is no agreement on the table.”
Margaret looked at her son.
“I can tell you where Rebecca went after Northstar.”
Ethan felt cold.
“After?”
Margaret nodded.
“She left that property alive.”
“Where?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Victor moved her.”
“Where?”
“I want immunity.”
Ethan stood.
“You are bargaining with my wife’s body.”
Margaret whispered, “I’m bargaining with prison.”
Ethan looked at her for a long moment.
Then he finally understood the limit of Margaret Whitmore’s remorse.
She regretted consequences.
Not choices.
He turned toward the door.
Margaret called after him.
“Ethan.”
He stopped.
“She was alive when I last saw her.”
Ethan did not turn.
Margaret added:
“And she said one thing before Victor drove away.”
His hand tightened around the doorknob.
“What?”
“She said, ‘Mia will know which one of you lied first.’”
Ethan slowly looked back.
Margaret’s face was pale.
“I never understood what she meant.”
Ethan did.
May you like
Rebecca had planted more than one piece of evidence.
And the bracelet was only the beginning.
