Chapter 7
Victoria’s Version of the Truth
Briggs drew her weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Victoria immediately lifted both hands.
The umbrella fell.
Michael stared at it.
“You were outside the safe house.”
“Yes.”
“You found my children.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt them.”
Michael laughed in disbelief.
“You raised a crop over Sophie.”
Victoria flinched.
“I know.”
“That is the only part of this I need to understand.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“It isn’t.”
Michael stepped toward her.
“You threatened them.”
“I scared them.”
“You abused them.”
Victoria’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
The admission stopped him.
No excuses.
No denial.
“Yes,” she repeated. “And there is nothing I can say that makes that acceptable.”
Michael stared.
“Then why?”
Victoria looked toward the journal.
“Because Pike told me if Lucas remembered what Rachel gave him, Pike would take him.”
Michael froze.
Victoria continued.
“I thought if I could make the children afraid of talking about Rachel, they would stop asking questions.”
Emily stared at her.
“So you terrorized them to protect them?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I know how insane that sounds.”
“It sounds monstrous.”
“It was.”
Michael’s anger sharpened because she was agreeing with him.
He wanted resistance.
A lie he could attack.
Instead, she gave him shame.
Briggs interrupted.
“Start at the beginning.”
Victoria looked at the photograph of the three women.
“My father built Langford Holdings.”
Her voice became distant.
“He was charming. Generous. Everybody loved him.”
Michael understood that tone.
The tone children use when describing dangerous parents they once worshipped.
“He borrowed money from people he shouldn’t have. Pike helped him hide it through municipal contracts.”
“Pike was a cop.”
“He was also greedy.”
Victoria gave a bitter smile.
“Claire discovered the books. She threatened to expose everything.”
“What happened?”
“Pike threatened our father. Then Claire.”
Victoria’s eyes moved to the photograph.
“Claire disappeared.”
“You thought she was dead.”
“For years.”
“Rachel found her.”
Victoria nodded.
“Claire contacted Rachel because the Hayes Foundation had unknowingly become part of Pike’s laundering system.”
Michael’s chest tightened.
“Why Rachel?”
“Because Claire needed someone outside the Langford family who had access to the foundation.”
“And Daniel?”
“Pike owned him.”
Michael looked at the journal.
“What happened the night Rachel died?”
Victoria sat heavily in the chair.
“I was supposed to give Rachel the ledger.”
“The red book?”
“No. A real ledger. Pike kept two sets of accounts. Claire found where he stored one.”
“Where?”
“An old motel property near the lake.”
Michael’s skin prickled.
Cedar Point Lodge.
Victoria continued.
“I got there first. Rachel arrived after me. Claire was supposed to come.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Pike did.”
Silence.
Michael stepped closer.
“You called Rachel seven times.”
“I was warning her not to come.”
“Why did she come anyway?”
“Because she thought I was betraying her.”
Victoria wiped her face.
“She was stubborn.”
Michael almost smiled despite himself.
Rachel had been.
Painfully.
Beautifully.
Stubborn.
“What did Pike do?”
“He took the ledger.”
“And Rachel?”
“She ran.”
Michael stopped breathing.
Victoria looked at him.
“I tried to stop Pike from following her.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Her answer came softly.
“I expect you to hate me.”
Michael said nothing.
“I drove after them,” Victoria continued. “I was maybe a mile behind.”
“Did you see the crash?”
“No. I saw Rachel’s SUV leave the road.”
Michael’s face went numb.
“And Pike?”
“I saw a black sedan continue north.”
“The dent on Rachel’s bumper.”
Victoria nodded.
“He hit her.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Michael took a step back.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“For three years.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me bury her.”
Victoria began crying.
“Yes.”
Michael wanted to scream.
Instead, his voice became quiet.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Pike called me before the police arrived.”
She looked toward the children’s distant voices from downstairs.
“He said Claire was alive.”
Michael frowned.
“He knew?”
“He said if I talked, he would finish what he started with Claire.”
Victoria’s breathing shook.
“Then he sent me a photograph of Lucas leaving preschool.”
Michael felt murder rise in him.
“After Rachel died, he told me to get close to you.”
The room froze.
Michael stared.
“What?”
“He needed someone inside your family.”
Emily whispered, “Oh my God.”
Victoria nodded.
“So you seduced me because Pike ordered you to.”
“At first.”
The answer hit harder than Michael expected.
“At first?”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“I did fall in love with you.”
Michael laughed once.
It was empty.
“You don’t get to use that word.”
“I know.”
She lowered her head.
“But it’s true.”
Michael looked at the journal.
“Then why the children?”
Victoria had no defense.
“Because every time Lucas mentioned Rachel, I heard Pike’s voice in my head.”
She wiped tears.
“I became cruel because fear was the only tool I understood anymore.”
Michael shook his head.
“You had choices.”
“Yes.”
“You could have come to me.”
“Yes.”
“You could have gone to Briggs.”
“Yes.”
“You could have protected them without becoming another person they needed protection from.”
Victoria broke.
“Yes.”
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then Briggs asked, “Where is Claire?”
Victoria looked up.
“I don’t know.”
“You left the photograph at the safe house.”
“Yes.”
“So you have contact with her.”
Victoria shook her head.
“She contacted me.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Michael froze.
“What did she say?”
Victoria reached into her coat.
Briggs tensed.
“Slowly.”
Victoria pulled out a folded piece of paper.
One sentence.
PIKE KNOWS RACHEL KEPT A SECOND COPY.
Briggs looked toward the hidden room.
Michael did too.
The microSD card had been stolen.
The ledger was gone.
But Rachel had always believed in backups.
Then Sophie’s scream came from downstairs.
Michael ran.
He reached the foyer.
Sophie stood beside the front door, pointing outside.
One of the security officers lay unconscious on the porch.
May you like
The second was missing.
And Lucas was gone.
