Chapter 6 - THE FRIEND WHO LIED TO PROTECT ME
For one terrible second, I thought Sarah had betrayed me.
She stood beneath the basement's fluorescent lights holding the envelope I'd spent months wondering about.
The red wax seal was broken.
My hands began trembling.
"Sarah?"
She looked close to tears.
"I found it before Trent did."
I stared.
"What?"
"Last night."
She explained that Margaret had called her after the security alarm activated.
Sarah had volunteered at the historical society for years and knew the building well.
She arrived while police were still securing the entrance.
"I saw the cabinet open," she whispered. "I knew Trent had been asking about those records."
I swallowed.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought you were still with him."
The words hurt.
But I understood.
For three years, Sarah had watched me defend Trent.
She'd seen bruises I'd explained away.
She'd heard me apologize for things I hadn't done.
Eventually, I'd stopped telling her what happened.
Because telling her meant admitting how bad things had become.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
Sarah shook her head.
"Don't."
She handed the envelope to the officer, who documented its condition and arranged for the contents to be examined.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
The handwriting was elegant and precise.
Victor recognized it immediately.
"Elena."
His voice broke.
The officer read the letter aloud with our permission.
If this letter is discovered, please understand that I did not die because of a random accident.
Victor closed his eyes.
I felt tears gather.
The letter continued.
I found evidence that money intended for schools and children's hospitals was being diverted through companies controlled by Martin Hayes.
My stomach tightened.
Trent's father.
I gave copies to Daniel Whitaker. If anything happens to me, he knows where the original ledger is hidden.
I looked toward Victor.
He stood motionless.
Then the officer reached the final paragraph.
Victor, if you ever read this, please believe one thing.
I never betrayed you.
Victor covered his face.
For seven years, he'd carried the belief that Elena had somehow been involved in the missing money.
Now she was telling him she'd been trying to expose it.
The letter ended with an address.
A storage facility near the Chicago River.
Unit 47.
Victor looked at the officer.
"That's where Whitaker hid the ledger."
But Sarah interrupted.
"There's something else."
She pointed toward the bottom of the envelope.
A second folded paper had been tucked beneath the lining.
The officer carefully removed it.
A photograph slipped out.
It showed Elena standing beside a young woman.
The woman was smiling.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A small birthmark beneath her left ear.
I stared.
My knees nearly buckled.
I knew that face.
It belonged to my mother.
The woman who'd died when I was thirteen.
May you like
And beneath the photograph, Elena had written:
My sister, Catherine.
