Chapter 6 - My Mother’s SecretI showed the message to Captain Mercer.
She read it twice.
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
I looked at her.
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Mom was being kept at a protected location with Tyler.
I called her under supervision.
She answered immediately.
“Rebecca?”
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
Her breathing changed.
I knew before she spoke.
There was something.
“What?”
“Where were you the night Dad died?”
Silence.
“Mom.”
“At home.”
“All night?”
Another silence.
“Rebecca—”
“Mom.”
“No.”
My throat tightened.
“Where did you go?”
“I drove to Miller Creek.”
Everything around me seemed to fade.
Captain Mercer watched my face.
“Why?”
“David called me.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“When?”
“About eleven.”
Dad’s estimated death had been between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
“What did he say?”
“He sounded frightened.”
Mom began crying.
“He told me to take you and leave Bellweather.”
“I wasn’t home yet.”
“I told him that.”
“What else?”
“He said Michael had betrayed him.”
There it was.
Clear.
Direct.
Not paranoia.
Not hints.
“What did you do?”
“I drove toward him.”
“Did you find him?”
“I found the truck.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“Near the maintenance building.”
Before the bridge.
“Was Dad alive?”
“Yes.”
I sat down.
Captain Mercer crouched slightly, trying to hear my side.
“Who was with him?”
“Michael.”
“And Hollis?”
“I didn’t know his name then. But yes.”
“What happened?”
“They were arguing.”
“Did they see you?”
“David did.”
“What did he do?”
“He yelled at me to leave.”
Mom sobbed.
“I didn’t understand.”
“Did you?”
“Michael walked toward my car.”
My blood turned cold.
“What did he say?”
“He leaned through the window and told me David was having a breakdown.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For a few seconds.”
“Then?”
“David shouted, ‘Carol, go to the state police.’”
I closed my eyes.
“What did Michael do?”
“He grabbed the door handle.”
“What did you do?”
“I drove away.”
The words came out tiny.
“I left your father there.”
“No.”
“I left him.”
“Mom, you were afraid.”
“He died because I left.”
“No.”
Captain Mercer was watching me carefully.
“Why didn’t you go to state police?”
“I tried.”
That surprised me.
“What happened?”
“Someone followed me.”
“A police car?”
“No. A dark sedan.”
“Did you recognize it?”
“No.”
“I panicked. I went home.”
“And later?”
“Michael knocked on the door at two in the morning.”
I could picture it.
Rain.
Dark porch.
My mother terrified and alone.
“What did he say?”
“He said David had crashed.”
Mom’s voice broke.
“And then he hugged me while I screamed.”
I wanted to put my fist through a wall.
Instead, I kept my voice steady.
“Why didn’t you tell investigators you’d seen them together?”
“Michael said he would tell them David tried to attack him.”
“So?”
“He said if an investigation began, your father’s name would be destroyed.”
“That doesn’t explain—”
“He said you would be questioned.”
I stopped.
“What did that have to do with me?”
Mom took a trembling breath.
“He knew about something you had done overseas.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“He said you had been involved in some incident that could end your Army career.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“There was nothing.”
“I know that now.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“He convinced you that if you talked, he could destroy me.”
“Yes.”
The architecture of Michael’s control became brutally clear.
He did not need real leverage.
Only believable fear.
Mom whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“We deal with apologies later.”
“You should hate me.”
“I don’t.”
“How can you not?”
“Because Michael is responsible for Michael.”
It was the most important sentence I had ever said to her.
Possibly to myself.
Captain Mercer took over from there, arranging a formal interview about what Mom had witnessed eighteen years earlier.
Then a trooper entered.
“Captain.”
Mercer muted the phone.
“What?”
“We found the pickup.”
“Where?”
“Burning near County Road Nine.”
“Driver?”
“Gone.”
“Plates?”
“Stolen.”
“Prints?”
“Fire probably handled most of that.”
Mercer frowned.
“Anything else?”
“A witness saw another vehicle leave the area.”
“What kind?”
“Black SUV.”
My stomach tightened.
Raymond Hollis owned three.
By evening, investigators obtained records showing that Hollis had withdrawn nearly two hundred thousand dollars in cash over the previous week.
He was preparing to run.
But Michael was preparing for something else.
At 7:15, Tyler received a call.
His father.
Investigators traced what they could, but Michael used a disposable phone.
Tyler put him on speaker.
“Dad?”
“Son.”
Tyler’s hands shook.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You need to turn yourself in.”
Michael laughed softly.
“You sound like her now.”
“Rebecca?”
“She destroyed this family.”
Tyler looked at me through the glass observation panel.
“No. You did.”
Michael went silent.
Tyler almost lost his nerve.
Then he continued.
“I saw the videos.”
“What videos?”
“You know.”
Long pause.
“Tyler, listen to me carefully. Your sister is using you.”
“Sister?”
Michael caught himself.
He had never referred to me that way.
“You always said she wasn’t family.”
“I was angry.”
“You always said she lied.”
“She does.”
“Did she lie when you handcuffed her?”
Silence.
“Did she lie when you told me to erase the video?”
Michael’s voice hardened.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then explain it.”
“There are powerful people using Rebecca to settle old scores.”
“Who?”
Michael hesitated.
Tyler pressed.
“Dad, who?”
“Raymond Hollis.”
Every investigator in the room became alert.
“You work for him?” Tyler asked.
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why is he involved?”
Michael exhaled.
“Because Hollis killed David Mitchell.”
My stomach dropped.
Tyler looked at me.
“Did you help him?”
“No.”
“Why did you change the report?”
Another silence.
“I was protecting your mother.”
I almost admired the instinct.
Even now, always another victim to hide behind.
Tyler asked, “From what?”
“Hollis threatened Carol.”
“Why?”
“Because she saw him.”
Mom.
Michael knew.
He had always known.
“Dad,” Tyler whispered, “where is Hollis?”
Michael said nothing.
“Dad?”
Then his voice changed.
For the first time, he sounded afraid.
“He’s coming for Rebecca.”
The call ended.
Captain Mercer immediately ordered additional protection around me.
I stood.
“If Michael is telling the truth—”
“We don’t assume anything he says is true.”
“But if Hollis is targeting witnesses—”
“We know.”
A technician spoke from across the room.
“Captain.”
Everyone turned.
“We got something off the call.”
“Location?”
“Not exact. But the cell connected through a tower near the old quarry.”
Mercer looked at the map.
Miller Creek Quarry had been abandoned for nine years.
One road in.
Dense woods surrounding it.
Then my phone rang.
Not my personal phone.
The secure one.
General Grant.
“Mitchell.”
“Sir.”
“I’m hearing state authorities may have located Harris.”
“Possibly.”
“Then you stay where you are.”
I almost smiled.
“You know me too well.”
“Yes.”
“Sir—”
“No. You are emotionally connected to the case and not acting in any military capacity. Local and state law enforcement handle this.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Was that convincing?”
“No.”
“Rebecca.”
“I’ll stay.”
And I meant it.
For twelve minutes.
Then Captain Mercer’s radio came alive.
“Shots fired. Officer down. Suspect vehicle exiting quarry road.”
Mercer ran.
I remained where I was.
Until a second transmission came.
“Suspect has hostage. Female. Repeat, suspect vehicle has female hostage.”
I looked toward the room where Mom had been waiting.
Empty.
Tyler ran in from the hallway.
“Rebecca!”
I already knew.
May you like
His face confirmed it.
“Mom’s gone.”
