Chapter 10 - The Lake House
The plan was dangerous.
I would enter the lake house wearing a wire while state police waited for the phrase: Tell me about Mom.
Lily hated it. Clara hated it more. I went anyway.
The house sat behind pine trees at the end of a private road. A gray sedan waited by the garage.
I knocked.
My father opened the door.
For six years I had mourned him. For eighteen I had obeyed the version of him in my head.
Now he stood ten feet away, older, thinner, and smiling.
"Hello, son."
I wanted to hit him, but said, "You look good for a dead man."
He chuckled. "Death is mostly paperwork if you know the right people."
Inside, the house smelled of cedar and coffee.
No chains. No monster's lair.
He poured a drink.
"Lily always had a gift for chaos."
"You locked her up."
"I protected the company from a sick girl."
"You bought a diagnosis."
"I bought time."
I kept him talking.
He admitted Ashcroft existed. He admitted Mercer handled records. He admitted Owen moved Lily.
But every sentence was framed like a business decision.
"Peter Wynn was stealing from me," he said.
"And Mom?"
His eyes changed.
I said the trigger phrase.
"Tell me about Mom."
Outside, police moved.
My father smiled.
"Your wire stopped transmitting nine minutes ago."
My blood went cold.
He pointed toward a brass device on the bookshelf.
Signal jammer.
Then Owen stepped from the hallway behind me with a gun.
"You always were your mother's son," my father said. "Brave at exactly the wrong time."
The front door locked with a heavy click.
May you like
My father set down his glass.
"Now let's discuss what happens to Lily's shares when she dies legally this time."
