Chapter 13 - Lily Comes Back
Emergency lights glowed red along the basement stairs.
Owen ran upward.
I tackled my father into the steel table.
The ledger hit the floor.
Harold fought harder than I expected, driving his thumb into my injured ribs, but rage had kept me alive for eighteen years without my knowing it.
I pinned him against the cabinets.
"Where's Owen?" Lily shouted upstairs.
A gunshot cracked.
Clara screamed.
I let go of my father and ran.
Owen stood in the foyer clutching his shoulder.
Across from him, Mae Ramos held a revolver with both hands.
"Retirement made me impatient," she said.
Lily was beside her.
Behind them came Lena Ortiz and two state troopers.
The jammer had blocked their signal, but Lily had recognized an old maintenance line running under the lakeside property from her father's construction plans. She and Mae had cut power to the jammer and opened the rear gate.
Harold appeared at the basement door holding the black ledger.
Lena raised her weapon.
"Harold Carter, put it down."
He smiled.
Then he threw the ledger into the fireplace.
Lily lunged.
I caught her before she reached the flames.
Pages curled black.
"No!"
Harold laughed.
"There goes your proof."
Clara lifted her phone.
"Not all of it."
She had photographed every page she could see while Harold was distracted.
His face finally changed.
Then Owen spoke from the floor.
"There's another copy."
Everyone turned.
Harold stared at him.
Owen pressed a hand to his bleeding shoulder.
"You told me you'd take care of Mercer. You were going to put this all on me."
Harold's voice became deadly calm. "Be quiet."
Owen laughed once.
"No. I'm done being your graveyard."
He looked at Lena.
"The full ledger is in a storage unit under the name Peter Gray. And I can tell you who cut Helen Carter's brake line."
My heart stopped.
Harold shouted, "Shut your mouth!"
May you like
Owen looked directly at me.
"It was me."
