Chapter 13 - Evelyn
"Don't move," Evelyn said.
Madeline froze with Poppy three feet away.
Preston stared at his mother. "What are you doing?"
"Fixing what you couldn't."
The mask finally fell from Evelyn's face.
She looked almost bored.
"This family has spent forty years building leverage," she said. "I will not watch it disappear because Madeline has sentimental feelings about her father's company."
"She's a child," Preston said.
"Then control your wife."
Poppy was crying silently now, shoulders shaking.
Madeline lowered her hands.
"Poppy, look at me."
Her daughter did.
"Remember our red-light game?"
Poppy blinked.
Madeline had invented it for parking lots. Red light meant freeze. Green light meant run to Mommy.
Evelyn's eyes narrowed. "Stop talking to her."
"Red light," Madeline said.
Poppy became perfectly still.
Outside, Ruiz shouted through a loudspeaker.
Evelyn turned her head toward the sound.
"Green light!"
Poppy ran.
Madeline threw herself forward.
A gun fired.
The sound slammed through the cabin.
Madeline hit the floor with Poppy beneath her.
For one terrible second she felt nothing.
Then Preston screamed.
The bullet had struck him high in the shoulder.
Evelyn stared at her son, stunned.
That was enough.
Daniel came up from the cellar and tackled her from the side.
The gun skidded under the table.
Police burst through the front door.
Ruiz reached Madeline and pulled Poppy into her arms.
"You're safe. You're safe."
Preston lay against the wall, bleeding and furious.
He looked at Madeline with pure hatred.
"You did this."
Madeline almost laughed.
"No, Preston. You finally did something without making me doubt what I saw."
Ruiz handcuffed Evelyn.
Then an officer shouted from the cellar.
"Detective! You need to see this."
Behind the wall where Serena had been tied, police had found a steel cabinet.
Inside were photographs.
May you like
Not of Madeline.
Of three other women.
