Chapter 13 - The Father Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
I wanted Diane to be lying.
That was the worst part.
After everything she had done, I still wanted one of her lies to be true.
Thomas Vale—my biological father, if the certificate was real—had reappeared in my life through anonymous photographs, secret houses, hidden documents, and warnings. He had also hired Daniel to watch me. Grandma had written: Thomas not same man.
Now Mom claimed he killed Sofia Reyes.
Mara arrived in the NICU surrounded by officers.
She looked at Diane on the floor. "Put your hands where I can see them."
Diane laughed weakly. "I'm bleeding."
"You can bleed with your hands visible."
My mother lifted them.
Mara cuffed one wrist to the stretcher when paramedics arrived.
Then she turned to me. "You okay?"
"Define okay."
"Physically."
"I think so."
"Lily?"
"Stable."
Mara nodded once.
Then I said, "Mom says Thomas killed Sofia."
Mara's expression did not change. "Why?"
"Because Sofia found the money."
Daniel appeared behind her.
He had heard.
His face went blank.
"Where is Diane?"
Paramedics were lifting her.
Daniel moved forward.
Mara blocked him.
"Not now."
"She knows who killed my sister."
"She says she does."
"Move."
"No."
Daniel's entire body trembled.
Diane looked at him from the stretcher. "I'm sorry about Sofia."
He stopped. "What did Thomas do?"
Diane swallowed. "He followed her from a meeting with Victor."
"Where?"
"Pier 19."
"Why?"
"She had copied account records."
"Then what?"
"I don't know."
"You just said he killed her."
"Victor showed me traffic camera footage. Thomas's car followed hers onto the bridge."
Daniel's face collapsed. "That's not proof."
"No."
"Did anyone see him touch her car?"
"No."
"Did he confess?"
"No."
"Then don't say he killed her."
Diane closed her eyes. "I said what Victor told me."
Daniel laughed bitterly. "So you know nothing."
The paramedics wheeled her away.
I looked at Mara. "Find Thomas."
"We're trying."
"And Richard."
"We're trying."
"Try faster."
Mara did not take offense.
By sunrise, police found Richard's boat drifting three miles offshore.
The engine was running.
The cabin door was open.
Blood stained the deck.
No bodies.
One shoe belonged to Richard.
A broken watch belonged to Thomas.
The Coast Guard began searching.
Victor remained at large.
The hospital officer survived the gunshot.
Diane was charged with violating bond and unlawful entry, but her warning complicated the narrative.
For the first time, I had to consider a possibility I hated.
My mother might have saved Lily.
That did not erase the pool.
People are capable of being both the knife and the bandage.
It is one of the reasons families survive things they should not.
Camille interviewed Diane under guard.
I watched.
"Did Richard kill Laura?" Camille asked.
Diane stared at the table. "Yes."
"How do you know?"
"He told me."
"When?"
"Two days after the crash."
"What exactly did he say?"
"He said Laura was going to ruin everything. She planned to tell Eleanor about the fraud and leave the company shares directly to her daughter."
"Did Richard cause the crash?"
Diane's lips trembled. "He cut her brake line."
My stomach turned.
Camille continued. "Did you report him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I had a newborn. Another premature infant in the house. Richard said if he went down, Thomas would take Evelyn."
"Thomas was Evelyn's legal father?"
"Yes."
"So you stayed with a murderer to keep custody?"
Diane began crying. "Yes."
I wanted to scream at the screen.
Camille asked, "Why tell us now?"
"Because Richard has spent thirty years becoming worse."
"And you?"
Diane looked at the camera.
At me.
"I spent thirty years helping him."
It was the first honest thing I had heard her say.
She detailed forged ownership transfers, hidden debts, Victor's banking assistance, Vanessa's discovery of the truth, and the creation of Mariner Holdings.
Then Camille asked about the shower.
"Why did you hit Evelyn?"
Diane's face crumpled. "Richard told me if she didn't sign, Victor would expose everything and we would lose the company."
"That explains the demand. Not the punch."
Diane wiped her face. "She said Lily mattered more than us."
Camille stared at her. "And?"
"I lost control."
My hands curled around the blanket.
That was it.
Not conspiracy.
Not blackmail.
Not a secret order.
My mother punched my unborn child because I said my daughter mattered more than my family's money.
Sometimes the simplest cruelty is the ugliest.
Camille asked, "Did you intend for Evelyn to fall into the pool?"
"No."
"Did you help her afterward?"
"No."
"Why?"
Diane whispered, "Richard told me not to."
"And you listened."
"Yes."
The confession was enough.
Attempted homicide might be difficult.
Aggravated assault would not be.
When the interview ended, I turned off the screen.
Daniel sat beside me. "You okay?"
"No."
"Me neither."
I looked at him. "I'm still angry with you."
"You should be."
"I may stay angry."
"I know."
"But if Thomas hurt Sofia, I'll help you prove it."
Daniel's eyes filled. "Why?"
"Because truth shouldn't depend on whether I like you."
He looked away. "Your grandmother would be proud."
"Let's not make her innocent either."
A small smile.
"Fair."
At noon, Lily was moved from intensive care to a step-down nursery.
I carried her for the first time without oxygen tubing.
She was tiny and furious.
Perfect.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man coughed. "Evelyn."
Thomas.
"Where are you?"
"Alive."
"Where is Richard?"
A long pause.
"Not alive."
My blood went cold. "What happened?"
"He attacked me."
"Did you kill him?"
"I survived him."
"That isn't an answer."
"You sound like Eleanor."
"Did you kill Sofia Reyes?"
Silence.
Daniel stood.
Thomas exhaled. "No."
"Did you follow her onto the bridge?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To stop her."
"From what?"
"Giving the records to Richard."
"Why?"
"Because Richard would kill her."
"She died anyway."
"I know."
"How?"
Thomas's voice broke for the first time. "Victor forced her car off the bridge."
Daniel grabbed the bed rail.
"Can you prove that?" I asked.
"Yes."
"How?"
"I have dashcam footage."
Mara stepped closer. "Where?"
Thomas said, "Come alone."
I almost laughed. "Absolutely not."
"Then Sofia's killer walks."
Daniel took the phone. "You listen to me. If you have proof, send it."
Thomas went silent.
Then said, "Daniel."
"You used me."
"I paid you."
"You used my sister."
"I tried to protect her."
"Everyone in this family says that right before admitting they destroyed someone."
Thomas did not answer.
Daniel said, "Send the footage."
Thomas whispered, "I can't."
"Why?"
"Because Richard took it before he died."
"Where is it?"
"On the boat."
Mara's face tightened.
The police had already searched the boat.
No camera.
No drive.
Nothing.
May you like
Then Thomas added the final complication.
"Vanessa has it."
