Chapter 15 - REBECCA'S LAST MOVE
Rebecca had never been transported to jail.
She had been held temporarily at a nearby police facility while prosecutors prepared charges.
During a power interruption, she escaped through a maintenance exit.
Investigators later discovered that the outage had been arranged days earlier.
Morgan had prepared emergency exits for everyone important.
Rebecca simply used hers.
Now she had Richard’s red envelope.
And she knew exactly where she was going.
Claire knew too.
“The cemetery.”
Bennett stared at her.
“Why?”
“My father’s grave.”
Samuel had once told Claire that if the family ever lost everything, something important would still remain with him.
At the time, Claire thought he meant memory.
Now she wondered whether he had meant it literally.
Police rushed to the cemetery.
Ethan remained with an officer in the vehicle.
Rain covered the gravestones.
Flashlights swept through the darkness.
Then Ethan saw movement.
A woman near Samuel’s grave.
Rebecca.
She carried a shovel.
Beside her lay the red envelope.
Claire approached slowly.
“Rebecca.”
Rebecca spun around.
“Stay back.”
Police surrounded the area.
Rebecca laughed desperately.
“Everyone always comes for you.”
Claire shook her head.
“This isn’t about me anymore.”
“It was always about you.”
“Dad loved you.”
“No.”
“He feared me.”
“There’s a difference.”
Rebecca stared at the grave.
Then her shoulders sagged.
“I just wanted what I was owed.”
“You almost buried me for it.”
Rebecca’s face twisted.
“You got the life I was supposed to have.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You chose your life.”
Rebecca looked at Ethan standing behind an officer.
For the first time, shame crossed her face.
“He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“At my funeral?”
“No.”
“When?”
“When Richard took you.”
Claire froze.
Rebecca continued.
“The plan was to send Ethan to your friend in Arizona.”
“Richard changed it.”
“He always changed things.”
Claire understood.
Richard had betrayed everyone differently.
Morgan.
Rebecca.
Cole.
Even Claire.
Rebecca lifted the red envelope.
“Dad wrote something inside.”
“Give it to me.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“He wrote my name.”
Claire stopped.
Rebecca opened the envelope.
Inside was a single folded letter.
She read aloud.
Rebecca,
If greed has brought you to this letter, then you still have one choice left.
Tell the truth.
Not for me.
For your sister.
And for yourself.
Rebecca stopped reading.
Rain ran down her face.
She looked at Claire.
For fourteen years, she had blamed everyone else.
Samuel.
Claire.
The company.
The world.
Now there was nobody left.
Rebecca dropped the shovel.
May you like
Then she raised both hands.
“I’ll testify.”
