Chapter 11 - Victoria’s Version
The closed restaurant by the lake smelled like dust and old grease.
Victoria sat alone in a booth, wearing sunglasses and a gray coat. No makeup. No jewelry. Nothing like the polished woman who had spent the last year planning our wedding.
I kept my phone recording in my pocket.
“You hit my son,” I said.
She flinched. “I lost control.”
“That’s what people say when they want the consequences to sound temporary.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
She pushed a flash drive across the table.
“Adrian is going to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because I kept copies.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
I didn’t touch the drive.
“You were at Rebecca’s crash.”
Victoria’s face went still.
“Grace told you.”
“So it’s true.”
“Yes.”
“Did you cut the brakes?”
“No.”
“Did Adrian?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She removed her sunglasses. Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Your father ordered it. A mechanic on his payroll did the first cut.”
“Grace and Emily repaired it.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Adrian was watching them.”
I leaned forward. “Who cut it the second time?”
Victoria stared at me.
“Eric.”
My chair scraped the floor as I stood.
“You’re lying.”
“I watched him do it.”
“He says he only checked the car.”
“He checked it after he cut it.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because your father promised to erase thirty million dollars of Eric’s debt if Rebecca stopped being a problem.”
I wanted to leave. I wanted to hit something. I wanted Rebecca alive long enough to tell me which person in my family had not betrayed her.
Victoria pointed at the flash drive.
“There’s a payment from Charles to Eric the morning after the crash.”
I picked it up.
A sound came from the kitchen.
Metal against tile.
Victoria’s face drained.
“He found me.”
The back door slammed open.
A man stepped into the dining room with a gun.
I had seen him at my father’s funeral.
May you like
Adrian Cross smiled at me.
“Hello, little brother.”
