Chapter 15 - The Lake House
Daniel entered the lake house with an empty flash drive in his coat pocket.
Ramirez hated the plan, but a tactical team was moving into position around the property.
The living room smelled like dust and old wood.
Lily sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket.
Victoria stood behind her.
Mason held a handgun.
“Daddy!”
Daniel raised both hands.
“I’m here.”
Mason pointed the weapon lower. “Drive.”
Daniel pulled it from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
Victoria snatched it.
“You think Hannah was smarter than us?” she said.
“She was smarter than me.”
Victoria’s mouth tightened.
“For years, all I heard was Hannah this, Hannah that. Even after she died, she owned every room.”
Daniel stared at her.
“So this was jealousy?”
“No. This was survival.”
Mason interrupted. “Stop talking.”
Daniel kept his eyes on Victoria.
“You knew Hannah before I met you.”
“She treated me like dirt.”
“She caught you stealing.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“She was going to destroy Mason. Destroy me. We had debts you don’t understand.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“So you touched her car.”
Mason shouted, “Enough!”
Lily flinched.
Daniel lowered his voice. “Did you mean to kill her?”
Victoria looked at Mason.
That look told Daniel more than her answer.
Mason’s gun rose.
“We meant to stop her from reaching a meeting with federal investigators,” he said. “The car was supposed to fail in the garage exit. Eddie overdid it.”
Victoria snapped, “You told him what to loosen.”
“And you paid him.”
Daniel heard the fracture between them.
He pushed.
“Hannah died because both of you wanted time.”
“No,” Victoria said. “Hannah died because she wouldn’t leave things alone.”
The words hung in the room.
Lily began crying.
Victoria looked down, suddenly aware of what she had said in front of the child.
Daniel took one slow step forward.
Mason aimed the gun at his chest.
“Back up.”
Daniel stopped.
Then Lily’s stuffed rabbit made a tiny electronic chirp.
May you like
Mason looked toward it.
And Daniel realized the tracker had just reconnected.
