Chapter 16 - The Woman Who Wasn’t Dead
Margaret Blackwood had not died.
She had suffered a stroke and been moved into long-term care under another name.
Helena told Victor she died from complications overseas and produced paperwork from a private clinic.
The paperwork was false.
Marcus located Margaret in a nursing facility ninety miles away.
Victor arrived before dawn.
His mother was thinner, weaker, and partially paralyzed on one side.
But alive.
When she saw him, she began to cry.
Victor dropped to his knees beside her wheelchair.
“Mom.”
Margaret touched his face with shaking fingers.
“Late,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“No. Me.”
She struggled to speak.
“I was late.”
Margaret had discovered Naomi’s recorder after the crash. She hid it in Ethan’s nursery because Helena had already taken control of much of the estate staff. Before Margaret could tell Victor, Helena arranged for her to be declared medically incompetent and moved away.
“Martin helped,” Margaret whispered.
Victor closed his eyes.
“Where is he?”
Margaret’s gaze moved toward Clara.
“Boat.”
Marcus leaned closer. “What boat?”
Margaret whispered one word.
“Mercy.”
Victor knew it immediately.
Mercy was an old Blackwood Foundation medical transport yacht, decommissioned three years earlier.
Its ownership had quietly transferred to one of the shell companies.
Coast Guard records showed it had filed a departure plan for Canada that morning.
Martin Shaw was trying to leave the country by water.
Victor stood.
Margaret grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t go angry.”
He looked at her.
“Go smart.”
For the first time in weeks, Clara saw him smile.
“Naomi used to say that.”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“She learned it from me.”
The Coast Guard intercepted Mercy before it reached open water.
Martin was not aboard.
Only the captain.
And a locked cabin.
Inside the cabin, officers found Serena’s father tied to a chair.
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On the wall, written in black marker, were three words:
MARTIN KNOWS EVERYTHING.
