Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN ON THE OTHER END
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I gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe. For the moment."
"How do I know you're really Catherine Sorrell?"
A pause followed.
"Your mother used to call you Birdie when you were little. She said you collected blue buttons because you believed they were pieces of the sky."
My eyes filled with tears.
Nobody outside my family knew that.
"Tell me what happened to my mother."
"Not over the phone. There are people listening."
"Who?"
"The same people who have been following you since you left the mansion."
I glanced toward the window.
A dark sedan stood at the end of the driveway.
Its headlights were off.
"Dorian," I whispered.
He followed my gaze and immediately drew his phone.
"Stay inside."
The sedan's engine started.
Before it could move, two vehicles appeared from the opposite road. The dark sedan accelerated, tires spitting gravel, and disappeared around the bend.
Dorian issued orders to his security team.
I remained on the phone.
"Catherine, I need answers."
"You deserve them. But you need to understand something first. Your mother wasn't killed because of the money."
"Then why?"
"Because she discovered the identity of the person who had been helping Victor move the money. That person wasn't just an employee. They had access to your family, your home, and every private conversation you had."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
"I'll tell you when we meet."
"No. I've spent seventeen years waiting for people to tell me the truth."
Catherine exhaled shakily.
"Your mother's death was covered up by people who believed they were protecting you. Some were guilty. Some were frightened. And one person was trying to keep you alive."
"Was that person Dorian?"
"I didn't say that."
"Was he there when she died?"
Silence.
Then Catherine whispered, "Yes."
I ended the call.
Dorian stood a few feet away.
"You heard that?"
"Every word."
He looked as though he wanted to reach for me but knew better.
"I was there," he admitted. "I arrived after Victor had confronted her. She was injured. I called for help."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Victor threatened to kill you if I exposed what happened. I believed him."
"And you thought lying to me for seventeen years was the only way to protect me?"
"No. I thought it was the only way to keep you alive."
I looked down at the ledger.
"Then help me finish this."
He nodded.
We drove back toward Boston as the sun disappeared beneath the ocean.
Halfway there, Catherine sent a location and a time.
Tomorrow. Noon.
A private chapel outside Providence.
At the bottom of the message was one final line.
Come alone. The woman who ordered your mother's death will be there.
I read it twice.
Then I showed Dorian.
He stared at the screen.
"That's impossible."
May you like
"Why?"
"Because the woman Catherine is talking about has been dead for six years."
