Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
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Dorian entered the laundry room and stopped when he saw the cassette player.
His gaze moved from the device to the brass box, then to my face.
"Where did you get that?"
"Margaret found it."
He looked at the housekeeper.
"Leave us."
"No," I said.
His eyes returned to mine.
"Audra, please."
"Did you visit my mother the night she died?"
The silence that followed was more devastating than any confession.
"Answer me."
"Yes."
My throat tightened.
"Why?"
"Because she called me."
"What did she want?"
"She wanted me to help your father disappear safely. She had discovered what my father had done, and she knew Victor would never let him live if he returned."
I stared at him.
"Did you know my mother was in danger?"
"Yes."
The word landed like a blow.
"Then why didn't you protect her?"
Dorian closed his eyes.
"I was too late."
I laughed bitterly.
"You expect me to believe that the most powerful man on the East Coast couldn't protect one woman?"
"I wasn't powerful then. My father controlled the family. He had men everywhere, and I had no idea how far he would go."
"Did you tell the police?"
"No."
"Did you tell me?"
"No."
I stepped backward.
"You let me mourn her while you carried the truth around like a secret you could bury."
"I thought if I told you, Victor would come after you."
"And instead, you married me into his family."
Dorian's voice cracked.
"I loved you."
"Love doesn't make a lie harmless."
He looked at the message on the phone.
"Who sent that?"
"I was hoping you would tell me."
He picked up the device, examined it, and handed it back.
"This number belongs to an old company registered under my father's name."
"Can it be traced?"
"Not easily."
I folded my arms.
"Then we begin with the ledger."
Dorian stared at me as though he hadn't expected me to continue.
"What?"
"My father said my mother hid the original records. She left me a key and a clue. The place where my childhood ended."
He thought for a moment.
"Your family's summer house."
The words brought back memories of a small coastal property in Newport. My parents had sold it shortly before my father's supposed death, but my mother had kept one room locked until the final weeks of her illness.
I had always assumed it contained old furniture.
"Take me there," I said.
Dorian shook his head.
"It's too dangerous."
"I am done letting men decide what I can survive."
He studied me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"We leave in twenty minutes."
I reached for my coat.
He caught my wrist, gently enough that I could pull away.
"Audra, there's something else."
I waited.
"When your mother died, I found her in the east wing. She was still conscious. She gave me a name."
"Whose?"
"She said the person responsible wasn't Victor."
My pulse quickened.
"Then who was it?"
Dorian's voice fell to a whisper.
"She said it was someone inside our house. Someone she trusted."
I thought of Margaret, Blythe, the staff, and the men who had guarded our family for years.
Then I thought of the one person who had been present through every tragedy.
Dorian followed my gaze toward the doorway.
May you like
"No," he said immediately. "Not her."
But he sounded as though he were trying to convince himself.
