Chapter 5 - The Sister
Martha had never seen fear disappear from a person as quickly as it disappeared from Evelyn Delaney.
One second she was trembling.
The next, she became composed.
Years of survival returned automatically.
“Household invoices,” Evelyn said.
Celeste looked amused.
“At nine-thirty at night?”
Evelyn picked up a folder.
“Martha was asking about cleaning supplies.”
Dr. Vale looked at Martha.
His smile made her uneasy.
“I heard you’ve taken unusual interest in Maxwell’s care.”
“Only when instructed.”
“By whom?”
“Mr. Rourke.”
Celeste’s eyes cooled.
“My brother is not in a state to direct medical decisions.”
Martha said nothing.
Vale stepped closer.
“Has he complained of increased spasms?”
“No.”
“Confusion?”
“No.”
“Paranoid thoughts?”
Martha looked directly at Celeste.
“No more than usual.”
Celeste’s smile thinned.
“Go home, Martha.”
“My shift isn’t over.”
“It is now.”
Martha left.
Not because she wanted to.
Because Maxwell had made her promise that if Celeste showed suspicion, Martha would get out.
She walked three blocks before Nico pulled up.
“Get in.”
She did.
Maxwell waited inside.
“What happened?”
Martha told them.
Maxwell’s face darkened at Evelyn’s confession.
Then at the mention of the harbor trust.
“That land is worth nearly six hundred million.”
Nico whistled softly.
“And Celeste controls nothing if you remain competent.”
“Correct.”
Martha looked at him.
“Then why not kill you?”
Maxwell answered quietly.
“Because my will leaves controlling harbor assets to a charitable foundation if I die before fifty.”
Martha stared.
“So alive and incapacitated is the only version of you that makes Celeste rich.”
“Yes.”
The cruelty of it was almost elegant.
Gabriel joined them at a safe apartment owned by Nico.
Evelyn sent a message one hour later.
COME ALONE TOMORROW. 7 AM. ST. JOSEPH’S CEMETERY. MAUSOLEUM 14.
Maxwell said no immediately.
Gabriel agreed.
“It’s probably a trap.”
Martha looked at the message.
“Or she hid the copies in a place Celeste wouldn’t search.”
Maxwell shook his head.
“You are not going.”
“Why do you think it’s addressed to me?”
“Because Evelyn thinks you’re disposable.”
“Exactly.”
Silence.
Gabriel frowned.
“She may also trust Martha more than us.”
Maxwell looked furious.
“Wonderful.”
In the end, they compromised again.
Martha would go.
Gabriel would observe from a distance.
Nico would stay with Maxwell.
At seven the next morning, Providence was gray and cold.
Martha found Evelyn beside a stone mausoleum.
No Celeste.
No Vale.
Evelyn held a brown envelope.
“I don’t have much time.”
“Then talk.”
Evelyn handed her the envelope.
Inside were copies of payments.
Medication orders.
Emails.
One message from Celeste to Vale:
KEEP FUNCTIONAL STATUS UNCHANGED UNTIL TRUST VOTE.
Another:
IF HE REPORTS SENSATION, ATTRIBUTE IT TO SPASM OR PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSE.
Martha’s stomach turned.
“Vale knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did Celeste cause the accident?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
That honesty surprised her.
Evelyn looked toward the cemetery gate.
“I signed the maintenance payment because Celeste said it was for a private investigation. I didn’t know about the truck until months later.”
“How?”
“I heard Vale arguing with her.”
“What did he say?”
“That he agreed to keep Maxwell quiet, not ‘finish what the road failed to do.’”
Martha felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Vale try to kill him?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Think?”
Evelyn’s hands trembled.
“After the accident, Maxwell had surgery. Vale wasn’t his surgeon. He became involved during rehab.”
“So the crash may be separate.”
“Yes.”
“Then who caused it?”
Evelyn whispered, “Ask Louis’s widow.”
Maxwell’s dead driver.
Martha frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Louis called her from the car twenty minutes before the crash.”
“How do you know?”
“Celeste paid her.”
Martha’s pulse jumped.
“For silence?”
“I think so.”
“Name?”
“Rebecca Hale. Warwick.”
Before Martha could ask more, a car door slammed.
Gabriel’s voice shouted from across the cemetery.
“Martha!”
She turned.
Dr. Vale was running toward them.
Not with a weapon.
With panic.
Evelyn stepped backward.
Vale grabbed her arm.
“What did you give her?”
“Let me go!”
Martha moved forward.
Vale shoved her away.
Gabriel reached them seconds later.
Vale froze.
Former detective.
Witnesses nearby.
No violence.
He released Evelyn.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Vale said.
Martha held the envelope against her chest.
“I know exactly what you did medically.”
Vale looked at Evelyn.
“You stupid woman.”
Gabriel stepped between them.
“Careful.”
Vale’s face changed.
“You think Celeste is the villain?”
Martha stared.
“Isn’t she?”
Vale laughed bitterly.
“Celeste is desperate. Greedy. Controlling.”
He looked at Martha.
“But she didn’t arrange the accident.”
“Who did?”
Vale said nothing.
Gabriel moved closer.
“Who?”
Vale looked genuinely afraid.
Then he whispered, “Maxwell.”
Martha stared.
“What?”
“Maxwell arranged the meeting that put Louis on that road.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Vale swallowed.
“But someone wanted him dead because of what he was planning to do that night.”
“What?”
Vale looked toward the cemetery gate.
“He was leaving the organization.”
Martha’s mind raced.
Maxwell had never said that.
Vale continued.
“Not the legal companies. The old network.”
Protection.
Bookmaking.
Smuggling.
The shadow behind the Rourke name.
“He planned to shut it down.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Who knew?”
“Three people.”
“Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Vale looked at him.
“Louis.”
“And?”
Vale hesitated.
“Patrick Rourke.”
Martha froze.
Maxwell’s uncle.
Seventy years old.
Chairman emeritus.
The man whose portrait hung beside Maxwell’s father in the main hall.
The man everyone described as retired.
Vale whispered, “Patrick built the criminal side with Maxwell’s father.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
“And Maxwell wanted to dismantle it.”
“Yes.”
“So Patrick had motive.”
“Yes.”
Martha looked at Evelyn.
“Did Celeste know?”
Evelyn whispered, “She knew someone had sabotaged the truck.”
Martha’s breath caught.
“And she covered it up?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Because after Maxwell survived, she realized his disability gave her exactly what she’d always wanted.”
Martha felt sick.
Celeste may not have caused the crash.
She merely turned her brother’s attempted murder into an opportunity.
Then Martha’s phone rang.
Nico.
She answered.
His voice was urgent.
“Martha, get back here.”
“What happened?”
“Maxwell tried standing.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
“He fell.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“Is he hurt?”
Nico paused.
May you like
Then his voice changed.
“He moved both legs.”
