Chapter 9 - The Mother in the Motel
Mara reached the motel before the ambulance left. Gideon lay on a narrow bed beneath a gray blanket, an oxygen tube beneath his nose. His wrists were bruised, but his eyes opened when she entered.
“You found her,” he whispered. Mara stood beside him.
“Did you know she was alive?” Gideon looked toward the closed bathroom door.
“Your mother survived the river.” The words did not feel like good news. They felt like a door opening onto a room no one had entered for years.
“Where is she?” “She was here.” Omar searched the bathroom and found a wet towel, a discarded coat, and a window pushed open from inside. The motel manager remembered a woman leaving through the rear stairwell fifteen minutes earlier.
She had walked with a limp and carried no luggage. Mara pressed a hand to her mouth. Her mother had been alive somewhere, perhaps watching from a distance, while Mara learned to mourn her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked Gideon. His eyes filled.
“Because she asked me not to.” “She asked you to let me believe she was dead?” “She was afraid Roane would find you.” “He found me anyway.” Gideon turned his face away.
“I failed both of you.” Mara wanted to be angry, but he looked smaller than she remembered. The man who had carried her through thunderstorms now needed help lifting a glass of water.
“What happened after Victor died?” she asked.
“Your mother took the letter from Charlotte. She planned to give it to the police.
Roane found her before she reached town.” “Did he hurt her?” “He followed her to the river. She escaped by jumping from the embankment. The current carried her beneath the bridge. I thought she had died.” “But she lived.” “She contacted me months later.
She was hiding under another name. She believed Roane had people watching us.” “And you let her stay away?” “She thought staying away was the only way to protect you.” Mara stood, unable to absorb more.
“You both made that decision for me.” “We were wrong.” The bathroom door creaked. A woman stepped into the room wearing a brown coat and a scarf around her throat.
Her hair, once dark, was now silver at the temples. She had Mara’s eyes. Mara knew her before Gideon said her name.
“Elise.” Her mother stopped breathing. For several seconds, neither woman moved.
Then Elise crossed the room and touched Mara’s cheek with trembling fingers.
“You grew up,” she whispered. Mara stepped back.
“You watched me?” “From a distance.” “You came to my wedding.” Elise’s face crumpled.
“I stood outside the church.” “You saw Theo?” “Once. From across a park.” Mara’s anger surged.
“You had years.” “I had fear.” “I had a right to know my mother was alive.” Elise lowered her hand.
“Yes.” The simple agreement left Mara with nowhere to place her rage.
Elise explained that she had lived under the name Lena Vale, moving between towns and working in small clinics. She had kept contact with Gideon through coded letters. When she learned Solomon had become involved with the agency transfers, she returned to warn him.
“I tried to tell Charlotte,” Elise said.
“She accused me of using Mara to punish her family.” “Did you give Solomon the hidden phone?” “No.” “Did you know he was searching the house?” “I knew he was looking for the trust documents. I did not know he was using Theo to hide the affair.” Mara looked toward Gideon.
“What does Roane want besides the ledger?” Elise sat beside the bed.
“The letter proves Charlotte helped lure Victor to the river. The ledger proves Roane used the redevelopment project to launder money.
But there is another document.” “What document?” “A confession from your mother.” Mara stared at her.
“I signed a statement admitting that I accepted money from Northbridge,” Elise said.
“I intended to return it, but Roane used the debt to control me.
If the confession became public, he could claim I was part of the scheme.” “Were you?” “I was careless. I was frightened. I made a choice that helped him. I have carried that truth every day.” Mara sat in the chair opposite her.
“Why did Charlotte keep the letter?” “Because it included the name of the person who arranged the payments.” “Roane.” Elise shook her head.
“No.” The word fell with quiet force.
“Who, then?” Elise looked at Gideon. He closed his eyes.
“Your father,” she said. Mara stood again.
“What?” “Gideon created Northbridge.” The room seemed to lose oxygen. Gideon spoke without opening his eyes.
“I created the company to move money away from Roane’s development partners.
I thought I could expose them from inside.” “You laundered money.” “I tried to trace it.” “You used my mother’s treatment as part of your plan.” “I never intended—”“You lied to me for my entire life.” Gideon’s face twisted.
“I was trying to keep you alive.” Elise reached for Mara, but Mara stepped away from both of them. Her phone rang.
Solomon’s number appeared. Mara answered without speaking. Solomon’s voice was hoarse.
“I know where Roane is going.” “Where?” “Briar House.” “Why?” “Because the trust is not about money, Mara.” She heard a car door slam on his end.
May you like
“It holds something Roane has been hunting for eight years,” Solomon said.
“And your father never told you that the house was built over it.”
