Thomas took the ledger from the table.
Mara blocked the doorway.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You said you would stop running.”
“I said we would stop running.”
Thomas considered that.
Then he handed her the ledger.
“You're right.”
Daniel checked the windows.
“They're surrounding the farmhouse.”
Jonathan moved toward the back entrance.
“There may be another way out.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She held up the ledger.
“They came for this.”
Thomas nodded.
“Then we give them something they don't expect.”
Mara opened the notebook.
“What?”
Thomas pointed toward the final pages.
“Read the last entry.”
Mara turned the pages.
The handwriting changed there.
It wasn't Thomas's.
It wasn't Eleanor's.
It belonged to Stephen.
The final entry was dated six years earlier.
*Thomas will disappear tonight. Eleanor will believe the plan worked. Jonathan will handle the documents. Afterward, the ledger will be destroyed.**
Mara looked up.
“Stephen wrote this?”
“Yes.”
“But if he wrote it before Dad disappeared—”
“He knew the plan.”
Jonathan stepped closer.
“And that means he was never simply reacting to us.”
Mara turned the page.
A second entry followed.
*The girl must never know. If she finds out, use the house.**
Mara's stomach tightened.
“The house?”
Thomas nodded.
“They knew you would inherit it.”
“So they used my mother's property to control her.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked at the transfer document.
The forged sale had never been about money alone.
It had been leverage.
Someone wanted the Bennett family divided, frightened and uncertain.
Outside, Stephen shouted again.
“Eleanor!”
Thomas moved toward the door.
Mara caught his arm.
“Wait.”
She pointed at the final entry.
There was another line beneath it.
*If Thomas survives, the second ledger must remain hidden.**
Thomas stared.
Eleanor whispered, “No.”
Jonathan's expression changed.
“There was a second ledger?”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“I thought it had been destroyed.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Where?”
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel spoke.
“My brother took it.”
Thomas turned.
“Are you sure?”
“I remember him carrying another book.”
“When?”
“The night you disappeared.”
Mara's mind raced.
“Where would he keep it?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he remembered.
“The old workshop.”
“Your family workshop?”
He nodded.
“It was locked after Stephen left.”
Mara looked toward the windows.
The men outside were becoming impatient.
Daniel said, “If the second ledger exists, it could contain the names of everyone involved.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“Then Stephen will kill to get it.”
Mara looked at the front door.
“No.”
Thomas watched her.
“What?”
“We don't need to get it first.”
She held up the memory card.
“We need to make them believe we already copied it.”
Jonathan understood.
“You want to negotiate.”
“I want them to talk.”
Thomas stared at his daughter.
“You have a plan.”
“I have a better idea.”
Mara took out her phone.
She opened the recording.
Then she turned toward the farmhouse door.
“Stephen.”
Silence.
Mara raised her voice.
“I found the second ledger.”
The yard went quiet.
Daniel stared at her.
Thomas almost smiled.
Stephen shouted back.
“Where?”
Mara looked at the others.
Then she answered.
“Somewhere you never thought to search.”
A long pause followed.
Then Stephen said, “Tell me.”
Mara looked down at the ledger.
She knew she was gambling with everyone's lives.
But for the first time, she understood something her mother had learned years ago.
Fear worked both ways.
She stepped closer to the door.
“You want the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Then come inside.”
Jonathan grabbed her shoulder.
“Mara—”
She turned.
“If he believes he has everything to lose, he'll tell us what we need.”
Thomas looked at his daughter.
Then he nodded.
The front door opened.
Stephen Cross stood beneath the porch light.
Behind him were two men Mara didn't recognize.
But there was someone else standing farther back near the car.
Someone she knew.
The police captain from the photograph.
Mara's blood went cold.
The captain looked directly at her.
Then he smiled.
Click here to continue reading: PART 13: The Captain Stepped Onto the Porch Smiling, and Mara Realized the Man She Had Trusted at the Funeral Had Been Watching Her
The Key Turned in the Lock, and the Woman Behind the Door Knew Exactly Who Had Betrayed Her
Part 12 of 20
