Chapter 6 - THE SISTER’S BETRAYAL
The rain started falling in sheets as my SUV pulled up to the curb of a quiet, upscale neighborhood in Evanston.
Vanessa sat in the passenger seat, wrapped in one of my oversized trench coats to cover the wedding dress. Charlotte was asleep in the back, exhausted by the trauma of the night.
I stared at the sprawling brick house with perfectly manicured hedges.
Aunt Linda. My mother’s younger sister.
When my mother died, Linda had been my rock. She had helped me plan the funeral, she had encouraged me to let James handle the business, and she was the one who had recently "found" the box of my mother's sewing notes and given them to Charlotte.
But that gold sailboat charm bracelet on Vanessa’s wrist told a different story. My mother had given that bracelet to Linda thirty years ago.
Why would James give Linda’s jewelry to his mistress?
Unless it was a payoff.
I left Charlotte in the locked car with Vanessa and marched up the brick walkway. I didn't bother knocking. I pounded my fist against the heavy oak door until the porch light clicked on.
The door swung open. Aunt Linda stood there in a silk robe, looking irritated.
“Emily? Good lord, do you know what time it is? James called me an hour ago, he said you were having some sort of breakdown—”
I pushed past her, stepping into her pristine foyer.
“Where is he, Linda?”
“Excuse me?” Linda sputtered, tightening her robe. “You cannot barge into my home—”
“He took Leo!” I screamed, the sound echoing off her vaulted ceilings. “He took Vanessa’s son, he’s fleeing the state, and I know you’ve been helping him!”
Linda’s face drained of color. She took a step back, her eyes darting toward the staircase as if checking to see if her husband was awake.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Stop lying!” I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Vanessa is sitting in my car wearing your gold sailboat bracelet. The one Mom gave you. James gave it to her ten years ago. How did James get your jewelry, Linda? What did he trade you for it?”
Linda’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. She tried to pull away, but my grip was like iron.
“Emily, you don’t understand,” she whimpered. “When your mother died... Charles had just lost his job. We were drowning in debt. We were going to lose this house.”
“So you sold my mother out to James?” I asked, feeling physically sick.
“He found out about the offshore account!” Linda cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Rose told me she was going to expose him. But when she died... James came to me. He said if I kept quiet about Vanessa and the child, he would pay off Charles’s debts. He said you were too fragile to handle the truth. I did it to protect you!”
“You did it to protect your house!” I shoved her away in disgust. “He stole my company, Linda! He stole my mother’s legacy!”
“He didn’t get everything,” Linda whispered, leaning against the console table.
She reached into the drawer of the table and pulled out a small, heavy object. She held it out to me with trembling hands.
It was a vintage gold pocket watch. My grandfather’s watch.
“When your mother died, she gave this to me at the hospital,” Linda said, crying openly now. “She told me James was dangerous. She told me to keep this safe until you were ready to fight him.”
I took the cold metal watch. It was heavy, the gold worn smooth from age.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Linda said. “I’ve never been able to open it. It requires a specific key. But Rose said... she said it was the key to taking everything back.”
I stared at the watch. The face was completely sealed shut, lacking a standard winding knob. Instead, there was a tiny, star-shaped keyhole at the top.
I had seen a key like that before.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I remembered where I had seen it.
It was on James’s keychain. The one he never let out of his sight. The one he claimed was for a secure filing cabinet at the office.
“He’s at the downtown flagship store,” I said, the realization hitting me like a lightning bolt. “He’s not fleeing from an airport tonight. He’s going to the office to clear out the safe before his flight tomorrow.”
I turned and ran out the door, leaving my aunt weeping in her hallway.
I got back into the SUV. Vanessa looked at me with desperate, hollow eyes.
May you like
“Did she know where he is?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, starting the engine and throwing it into gear. “He’s at the store. And we’re going to take him down.”
