Chapter 6 - The Friend Who Lied
Diana watched Rachel's video seventeen times.
Dominic counted.
He did not stop her.
Every replay produced the same four seconds.
Eddie looked terrified.
Rachel stood behind him.
No visible restraints.
No obvious injury.
Then:
Diana, I'm sorry.
That was all.
“She's being forced,” Diana said.
“Possibly.”
“You don't believe that.”
“I believe we don't know.”
“She would never help Eddie.”
Dominic remained quiet.
Diana turned on him.
“Say it.”
“What?”
“You think she betrayed me.”
“I think Victor Kane has been ahead of us repeatedly.”
“That doesn't mean Rachel.”
“No.”
“But?”
Dominic looked at the phone.
“But very few people knew you still had Maria's belongings.”
Diana's stomach tightened.
Rachel knew.
Rachel had helped her move apartments.
Rachel knew about the box.
Rachel knew about the wooden angel.
Worse, Rachel had been the person who took the ornament to the hospital.
“No,” Diana whispered.
Rook rested his chin on her knee.
She clung to his collar.
Detective Alvarez arrived before noon.
Her expression confirmed Diana's fear.
“Rachel Owens isn't who you think she is.”
Diana stood.
“What did you find?”
“Her real surname is Kane.”
Silence.
“Victor's sister?” Dominic asked.
“Half sister.”
Diana laughed because the alternative was crying.
“No.”
Alvarez placed records on the table.
Rachel Owens had been born Rachel Kane.
Her mother left Anthony Kane when Rachel was six and changed their surname.
Victor was nearly fifteen years older.
For most of Rachel's life, there was little contact.
“But there was contact recently,” Alvarez said.
“How recently?”
“Eighteen months.”
Diana thought about the timeline.
Rachel transferred into her hospital two years ago.
They became friends quickly.
Too quickly?
Had every coffee been fake?
Every night shift?
Every joke?
When Diana's boiler broke, Rachel let her sleep on her couch.
When Diana's birthday came, Rachel baked a terrible cake.
When Eddie harassed Diana six months earlier, Rachel offered to help file a restraining order.
“Why?” Diana whispered.
Alvarez looked uncomfortable.
“We don't know.”
Dominic's phone rang.
A location.
Rachel wanted to meet.
Alone.
Dominic rejected the idea before Diana finished reading.
“No.”
“She's asking for me.”
“Exactly.”
“Public place.”
“No.”
“Police around us.”
“No.”
Diana stood.
“I am not spending the rest of my life hiding while everybody makes choices for me.”
“Diana.”
“You stayed away twelve years because you thought that was protecting me. How did that work?”
Dominic stopped.
The truth landed.
Eventually Alvarez arranged the meeting.
An empty church in Brooklyn.
Police positioned outside.
Dominic sat in an unmarked vehicle across the street.
Rook remained with him.
Diana entered alone.
Rachel waited in the third pew.
She looked exhausted.
Diana stopped twenty feet away.
“Are you Victor Kane's sister?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than expected.
“Was any of it real?”
Rachel immediately looked up.
“All of it.”
“Don't.”
“Diana—”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“Before we met?”
“Yes.”
Diana's hands curled.
“So you targeted me.”
Rachel cried.
“At first.”
There it was.
The betrayal.
Rachel explained.
Victor found her after their father died.
He told her Dominic Cross had destroyed their family.
He wanted information about Diana Martinez.
At first Rachel agreed because she needed money.
Her mother was sick.
Medical bills were crushing her.
Victor arranged the transfer to Diana's hospital.
“All I had to do was become your coworker,” Rachel whispered. “He said nobody would get hurt.”
Diana laughed bitterly.
“And you believed Victor Kane?”
“I didn't know him the way I do now.”
“When did you start reporting on me?”
“The first three months.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Where you lived. Your schedule. That you still had some things from your mother.”
Diana turned away.
The pain was enormous.
“Did you tell him about the angel?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
“I think Eddie.”
Diana faced her.
“Why did you stay friends with me?”
Rachel's face collapsed.
“Because I loved you.”
“As a target?”
“As my best friend.”
Diana shook her head.
“You don't get to say that.”
“I stopped helping Victor more than a year ago. He threatened my mother. He threatened you.”
“So you said nothing.”
“I was terrified.”
“You watched me talk about Eddie. You watched me cry over my mother.”
“I know.”
“You could have told me.”
“I know.”
The echo of Dominic's answers struck Diana.
Everybody had secrets.
Everybody claimed protection.
Everyone left Diana to pay for their silence.
“What are you doing with Eddie?”
Rachel wiped her face.
“He contacted me after the motel.”
“Why?”
“He wants out.”
Diana nearly laughed.
“Eddie doesn't want out. Eddie wants whatever saves Eddie.”
“He has something Victor needs.”
“What?”
“Proof Victor ordered your attack.”
“Then give it to police.”
“He won't unless you promise protection.”
Diana stared.
“For him?”
“Yes.”
“After everything he's done?”
“I told him you'd probably rather watch him rot.”
“That was accurate.”
Rachel stood.
“But Eddie knows where Victor is.”
Outside, Dominic straightened in the car.
Police listening through Diana's hidden microphone heard everything.
Diana stared at Rachel.
“Where?”
“An old shipping terminal in Red Hook.”
“Why hasn't he told police?”
“He thinks Victor has officers on payroll.”
Alvarez's voice whispered through Diana's earpiece.
“Ask for evidence.”
Diana did.
Rachel produced a flash drive.
“Recorded calls.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
“How did Eddie get them?”
“He started recording when he realized Victor planned to kill him after using him.”
Diana almost admired the consistency of cowardice.
“Where is Eddie now?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I won't say until protection is arranged.”
Diana's anger rose.
“You're still protecting him.”
“No. I'm trying to make sure Victor doesn't kill the only witness who can prove he ordered what happened to you.”
Diana studied her.
For the first time, she noticed bruising around Rachel's wrist.
“You said you weren't hurt.”
Rachel looked down.
“Victor found me after the motel.”
Diana's anger faltered.
“He did that?”
“He wanted the ornament.”
“You didn't have it.”
“I told him that.”
Diana approached slowly.
“Why did he let you go?”
“He didn't.”
Rachel looked toward the church doors.
“Eddie got me out.”
Diana froze.
“Eddie rescued you?”
“Yes.”
Nothing made sense anymore.
Rachel explained that Victor had beaten Eddie too.
Kane blamed him for failing to deliver Diana.
Eddie realized he was disposable.
During the chaos, he freed Rachel and escaped with her.
“Why would he help you?”
“Because I told him I could get him a deal.”
Diana stared at her.
“Did he say anything about my mother?”
Rachel hesitated.
That was enough.
“What?”
“He says he didn't know the shooting would happen.”
Diana's eyes hardened.
“He gave them Dominic's location.”
“Yes.”
“He helped kill my father too.”
Rachel swallowed.
“He says no.”
“What?”
“He claims he wasn't involved in Daniel's death.”
“But my mother's letter says—”
“Maria believed he was.”
Diana felt dizzy.
“Why would my mother be wrong?”
“Eddie says somebody framed him.”
“Convenient.”
“I know.”
“Who?”
Rachel looked directly at her.
“Marcus.”
Diana went still.
Again Marcus's name.
Again the photograph.
Again doubt.
“No.”
“I don't know what's true.”
Diana stepped back.
Her earpiece crackled.
Alvarez whispered, “We're tracing the flash drive metadata. Keep her talking.”
Rachel continued.
“Eddie says Marcus was feeding information to both families for years.”
“Marcus was shot protecting me.”
“Maybe.”
Diana hated that word.
Maybe.
Maybe everyone lied.
Maybe nobody did.
Maybe the truth had been buried beneath so many betrayals that it no longer mattered.
Then Rachel whispered something worse.
“Eddie says Dominic knows.”
Diana's face changed.
“Knows what?”
“That Marcus was investigated.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Diana felt cold.
“Dominic knew Marcus might be involved and still kept him close?”
“I don't know.”
The church door opened.
Dominic entered.
He had heard enough.
Diana turned.
“Did you investigate Marcus?”
Dominic stopped.
“Yes.”
Her heart dropped.
“When?”
“Nine years ago.”
“And?”
“I cleared him.”
“How?”
“Evidence showed he wasn't responsible.”
“Evidence from whom?”
Dominic's face tightened.
“My father.”
Diana laughed bitterly.
“Another dead man.”
Rachel backed away.
Dominic ignored her.
“Diana, listen to me.”
“No. I'm done listening to half-truths.”
She pulled off the microphone.
“Everybody in my life decided I was too fragile for the truth. My mother. You. Eddie. Rachel. Maybe Marcus.”
Her voice shook.
“I'm done.”
Diana walked toward the door.
Dominic did not stop her.
Outside, Alvarez waited.
Diana handed her the flash drive.
“Find out what's real.”
“We will.”
Her phone buzzed.
Another unknown number.
This time she answered herself.
“Hello?”
Breathing.
Then Eddie.
“Diana.”
Every muscle in her body locked.
“You have thirty seconds.”
“Your mother was wrong about one thing.”
“Twenty-five.”
“I didn't kill Daniel.”
“You helped.”
“No.”
“You sold his location.”
“I sold Dominic's father's location.”
Diana froze.
“What?”
“Daniel wasn't supposed to be there.”
Her heartbeat thundered.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Marcus Reed was.”
Diana looked toward the church.
Dominic and Rachel stood inside.
“Where are you?”
Eddie's voice dropped.
“Somewhere Victor can't find me.”
“Then go to police.”
“I will. But first you need to know what was inside the ledger.”
“What?”
“Maria wrote names. But somebody changed one.”
Diana stopped breathing.
“Which name?”
Eddie whispered.
“The man who killed your father.”
The line crackled.
Diana pressed the phone tighter.
“Who?”
A sudden explosion sounded through the call.
Then silence.
“Eddie?”
Nothing.
“EDDIE?”
The line disconnected.
Diana stared at the phone.
Across Brooklyn, somewhere hidden from everyone, the only man claiming to know who truly killed Daniel Martinez might just have been silenced forever.
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Continued in Chapter 7…
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