Chapter 6 - The Mother Who Ran
Vincent didn't chase her.
That surprised Mara more than Teresa running.
He simply watched his mother disappear through the warehouse exit.
Pike shouted to officers.
Two followed.
Thirty seconds later one returned.
“Black sedan picked her up.”
“Plate?”
“Covered.”
Vincent stared at the empty doorway.
Dominic sat down.
“She signed it?”
Pike handed him the document.
Teresa's signature authorized a transfer of security data to an outside consultant.
The consultant company belonged to Voss.
Dominic whispered, “No.”
Vincent said nothing.
Mara studied the signature.
Something bothered her.
“Does your mother sign her full name?”
Vincent looked at her.
“What?”
“The signature says Teresa Anne Caruso.”
“Yes.”
“Always?”
He thought.
“No. Usually T. A. Caruso.”
Pike took the document back.
“Forgery?”
“Maybe.”
Dominic shook his head.
“She ran.”
“People run when they are scared,” Mara said.
Vincent looked at her.
“You defending her?”
“I'm defending evidence.”
They returned to Teresa's house.
It had been searched.
Not by police.
Drawers open.
Pictures overturned.
A wall safe empty.
Vincent moved through the rooms quietly.
Mara found him in the kitchen.
He was staring at an old family photograph.
Carlo.
Teresa.
Vincent at nineteen.
Dominic at eighteen.
A family before death and secrets reshaped it.
“My mother knew everything,” Vincent said.
“You don't know that.”
“She knew Dominic came home the night my father died.”
“She protected her son.”
“She knew Voss was there.”
“She may not have known what he did.”
Vincent looked at Mara.
“You always argue both sides?”
“I spent years in hospitals. You learn not to diagnose before the tests come back.”
Vincent gave a humorless smile.
“You're still a nurse.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked away.
“I lost my license.”
“You can get it back.”
“You don't know that.”
“No. But I know losing one part of your life doesn't mean the rest has to stay gone.”
Mara met his eyes.
He wasn't talking only about her.
Pike entered.
“We found something upstairs.”
Teresa's bedroom had a false panel behind a wardrobe.
Inside were old letters.
Most from Carlo.
One addressed to Vincent.
Never delivered.
Vincent opened it.
Son,
If anything happens to me, trust your mother. She knows more than I was able to tell you. Samuel has been moving money for years. I made the mistake of confronting him before I had enough proof. Teresa begged me to wait. I didn't.
Vincent stopped reading.
Mara watched his face.
He continued.
Dominic is in trouble, but he is not my enemy. Do not let shame turn your brother into one.
Vincent sat down.
Dominic read over his shoulder.
Neither spoke.
Pike found another letter.
This one from Janet Ellis.
To Teresa.
Mara took it.
Teresa,
Samuel knows I heard Carlo accuse him. He told me if I speak, Mara will pay. I am leaving tonight. I copied everything I could. If I survive long enough, I will send it when Mara is safe.
Mara's eyes blurred.
Her mother hadn't stayed silent because she was weak.
She had stayed silent because Mara was eight years old.
Vincent stood beside her.
“She protected you.”
Mara nodded.
“She gave up her whole life.”
“No,” Vincent said. “She saved yours.”
Mara closed her eyes.
For months she had blamed herself for not understanding her mother better.
Now she understood too much.
Pike's phone rang.
He answered.
Then held it toward Vincent.
“It's her.”
Teresa.
Vincent took the phone.
“Mother.”
Her voice sounded strained.
“Don't look for me.”
“Where are you?”
“Samuel has people inside the police department.”
Pike frowned.
Teresa continued.
“He forged my authorization. I ran because the officer approaching me at the warehouse worked for him.”
Pike checked with dispatch.
The officer's name wasn't on the assigned team.
Mara's skin chilled.
“Where are you?” Vincent asked again.
Teresa ignored the question.
“Samuel called me.”
“What does he want?”
“The original ledger.”
Vincent looked at the records from the mausoleum.
“We have copies.”
“No. Carlo had a handwritten ledger. Voss believes I know where it is.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Teresa began crying.
It was the first time Mara had seen her lose control.
“Inside Carlo's coffin.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Of course.
Under the dead.
But deeper than Janet's hiding place.
Teresa explained.
Carlo had hidden the ledger beneath the lining of his own burial casket shortly before his death, expecting Teresa to retrieve it after the funeral.
She never did.
“I was afraid.”
“Mother—”
“I had two sons. One grieving. One being blackmailed. Samuel told me if I touched that coffin, he would kill both of you.”
Vincent's voice softened.
“Where are you now?”
A man's voice answered instead.
“Exactly where she should be.”
Samuel Voss.
Vincent's face turned stone.
“Let her go.”
“Bring me the ledger.”
“Where?”
“St. Dominic Cemetery.”
Pike mouthed, Trap.
Vincent already knew.
Voss continued.
“Midnight. Carlo's mausoleum. You and Mara.”
“Why Mara?”
“Insurance.”
Mara stepped toward the phone.
“I'm here.”
A pause.
“Miss Ellis.”
“You got your documents. Why do you still care about me?”
Voss laughed.
“Because your mother made one additional copy.”
Mara frowned.
“Of what?”
“A recording.”
The cassette.
“No,” Voss said. “Not that one.”
Mara looked at Pike.
Voss continued.
“The recording that proves who ordered Carlo's death.”
Vincent froze.
“You said you killed him.”
“I said I confronted him.”
“Who ordered it?”
Voss laughed softly.
“Bring the ledger.”
The call ended.
Mara stared at the phone.
Vincent said, “You're not coming.”
She almost shouted.
“Again?”
“This ends tonight.”
“Exactly.”
“That's why you're staying.”
Mara stepped closer.
“My mother was part of this before you were old enough to understand it.”
“So?”
“So I am not spending the rest of my life wondering what she knew.”
Vincent looked at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
At 11:58 they entered the cemetery.
No police visible.
Pike's team waited outside the perimeter.
The mausoleum door stood open.
Vincent went first.
Mara followed.
Carlo's crypt had already been opened.
The coffin rested on a metal platform.
Teresa sat tied to a chair beside it.
Samuel Voss stood behind her.
This time he wasn't alone.
The security guard from the downtown lobby stood beside him.
Mara stopped.
The man looked ashamed.
Voss smiled.
“Now we can finally finish what your mother started.”
Vincent held up the ledger.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Let my mother go.”
Voss nodded to the guard.
He cut Teresa's ropes.
She stood.
Moved toward Vincent.
Then stopped beside Mara.
Voss held out his hand.
“The book.”
Vincent tossed it.
Voss caught it.
Opened it.
His expression changed.
Blank pages.
Vincent said, “You think I brought the original?”
Voss raised his gun.
Teresa screamed.
Pike's team moved outside.
Then the security guard suddenly struck Voss's arm.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Vincent lunged.
Mara pulled Teresa away.
Voss fell.
The guard kicked the weapon aside.
Police rushed in.
For the first time, Voss looked afraid.
Pike handcuffed him.
“It’s over.”
Voss laughed.
“No.”
Vincent stared.
Voss looked directly at Mara.
“Ask her mother.”
Mara's face went white.
“My mother is dead.”
Voss smiled.
“Are you sure?”
Mara couldn't breathe.
He continued.
“Janet Ellis didn't die in that hospital.”
Mara shook her head.
“I was there.”
“You saw a closed coffin.”
Vincent turned toward her.
Voss smiled wider.
Then Pike's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Mara.”
She stared.
“What?”
“They just found a woman using the name Janet Ellis.”
Mara's knees weakened.
“Where?”
Pike looked toward the cemetery entrance.
May you like
“She's outside.”
And someone knocked on the mausoleum door.
