Chapter 5 - BROOKE'S CONFESSION
Brooke told me everything.
It took nearly three hours.
She had been gambling.
Not casually.
Not occasionally.
For almost two years.
At first, it had been sports betting.
Then private games.
Then high-interest lenders.
The debt reached $23,000.
Then $41,000.
Then nearly $70,000.
My mother found out.
Instead of helping Brooke honestly, she created a plan.
They would use my identity.
They would create a false loan.
They would make it appear that Eliza had borrowed the money for another man.
Then, when I returned from deployment, they would pressure me into signing the warehouse transfer.
“Why the warehouse?” I asked.
Brooke looked at the floor.
“Because Mom knew it was worth millions.”
I froze.
“How much?”
She swallowed.
“The city approved a redevelopment district around it.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
“An investor offered seventeen million.”
Seventeen million.
My father had known.
That's why he'd warned me.
“Who was the investor?”
Brooke shook her head.
“Evan Pierce.”
The name finally made sense.
“He wasn't a lover.”
“No.”
“He was the buyer.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom was going to sell my share.”
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
“What happened to Eliza?”
Brooke started crying.
“I was there.”
My hands tightened.
“Tell me.”
“She found the documents.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“And?”
“She confronted Mom.”
“What did Mom do?”
Brooke couldn't answer.
I stood.
“What did she do?”
“She locked Eliza in the pantry.”
My chest tightened.
“She shaved her head.”
Brooke nodded.
“Why?”
“Mom said she wanted you to see her and believe she was unstable.”
My voice became quiet.
“You helped.”
Brooke cried harder.
“I held her.”
I closed my eyes.
My sister had held my wife while my mother shaved her head.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked:
“Who hit her?”
Brooke whispered:
“Mom.”
I looked away.
Brooke continued.
“Evan came later.”
“What did he do?”
“He told Mom the lenders were getting impatient.”
“And the black truck?”
“Evan's.”
“Why stage the attack?”
“To make it look like collectors.”
I nodded slowly.
Then I asked the question that mattered most.
“Why did my mother want me to believe Eliza cheated?”
Brooke hesitated.
“Because you love her.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“Because she knew you'd protect Eliza.”
I looked at her.
“And she knew if I believed Eliza had betrayed me…”
“You'd stop protecting her.”
Silence.
Brooke placed another document on the table.
“What is this?”
“My mother's instructions.”
I opened it.
It was a handwritten list.
Make Nolan doubt Eliza.
Get the warehouse papers signed.
Remove cameras.
Destroy original will.
Recover notebook.
At the bottom:
If necessary, use Evan.
I looked up.
“Where is the original will?”
Brooke whispered:
“My mother has it.”
Rachel took the document.
“Then we're going to get it.”
But before we could leave, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
“You found the warehouse documents.”
I said nothing.
“You should have stopped.”
“Evan?”
Silence.
Then:
“You don't understand what your father left behind.”
“What did he leave?”
“A recording.”
My blood ran cold.
“What recording?”
“The one your mother has spent four years trying to destroy.”
The line went dead.
Rachel stared at me.
“What did he say?”
I looked at Eliza.
“He said my father left a recording.”
May you like
Eliza whispered:
“Then that's what they were really afraid of.”
