Chapter 23 - THE BRIDGE
Rain fell when they reached Mercer Bridge.
Exactly as it had the night Michael Bennett died.
Monica’s SUV stood abandoned near the center.
Elise stepped out.
Daniel warned her.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“This is police business.”
“She killed my family.”
“It’s still police business.”
Elise almost smiled.
Daniel really was a sheriff.
They found Monica beneath the bridge near the riverbank.
She held June’s backpack in one hand.
A gun in the other.
“You’re too late.”
Elise stared.
“For what?”
Monica opened Jonathan’s seventh letter.
“There’s nothing here.”
“Exactly.”
The letter contained one blank sheet.
Monica screamed.
“Where is it?”
Elise finally understood Jonathan’s clue.
The truth is hidden inside the lie everyone believed.
Everyone believed Michael’s car entered the river from Mercer Bridge.
But according to Samuel, Michael had been killed elsewhere and his car pushed off the bridge later.
The bridge itself was the lie.
Which meant the truth was not under the bridge.
It was wherever Michael had actually died.
Elise looked at Samuel.
“Where did they hit him?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Old Route Nine.”
“Where?”
“A demolished service station.”
Rebecca whispered, “Demolished?”
Samuel nodded.
“Jonathan bought the land years later.”
Elise froze.
Jonathan had bought dozens of properties.
One stood out.
The land where Northbridge Community Music School’s new children’s wing had recently been constructed.
Her father had died beneath the place now filled with children’s music.
Monica saw the realization on Elise’s face.
“You know.”
Then she aimed the gun.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Drop it.”
Monica laughed.
“You think arresting me changes anything?”
“Yes,” Elise said.
“No.”
Monica’s eyes filled with bitterness.
“The people above me will erase every file, every witness, every case.”
“Maybe.”
Elise stepped closer.
“But they can’t erase what you just confessed on live television.”
Monica’s jaw tightened.
“You were always Sarah’s daughter.”
“And you were always jealous of her.”
That struck deeper than Elise expected.
Monica’s hand trembled.
“You know nothing about your mother.”
“Then tell me.”
Monica lowered the gun slightly.
“Sarah was supposed to leave Michael.”
Elise frowned.
“She was helping me build the network.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“Your mother knew everything.”
Elise stared.
Monica reached into her pocket and tossed a photograph.
Sarah Bennett standing beside Helena.
Holding a folder.
Elise’s entire understanding of her childhood cracked.
Monica smiled.
“She wasn’t innocent.”
Samuel stepped forward.
“That photograph was staged.”
Monica turned sharply.
Samuel continued.
“Sarah was feeding evidence to federal investigators.”
Monica’s face changed.
“You didn’t know?”
Samuel smiled sadly.
“She betrayed you first.”
Monica raised the gun.
A shot rang out.
Daniel fired.
Monica fell.
But so did Samuel.
Elise rushed toward him.
Blood spread across his coat.
“Samuel!”
He grabbed her sleeve.
“The service station…”
“We know.”
“No.”
He struggled for breath.
“Below it.”
“What?”
“Michael buried something below it.”
“The recordings?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Something Jonathan never found.”
His eyes moved toward June.
“Something about the girl.”
Then Samuel Cross died.
Elise looked at her daughter.
And suddenly this was no longer only about money or murder.
There was another secret.
May you like
One Jonathan had never discovered.
A secret about June.
