Chapter 6 - Veronica’s Mother
Veronica stopped breathing.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Samuel nodded.
“Yes.”
Damian looked between them.
“What was her name?”
“Rebecca Hale.”
Elena’s face changed.
She knew the name.
Damian noticed.
“You knew her.”
Elena nodded slowly.
“She testified in the original case.”
Veronica stared.
“My mother was involved?”
Samuel looked at his daughter.
“She was the court accountant.”
“She discovered Marco’s payments.”
Damian frowned.
“Then why call her his partner?”
Samuel answered:
“Because she helped move the money before she tried to expose him.”
Silence.
Veronica’s eyes filled.
“She was laundering money?”
“At first.”
Samuel nodded.
“She thought it was political money.”
“Campaign funds.”
“She later discovered Marco was paying witnesses.”
“Police.”
“Clerks.”
“One investigator.”
Damian asked:
“And then?”
Samuel looked at Elena.
“Rebecca contacted her.”
Elena nodded.
“She gave me copies.”
Damian understood.
“The evidence Elena found.”
“Yes.”
Veronica whispered:
“What happened to my mother?”
Samuel’s face collapsed.
The room changed.
Damian saw it.
“She didn’t die from cancer.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
Veronica stepped backward.
“No.”
Her father began crying.
“I lied.”
“What happened?”
“Rebecca tried to meet federal investigators.”
Veronica stared.
Samuel continued.
“She never reached them.”
“Marco had her taken.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Killed?”
Samuel whispered:
“I believed so.”
Veronica looked at him.
“Believed?”
Walter stepped closer.
Samuel looked at Elena.
“Elena saw her afterward.”
Everyone turned.
Elena nodded.
“Once.”
Veronica could barely speak.
“When?”
“Fourteen years ago.”
“Two years after she supposedly died?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“A private clinic in Arizona.”
Veronica’s knees nearly gave out.
Damian caught her arm.
She did not pull away.
“My mother is alive?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Walter looked at Samuel.
“You knew?”
“No.”
The judge looked stunned.
Elena continued.
“Rebecca had memory problems.”
“She had been heavily medicated.”
“She recognized me for less than a minute.”
“What did she say?”
Elena’s expression tightened.
“Three words.”
Veronica whispered:
“What words?”
“Don’t trust Marco.”
Silence.
Damian almost laughed.
“Apparently everyone eventually learns that.”
Elena shook her head.
“She also gave me something.”
“What?”
“A locker number.”
Walter’s eyes sharpened.
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
Damian looked at the key from box 609.
Elena shook her head.
“Different key.”
She removed a tiny brass key from her coat.
Veronica stared.
“You kept it?”
“For fourteen years.”
“Why didn’t you open it?”
“I was afraid it was watched.”
Damian took the key.
Number 118.
He looked at Veronica.
“We’re going.”
Samuel stood.
“Damian.”
He turned.
The judge said:
“If Rebecca left something there, Marco will know.”
Damian looked at him.
“Good.”
Samuel frowned.
“Good?”
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