The bullet had passed through Vaughn's upper arm.<\/p>\n
It was painful but not immediately life-threatening.<\/p>\n
The paramedics treated him in the hallway while police secured every exit.<\/p>\n
Evelyn was gone.<\/p>\n
Patricia was gone.<\/p>\n
Marla was missing.<\/p>\n
And Richard Sloan had disappeared again.<\/p>\n
It felt as though every answer we found created another empty chair.<\/p>\n
I stood beside Vaughn while the paramedic wrapped his arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Marla shot you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the room before the lights went out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would she shoot you?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn't trying to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what was she trying to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop me from talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise joined us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn looked toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the page was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich page?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one Evelyn wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's on it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why is everyone afraid of it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the last page doesn't contain names.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it contain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA map.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paramedic finished wrapping his arm.<\/p>\n
Vaughn stood carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cA map to what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought the money was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn looked toward the parking lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father's property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas's old property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one Evelyn told everyone was sold.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Denise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn orchard outside town.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered it.<\/p>\n
Vaughn had taken me there once when we were newly married.<\/p>\n
He had said his father used to own it.<\/p>\n
The property had been empty for years.<\/p>\n
I had never asked why we never returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy hide money there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause nobody knew Thomas had kept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree million dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cEight million?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInsurance money. Unclaimed funds. Cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be impossible to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father had help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise went completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas trusted him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey moved money before Evelyn found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father died believing Thomas had betrayed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did he never tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Evelyn threatened you too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise's face tightened.<\/p>\n
I suddenly understood why the unknown message had told me not to trust her.<\/p>\n
Someone knew Denise was connected to the old case.<\/p>\n
Someone wanted us divided.<\/p>\n
Ruiz returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cVaughn, you're coming with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan Celia come?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to hear what he knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is under arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you need to let the investigators work.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
But before Vaughn was taken away, he leaned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe orchard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that's where Evelyn expects you to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if I don't, someone else will.\u201d<\/p>\n
The police led him away.<\/p>\n
Denise remained beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he's still trying to protect me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr manipulate you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
A detective approached.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found Marla's vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNear the old courthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlood.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to suggest injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer blood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're testing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he handed Ruiz a plastic evidence bag.<\/p>\n
Inside was a torn sheet of paper.<\/p>\n
A fragment of the missing page.<\/p>\n
Only one line remained visible.<\/p>\n
Protect C.M. at all costs.<\/p>\n
My initials.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Marla write that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe she didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
The forensic team examined the paper.<\/p>\n
The handwriting wasn't Marla's.<\/p>\n
It was my mother's.<\/p>\n
That meant the missing page had existed before Marla ever joined Harvest.<\/p>\n
And my mother had specifically instructed someone to protect me.<\/p>\n
Denise looked at the fragment.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you would become a target.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I met Vaughn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought made me dizzy.<\/p>\n
My marriage had not been the beginning.<\/p>\n
It had been the middle.<\/p>\n
We spent the next two hours searching old court records.<\/p>\n
The orchard appeared in a property transfer from 2004.<\/p>\n
The buyer was a shell company.<\/p>\n
The registered agent was Evelyn.<\/p>\n
But the property had never actually been transferred.<\/p>\n
The sale had been fabricated.<\/p>\n
The deed was false.<\/p>\n
The land still belonged to Thomas Mercer.<\/p>\n
And after his death, ownership passed to Vaughn.<\/p>\n
Then to me through a marital trust.<\/p>\n
I stared at the document.<\/p>\n
\u201cI own it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnically,\u201d Denise said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your mother arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
The trust had been established six months before my wedding.<\/p>\n
My mother had transferred the property into a trust for my future children.<\/p>\n
Vaughn had never told me.<\/p>\n
The trust was worth nothing on paper.<\/p>\n
But the orchard was worth millions.<\/p>\n
And the hidden money made it even more valuable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's why they wanted my signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey needed control of the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loans.<\/p>\n
The insurance.<\/p>\n
The forged documents.<\/p>\n
It all connected.<\/p>\n
Vaughn needed my signature because I was the legal owner of the property that contained the money.<\/p>\n
I had been the lock.<\/p>\n
The ledger was the key.<\/p>\n
And my mother's death had left both in the hands of the person she trusted least.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
That evening, Michelle arrived with a police escort.<\/p>\n
She hugged Denise.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard about Vaughn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still care about him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI care that he told the truth when it mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she handed me a folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cEric kept this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside were photographs of Evelyn meeting insurance agents.<\/p>\n
One showed Marla.<\/p>\n
Another showed Richard Sloan.<\/p>\n
Then I saw Patricia Holloway.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Standing beside Evelyn.<\/p>\n
But the date was six months after Patricia's supposed death.<\/p>\n
Michelle whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother-in-law told Eric she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo nobody would look for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy stay hidden?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said Evelyn could make people disappear without touching them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDebt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn ruined their credit, businesses, reputations. Then she offered help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp in exchange for loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was how Harvest recruited people.<\/p>\n
Not through violence.<\/p>\n
Through desperation.<\/p>\n
Then Denise found a photograph.<\/p>\n
It showed my mother with Patricia.<\/p>\n
Both women were standing beside a courthouse.<\/p>\n
The date was 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they doing together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle looked at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had been helping your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did she join Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle's voice lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was trying to infiltrate her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatricia was working undercover?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot officially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gathered evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd gave it to my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the seven names.<\/p>\n
Patricia had been one of the people my mother trusted.<\/p>\n
But the ledger marked her as protected.<\/p>\n
Not a target.<\/p>\n
Because she had helped expose the system.<\/p>\n
Then the phone rang.<\/p>\n
Ruiz answered.<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She listened.<\/p>\n
Then looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarla has been found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe walked into a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe says Richard Sloan shot her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe refused to give him the missing page.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes she have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who does?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla had apparently told investigators that she gave it to someone before Richard attacked her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She refused to say.<\/p>\n
I looked at Denise.<\/p>\n
We both knew.<\/p>\n
The unknown person who had sent the messages.<\/p>\n
The person who knew everything.<\/p>\n
The person controlling the fourth Harvest account.<\/p>\n
R.S. wasn't Richard Sloan.<\/p>\n
And if the real R.S. had the page, then the entire operation still had a leader.<\/p>\n
We went to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Marla was pale and bruised.<\/p>\n
Her left hand was broken.<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't have come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere's the page?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Denise.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother trusted me once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou forged my signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped them steal from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped plan my death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't believe her.<\/p>\n
Then she said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Vaughn about the brakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't he stop them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stole the page.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I discovered the truth about Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat truth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't create Harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe inherited it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother would never.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't create the murders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe created the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarvest existed before her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho started it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla whispered a name.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather died before I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe created the first insurance network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect families from financial ruin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Evelyn learned how to corrupt it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family connection went deeper than I imagined.<\/p>\n
My grandfather.<\/p>\n
Thomas.<\/p>\n
Evelyn.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
Vaughn.<\/p>\n
And me.<\/p>\n
All connected to the same system.<\/p>\n
Then Marla gave us the final piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe missing page doesn't show where the money is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it show?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho has the original evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original evidence was never in the farmhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marla's eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother hid it in the one place Evelyn would never search.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInside your wedding ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my hand.<\/p>\n
The ring my mother had helped me choose.<\/p>\n
The ring Vaughn had placed on my finger eleven years earlier.<\/p>\n
Marla whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother knew you would wear it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bullet had passed through Vaughn's upper arm. It was painful but not immediately life-threatening. The paramedics treated him in the hallway while police secured every exit. Evelyn was gone. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8077,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057\/revisions\/8077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}