She Found a Forgotten Case File at Work — Then Realized the Recent Murders Were Following Its 20-Year-Old List
Chapter 9
Evelyn was waiting when Mara returned.
She didn’t look surprised.
“Thomas is dead.”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Mara froze.
“How?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Because I killed him.”
Silence.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
Evelyn shook her head.
“You think I’m the monster.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
She walked to an old cabinet.
Inside was a revolver.
She placed it on the table.
“I was protecting your father.”
Mara stared.
“From who?”
“The people who killed Frank Reed.”
“Why did you lie to me?”
“Because they threatened you.”
Mara’s voice broke.
“You told me my father left.”
“He wanted you to believe that.”
“Why?”
Evelyn began crying.
“Because Jonathan wasn’t dead.”
Mara’s heart stopped.
“What?”
“He was alive.”
“Where?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
“The person behind everything.”
“Who?”
Her mother whispered:
“Someone you see every day.”
Mara thought of the courthouse.
Thomas.
The judges.
The detectives.
The prosecutor.
Daniel.
Then her eyes widened.
Daniel’s expression changed.
Evelyn looked at him.
“You brought her here.”
Daniel slowly stepped backward.
“I didn’t know.”
Mara looked between them.
“What don’t you know?”
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
Mara recognized the person standing beside Jonathan.
It was Daniel’s father.
But there was someone else.
A young man.
Mara’s blood turned cold.
Her father.
And beside him—
A much younger Thomas Hale.
Evelyn whispered:
“Thomas wasn’t the mastermind.”
Mara stared.
“Then who was?”
The answer came from the television.
A breaking news report.
The county prosecutor had just announced a press conference.
The prosecutor’s name appeared beneath the screen.
Edward Mercer.
Evelyn whispered:
“That’s him.”
