Chapter 8 - The Night of the Crash.
Daniel almost dropped his phone.
"What did you say?"
Evelyn looked at Maisie, not at him.
"Rebecca was not alone."
Cole stepped forward.
"Mom, stop playing games."
"I am not."
Daniel's voice came out rough.
"Who was driving?"
Evelyn finally looked at him.
"Elise."
The room seemed to tilt.
Daniel remembered the police report.
Rebecca's car had gone through a barrier on a rain-slicked road outside the city.
The driver had been listed as Rebecca.
There had been no mention of anyone else.
"That is impossible."
"Is it?"
Evelyn nodded toward his phone.
"Ask her."
Daniel called Elise.
She answered immediately.
"Did you find Maisie?"
"Yes."
Elise exhaled.
"Thank God."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then forced the question out.
"Were you in Rebecca's car the night she died?"
Silence.
Not confusion.
Silence.
Daniel opened his eyes.
"Elise."
"Yes."
Cole looked at him sharply.
Daniel's pulse hammered.
"Were you driving?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
The word tore through him.
Daniel turned away from everyone.
"Why did the police report say Rebecca was driving?"
"Because when they found the car, she was in the driver's side."
His hand tightened around the phone.
"How?"
"I moved her."
Daniel could barely breathe.
"Why?"
"Because I panicked."
Evelyn watched him with terrible calm.
Elise's voice broke.
"Daniel, I need to tell you everything."
"You had eight months."
"I promised Rebecca."
"Rebecca was dying."
"She was conscious."
Daniel stopped.
"What?"
"The crash did not kill her immediately."
He pressed one hand to the wall.
Elise continued.
"We were arguing in the car because she wanted to confront Evelyn that night."
Evelyn's face hardened.
"She had the lab report copied."
Daniel looked at his mother.
Elise's voice came through the phone.
"A truck crossed into our lane."
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
"I swerved."
"The car hit the barrier."
"Rebecca was hurt badly."
"I tried to call emergency services, but she made me listen first."
Daniel whispered.
"To what?"
"She said if anyone knew I was driving, your family would blame me and you would never hear the rest."
Daniel's eyes filled.
"She told me to move her into the driver's seat."
Cole stared at Evelyn.
Elise continued.
"She said the evidence about the medication had to survive longer than she did."
Daniel covered his mouth.
"Why would she think my family could control the investigation?"
Evelyn answered instead.
"Because your father spent thirty years making sure the Carter name never appeared in the wrong newspaper."
Daniel turned slowly.
Police knocked downstairs.
Cole went to let them in.
Daniel stayed with his mother.
Elise spoke softly through the phone.
"I should have told you."
"Yes."
"I was terrified you would hate me."
"I do not know what I feel."
"I know."
Daniel looked down at Maisie.
She had fallen asleep against him.
The sight almost broke him.
Then Elise said something else.
"There is one more part."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Of course there is."
"Rebecca gave me a voice recording after the crash."
His eyes opened.
"Her last recording?"
"Yes."
"Do you have it?"
"No."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Where is it?"
"The hospital took Rebecca's personal effects."
"Then why did she give it to you?"
"She put the recorder in my coat before the ambulance arrived."
Daniel waited.
Elise's voice became smaller.
"When I woke up in the hospital, it was gone."
Evelyn quietly picked up her purse.
Daniel noticed.
He blocked the doorway.
"Going somewhere?"
She looked at him.
Daniel understood before she spoke.
"You had it."
Evelyn said nothing.
His voice fell to a whisper.
"You heard Rebecca's final words."
May you like
Evelyn's eyes lowered.
"And you never gave them to me."
