Chapter 13 - What My Mother Finally Chose
"No!"
Voss fired.
I fired too.
His shot struck the metal railing beside Mom.
Mine hit his shoulder.
The case dropped.
Voss stumbled backward.
Mason and two operators came running.
"Hands!"
Voss looked at the river.
Then at me.
He smiled through the pain.
"You think you've won?"
He stepped backward off the loading dock.
Mason lunged.
Too late.
Voss disappeared into the river.
"Search teams!" Mason shouted.
Operators raced toward the lower bank.
I turned toward Mom.
"You threw them away?"
She looked terrified.
"He would've killed you."
"Those keys were evidence!"
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because I chose you."
Her voice shattered.
"Once in my life, Olivia, I chose you instead of money."
I stared at her.
I wanted to stay angry.
Some part of me desperately needed to.
Then she opened her hand.
Two tiny black devices lay in her palm.
I blinked.
"What?"
She gave a trembling laugh.
"I threw the copies."
I stared at her.
"You switched them?"
"When your team prepared the case."
"How?"
"Nobody watches the middle-aged mother."
Despite everything, I laughed.
One short, stunned laugh.
Mom laughed too.
Then she started crying.
I took the keys.
"Don't ever do that again."
"I won't."
"You almost gave me a heart attack."
"You were shot."
I looked at my arm.
"Graze."
"You're bleeding."
"So are my feelings."
She laughed through tears.
For one ridiculous second, in the middle of a crime scene after a kidnapping and firefight, we were mother and daughter again.
Then medics carried Sienna out.
Mom ran to her.
I followed.
Sienna was pale but conscious.
"You look terrible," she whispered.
I stared at her.
"You were shot."
"So were you."
"Mine looks cooler."
"Still annoying."
I squeezed her hand.
She started crying.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Everything."
"Not now."
"I knew Mom was trying to get money."
My hand froze.
"What?"
"I didn't know about the signatures."
Mom stopped beside the stretcher.
Sienna wouldn't look at her.
"But I knew she wanted you to transfer money to me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted it."
Simple.
Ugly.
Honest.
"I was broke."
She swallowed.
"Not regular broke. Really broke."
"How?"
"Gambling."
I stared at her.
She closed her eyes.
"Online sports betting. Casinos. Private games."
Mom whispered, "Sienna."
"You knew."
Sienna opened her eyes.
"You paid debts twice."
My mother said nothing.
There it was.
Another secret.
"How much?" I asked.
Sienna cried harder.
"Almost four hundred thousand."
I stepped away.
I couldn't absorb one more thing.
Sienna reached for me.
"Liv."
"No."
"Please."
"You let Mom pressure me for Dad's money because you were gambling?"
"I thought I'd pay it back."
"With what?"
"I don't know!"
Her voice broke.
"I never know! That's the problem!"
We all went quiet.
Sienna covered her face.
"I keep thinking the next thing will fix the last thing."
Mom started crying again.
"And I keep fixing it for you."
Sienna looked at her.
"Yes."
That one word seemed to hit Mom harder than any accusation.
I understood suddenly.
Sienna's recklessness and Mom's control weren't separate problems.
They fed each other.
Sienna failed.
Mom rescued.
Sienna learned she never had to stop.
Mom learned being needed gave her power.
And I had spent years being the emergency bank whenever their cycle became too expensive.
"No more."
They both looked at me.
"No more money."
Sienna nodded through tears.
"No more rescue."
Mom nodded too.
"No more lying."
Neither answered immediately.
I waited.
Finally Mom said, "No more lying."
Sienna whispered, "No more lying."
Mason approached.
His expression told me something had happened.
"What?"
He looked toward the river.
"No body."
My stomach tightened.
"Voss?"
"Search team found blood on the lower embankment."
"But?"
"Boat marks."
I closed my eyes.
He escaped.
Again.
Then Agent Cole hurried toward us holding a tablet.
"Colonel."
"What?"
"We accessed the Nightglass archive."
I looked at the keys in my hand.
"Already?"
"We didn't need them."
I frowned.
"Then what were they for?"
She turned the tablet around.
A message filled the screen.
IF OLIVIA BENNETT IS READING THIS, AUTHORIZATION COMPLETE.
My father's name appeared below it.
ANDREW BENNETT.
Recorded timestamp:
Three days before his death.
Then a video began playing.
My father appeared on screen.
Alive.
Older.
Tired.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Olivia."
My knees nearly gave out.
"If you're seeing this, then Richard came back."
He paused.
"And there's something about my death you deserve to know."
I stopped breathing.
Dad looked into the camera.
May you like
"I wasn't killed by the enemy."
Then the screen went black.
