Chapter 8 - Michael’s WarningMichael was found behind an abandoned car wash five miles from the storage facility.
He had a split lip, two cracked ribs, and fear so deep it made him look ten years older.
Detective Collins did not let me see him at first.
“You’re too angry,” she said.
“I’m his brother.”
“That’s the problem.”
So I waited in the hospital corridor while another part of the same building treated the man who had helped endanger my daughter.
The irony was almost unbearable.
Lily was on the pediatric floor recovering from an allergic reaction.
Michael was downstairs recovering from a beating.
Both because of Evelyn.
Both because of money.
Only one was innocent.
After an hour, Collins came out of the exam room.
“He’s asking for you.”
“No.”
She studied me.
“He says Anna’s letter is hidden somewhere only you would understand.”
That stopped me.
“Where?”
“He won’t tell me.”
“Of course he won’t.”
“He says he’ll only tell you.”
I walked into the room with Detective Collins beside me and an officer near the door.
Michael lay on the bed wearing a hospital gown. His face was swollen. One eye was half closed. His hands trembled even though the room was warm.
For one second, I saw him at sixteen, standing in our parents’ driveway after wrecking Dad’s truck, crying that he didn’t mean to.
Then I remembered Lily gasping for air.
The boy disappeared.
“What did you do with Anna’s letter?” I asked.
Michael laughed weakly.
“No hello?”
“You gave up hello when you signed my daughter away.”
He flinched.
Good.
“I didn’t know Evelyn would go that far.”
“You keep saying that like it matters.”
“It matters to me.”
“Not to Lily.”
He looked away.
For the first time, shame crossed his face.
Real or performed, I did not care.
“Where is the letter?”
Michael swallowed.
“I hid it before Cassandra’s people grabbed me.”
“Cassandra’s people?”
He nodded.
“She’s not just Evelyn’s lawyer. Her father is Gordon Vale.”
Detective Collins’ expression sharpened.
“Gordon Vale the private lender?”
Michael gave a bitter smile.
“Private lender. Loan shark. Political donor. Depends who’s asking.”
The name meant nothing to me.
It meant something to Collins.
She stepped forward.
“You owe Gordon Vale money.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“A lot.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
I stared at him.
“You owed almost a million dollars and moved into my house?”
“I was trying to get clean.”
“You were trying to hide.”
He opened his eyes.
“Both.”
Detective Collins asked, “How did Evelyn get involved?”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“She already knew. Evelyn knows everyone’s weakness before they do. She found out about the debt and offered to help.”
“In exchange for access to the trust,” I said.
He nodded.
“She said Anna had stolen from the family by locking everything away for Lily. Said Daniel was too emotional to handle money. Said if I helped prove he was unstable, Lily would be placed with family and everything would be corrected.”
“Corrected,” I repeated.
Michael looked at me.
“I know how it sounds.”
“No,” I said. “You don’t.”
Detective Collins’ voice stayed even.
“What happened at the luncheon?”
Michael rubbed one shaking hand over his face.
“Evelyn told me she wanted Daniel embarrassed publicly. She said Lily would have a mild reaction. Rash, coughing maybe. Enough to show Daniel wasn’t prepared. I was supposed to take one injector from his jacket before dessert and make sure the second couldn’t be found right away.”
My stomach turned.
“You were at the table?”
“I walked behind you when the donor board chair asked for a photo. You turned. I took the second injector. Evelyn had already taken the first.”
I remembered the moment.
A hand on my shoulder.
Michael saying, “Smile, big brother.”
I had smiled.
While he stole the medication that could save my child’s life.
“You watched her stop breathing,” I said.
Michael started crying.
“I froze.”
“You froze?”
“I panicked. I swear, Daniel. When I saw her face, when I heard her voice, I knew Evelyn lied. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be mild. I tried to put the injector back on the floor near you, but Cassandra saw me.”
“Cassandra was there?”
“She was in the service hallway. She told me not to ruin it.”
Detective Collins’ pen stopped.
“She said those words?”
Michael nodded.
“She said, ‘Do not ruin this now.’”
The room went cold.
“What did you do?” Collins asked.
“I ran outside. I still had the injector. Then I realized my fingerprints were on it. Mine and Evelyn’s.”
“Where is it now?”
Michael’s face changed.
Fear returned.
“I don’t have it.”
“Who does?”
“Cassandra.”
“You said you hid it.”
“I hid the letter. Not the injector. Cassandra’s men took the injector when they grabbed me.”
I stepped closer.
“Where is Anna’s letter?”
Michael looked at me.
“She wrote something on the envelope. I didn’t understand it at first.”
“What?”
He swallowed.
“Moonlight knows where the truth sleeps.”
My heart stopped.
Moonlight.
Anna’s nickname for Lily when she was a baby.
But also something else.
The music box.
The silver moon.
The song it played.
May you like
I looked at Detective Collins.
“I know where she hid it.”
