Chapter 11 - EVELYN'S SECRET
I confronted Evelyn the next morning.
She looked at me and immediately knew.
“What happened?”
I placed the phone on the table.
She read the message.
Her face went pale.
“Who sent this?”
“I don't know.”
She sat down.
“What do you want to know?”
“The night my mother died.”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew you would eventually ask.”
“What happened?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“Your mother called me.”
“When?”
“Three hours before the crash.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me someone was following her.”
“Who?”
“She didn't know.”
“Did she mention Raul?”
“No.”
“Adrian?”
“No.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“Helena.”
My heart stopped.
“Helena was there?”
“No.”
“She called your mother.”
“Why?”
“To warn her.”
“Warn her about what?”
Evelyn's hands trembled.
“Victor.”
I stared.
“But Victor was a child.”
“Yes.”
“What could a child have done?”
Evelyn whispered:
“He wasn't supposed to be in the car.”
“What?”
“Your mother had planned to leave the city that night.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she?”
“Because someone changed the plan.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“Your father's lawyer.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“He told your mother the road was safe.”
My heart sank.
“And it wasn't.”
“No.”
I stood.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of whom?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She made me promise never to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed the truth would put you in danger.”
I shook my head.
“Everyone keeps saying they protected me.”
My voice broke.
“But nobody ever told me the truth.”
Evelyn cried.
“I am sorry.”
I walked away.
Then Alessandro entered.
He had been listening.
“There's more,” he said.
I turned.
“What?”
He handed me a photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside a car.
Behind her was a man.
I recognized him.
The same man who had been my mother's lawyer.
But the photograph had something else.
A second figure.
A woman.
Helena.
Standing beside him.
I stared.
They had been together the night my mother died.
I looked at Alessandro.
“Why did they meet?”
“We don't know.”
Then Daniel rushed into the room.
“We found the original police file.”
He opened it.
One page had been removed.
But there was a handwritten note in the margin.
Witness: Helena Hale.
I looked at the name.
Then I understood.
Helena hadn't merely known about the crash.
May you like
She had witnessed it.
And she had lied for twenty-two years.
