Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Lit the Match

Caroline stared at Juliette through the computer screen.

"It was Rebecca."

The words seemed impossible.

Rebecca—the woman who had given birth to her.

Rebecca—the woman Chief Holloway was supposedly holding prisoner.

Rebecca—the woman Caroline had spent the last hour believing was another victim of Douglas Mercer's cruelty.

She had started the fire?

"No," Adrian said immediately.

Caroline turned toward him.

"You seem very certain."

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because Rebecca would never have tried to kill you."

Caroline laughed bitterly.

"Apparently everyone in this family knows exactly what everyone else would never do."

On the screen, Juliette still held the gun against Douglas.

Her white wedding dress was soaked with blood across the waist.

Caroline couldn't tell whether it belonged to Juliette or someone else.

Douglas looked into the camera.

"Come upstairs."

Marcus shook his head.

"No."

Douglas seemed almost to hear him.

"You have questions, Caroline. I have answers."

Juliette pressed the barrel harder against his chest.

"Stop manipulating her."

Douglas turned toward her.

"I'm trying to keep both of you alive."

"You murdered my mother."

Douglas's face tightened.

Caroline froze.

"My mother?"

Juliette had said it as if Eleanor belonged to her too.

But biologically, Eleanor belonged to neither of them.

Perhaps that was exactly why the words mattered.

Eleanor had raised both girls.

Whatever blood said, she had been their mother.

Douglas looked at Juliette.

"Eleanor was dying."

"She wasn't dying that night."

"She had months."

"You gave her minutes."

Douglas's calm finally cracked.

"I did what she asked me to do."

Caroline stepped closer to the monitor.

"What?"

Adrian whispered, "He's lying."

But Juliette hesitated.

Douglas noticed.

"Eleanor was sick. Very sick."

"We saw the video," Caroline said, though he couldn't hear her.

"She discovered what was happening to her," Douglas continued. "She knew there would be no peaceful ending."

Juliette shook her head.

"No."

"Ask Rebecca."

Caroline's eyes narrowed.

"Why Rebecca?"

Douglas looked directly into the camera.

"Because Rebecca was in the room when Eleanor asked me to end her suffering."

The live feed suddenly went black.

"Damn it!"

Caroline hit the keyboard.

Nothing.

Marcus moved toward the door.

"We need to move."

"Upstairs?"

"No. Out."

Caroline stared at him.

"Juliette is up there."

"Juliette is armed."

"So are you."

"Exactly."

He took Caroline by the shoulders.

"Listen to me. We have enough evidence to bring federal investigators into this. We leave, preserve the files, and return with people Holloway can't control."

"And Rebecca?"

Marcus hesitated.

"And Juliette?"

Another hesitation.

"And Douglas?"

"Douglas can rot."

Caroline almost agreed.

Almost.

Then a gunshot thundered somewhere above them.

Everyone froze.

A second shot followed.

Caroline ran.

---

The underground staircase emerged behind the library in the main Mercer mansion.

Caroline pushed through the hidden door.

The house was silent.

Too silent.

Wedding flowers still decorated the entrance hall.

Someone had transported arrangements from Saint Aurelia after the ceremony collapsed, as though the Mercers had expected the celebration to continue.

White roses.

Candles.

Champagne.

Blood.

A thin trail crossed the marble floor.

"Juliette," Caroline whispered.

Marcus raised his pistol.

They followed the blood into the grand dining room.

One of Holloway's men lay unconscious near the doorway.

Not dead.

Marcus checked him.

"Head wound."

Caroline continued.

"Juliette did this?"

"Maybe."

A voice came from the far side of the room.

"Actually, I did."

Rebecca Hale stepped from the shadows.

Caroline stopped.

For several seconds, neither woman moved.

Rebecca was older than in the photographs, but Caroline recognized her immediately.

Same green eyes.

Same narrow chin.

And suddenly Caroline saw pieces of herself.

Not enough to feel familiar.

Enough to hurt.

"Rebecca."

The older woman looked at Caroline's scars.

Her face collapsed.

"Oh, sweetheart."

She stepped forward.

Caroline raised Marcus's spare gun.

Rebecca stopped.

"Don't call me that."

Tears filled Rebecca's eyes.

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

"Caroline—"

"Did you start the fire?"

Rebecca's expression changed.

Behind Caroline, Adrian entered.

Rebecca saw him.

All tenderness disappeared.

"You."

Adrian stopped.

"Rebecca."

She reached for the unconscious man's weapon.

Marcus aimed.

"Don't."

Rebecca froze.

Caroline looked between them.

"Answer me."

Rebecca's eyes remained on Adrian.

"Yes."

Caroline felt something inside her go numb.

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

Rebecca looked at him with hatred.

"I started the fire."

"Why?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you."

"That's convenient."

"I was trying to destroy the house."

"With me inside?"

"I thought you'd left."

Caroline stared at her.

Rebecca's voice trembled.

"Douglas kept records there. Original contracts. Medical files. Evidence about Adrian. Everything."

"So you burned it."

"I thought the house was empty."

"It wasn't."

"I know."

Caroline touched the scar along her neck.

"You know."

Rebecca began crying.

"I came back."

"What?"

"When I realized you were still inside, I came back."

A memory surfaced.

Smoke.

A locked door.

Someone coughing outside.

Someone screaming her name.

Caroline had always assumed the voice belonged to Juliette.

"What happened?"

Rebecca swallowed.

"The fire spread faster than I expected. Someone had stored accelerant in the service corridor."

"Someone?"

"Douglas."

Douglas's voice came from behind them.

"Another lie."

Everyone turned.

Douglas stood at the entrance.

Juliette was beside him.

Alive.

Still armed.

Douglas's shirt was stained with blood near his shoulder.

The first gunshot had hit him.

The second apparently had not.

Juliette aimed at Rebecca.

"You destroyed our lives."

Rebecca stared at her.

"Juliette."

"Don't say my name."

"Please."

"You knew Caroline was inside."

"I didn't."

"You locked the door."

Caroline turned sharply.

Rebecca went pale.

"No."

Juliette laughed.

"I saw you."

"No, you saw someone wearing my coat."

Silence.

Juliette's expression shifted.

"What?"

Rebecca looked toward Douglas.

"Tell them."

Douglas said nothing.

"TELL THEM!"

Caroline's pulse accelerated.

Rebecca pointed at Douglas.

"He knows who locked Caroline's bedroom."

Juliette looked at him.

Douglas remained silent.

Caroline stepped closer.

"Was it you?"

"No."

"Then who?"

Douglas looked toward Rebecca.

Then Adrian.

Finally Caroline.

"Your mother."

Caroline's stomach twisted.

"Rebecca?"

Douglas shook his head.

"Eleanor."

Nobody moved.

Caroline almost laughed.

"Eleanor was dead eleven years later. You're saying she tried to kill me before that?"

"I'm saying she locked the door."

"Why?"

"To keep you from seeing what was happening downstairs."

Rebecca whispered, "Douglas, stop."

But he continued.

"That night wasn't supposed to be a murder."

Caroline stared at him.

"What was it supposed to be?"

"A transfer."

"Of what?"

"Adrian."

Caroline looked toward him.

Douglas continued.

"Rebecca had arranged to expose everything. Eleanor agreed to help her. Holloway was supposed to take Adrian into protective custody."

Marcus frowned.

"Then why didn't he?"

Douglas smiled bitterly.

"Because Holloway discovered Rebecca had hidden Caroline from him."

Rebecca closed her eyes.

"The entire plan collapsed."

Douglas pointed toward Rebecca.

"She started the fire to destroy the evidence before Holloway could seize it."

Rebecca shouted, "Because you threatened Caroline!"

"And Eleanor locked Caroline upstairs because she thought that was the safest place."

Caroline felt dizzy.

Every revelation transformed the previous one.

Nobody was innocent.

Nobody told the entire truth.

"Then who was the body?"

She asked the question softly.

Everyone fell silent.

Caroline looked at Rebecca.

"The woman found in my bedroom."

Rebecca's face changed.

Douglas looked away.

Adrian closed his eyes.

Even Juliette lowered her gun slightly.

Caroline understood.

All of them knew.

"Who was she?"

Rebecca whispered, "Laura."

Caroline remembered the photograph from the blue room.

Eleanor.

Rebecca.

Lillian.

But Lillian's initials had been L.V.

Laura?

"Who was Laura?"

Rebecca looked at Lillian, who had just entered behind Adrian.

Lillian seemed horrified.

"My sister."

Caroline stared.

"Your sister?"

"Adrian and I had another sister."

Douglas spoke quietly.

"Laura Vale."

Caroline's throat tightened.

"Why was she in my bedroom?"

Nobody answered.

"WHY?"

Rebecca stepped forward.

"Because Laura went upstairs to get you."

Caroline's heart pounded.

"She died trying to save me?"

Rebecca nodded.

"But the identification—"

"Douglas changed it."

Caroline looked at him.

"Why?"

Douglas's expression became unreadable.

"Because Caroline Mercer needed to die."

Caroline raised the gun.

"Explain."

Douglas didn't flinch.

"If you were alive, Holloway would eventually learn you were his daughter."

"So?"

"So you still don't understand what Holloway is."

Rebecca whispered, "Douglas."

But he continued.

"He wasn't simply a young police officer who loved Rebecca."

Douglas looked at Caroline.

"He was investigating Adrian Vale before Adrian disappeared."

Marcus frowned.

"Why?"

"Because Vale Industries wasn't just a company."

Adrian's face hardened.

"Enough."

Douglas smiled.

"Afraid she'll learn what you built?"

Caroline turned.

"What did he build?"

Adrian remained silent.

Douglas answered.

"A private intelligence network."

Caroline stared.

"Corporate espionage, political leverage, surveillance. Adrian had files on judges, police chiefs, senators, billionaires."

"That's not what Vale Industries was."

"Not publicly."

Douglas pointed toward the floor.

"The archive beneath this estate was originally his."

Caroline looked at Adrian.

"Is that true?"

After a long pause, Adrian nodded.

"Partly."

Douglas laughed.

"There's always that word."

Caroline felt exhausted.

"Why would Holloway care that I'm his daughter?"

Rebecca answered this time.

"Because of me."

Caroline turned.

Rebecca wiped her tears.

"Richard believed I betrayed him for Douglas."

"Did you?"

"No."

"But you hid me from him."

"Because I was afraid of what he would become if he knew."

Caroline lowered the gun slightly.

"Become?"

Rebecca looked toward the doorway.

"He was already changing."

A slow clap echoed from the hall.

Everyone turned.

Richard Holloway entered alone.

No weapon visible.

"Touching."

Rebecca went white.

"Richard."

Holloway looked at her.

For the first time, Caroline saw something almost human in him.

Pain.

Twenty-seven years of it.

"You always did make me sound like a monster."

Rebecca whispered, "You became one."

"Perhaps."

His gaze moved to Caroline.

"But so did everyone in this room."

Marcus aimed at him.

"Hands where I can see them."

Holloway ignored him.

"Caroline, you wanted the truth."

"I still do."

"Then stop asking people who need you to believe their version."

He reached slowly into his jacket.

Marcus cocked the pistol.

"Don't."

Holloway removed a flash drive.

He placed it on the dining table.

"This contains the unedited footage from the night of the fire."

Rebecca's expression changed instantly.

"Richard, don't."

Caroline noticed.

"Why doesn't she want me to see it?"

Holloway smiled sadly.

"Because Rebecca has told you the most important lie of all."

Rebecca moved toward Caroline.

"Don't listen."

Holloway looked directly at his daughter.

"Your mother didn't return to the house because she realized you were trapped."

Caroline's pulse quickened.

"Then why?"

"She already knew you were there."

Rebecca shook her head.

"No."

Holloway continued.

"She started the fire knowing you were upstairs."

"Stop!"

Rebecca screamed.

Caroline raised the gun toward her.

Rebecca froze.

"Is that true?"

"No."

Holloway pointed toward the flash drive.

"Watch it."

Caroline picked it up.

Marcus whispered, "This could be manipulated."

"Everything could be manipulated."

She inserted the drive into a laptop on the dining table.

One video.

Caroline pressed play.

The beach house appeared.

Timestamp: twelve minutes before the fire.

Rebecca entered the upstairs hallway.

She walked toward Caroline's bedroom.

Caroline stopped breathing.

Rebecca tried the handle.

Opened the door.

Looked inside.

Caroline's younger self was visible asleep on the bed.

Rebecca watched her for several seconds.

Then quietly closed the door.

Caroline looked at Rebecca.

"No."

The footage continued.

Rebecca went downstairs.

Eight minutes later she entered the service corridor carrying a fuel container.

Four minutes after that, flames appeared.

Caroline stopped the video.

Silence.

Rebecca was sobbing.

Caroline stood.

"You knew."

"Caroline, please."

"You knew I was there."

"Yes."

The answer destroyed whatever remained between them.

Caroline stepped backward.

"Why?"

Rebecca covered her mouth.

"Because you weren't supposed to be the one who died."

Caroline froze.

"What?"

Rebecca looked at Douglas.

Then at Juliette.

Juliette's face suddenly changed.

Rebecca whispered:

"The fire was supposed to kill Juliette."