Chapter 6
Diane called Amelia a liar.
That was the moment Marcus finally looked disgusted with her.
Not with himself yet.
But it was a beginning.
“She’s three,” Diane said. “She doesn’t know Conrad Mercer.”
Amelia flinched beneath the blanket.
I turned toward my mother.
“You say one more word to her and you leave this house before I finish asking questions.”
Diane stared at me.
Then stopped.
I sat beside Amelia.
“What did the wolf man say?”
She touched the key with one finger.
“He said give Mommy.”
Diane went pale.
Not give Grandma.
Not hide it.
Give Mommy.
“Anything else?”
Amelia nodded.
“He said Grandma would be mad.”
Marcus looked at Diane.
Robert sat down in the hallway chair.
I understood the shape of the trap differently now.
Conrad Mercer had not secretly allied himself with my mother.
At least not completely.
He had walked into the tunnel beneath my pool, left his token where Amelia could find it, and handed her a key intended for me.
Why?
I called him.
Diane tried to stop me.
That alone confirmed I should.
Conrad answered on the second ring.
“Liberty.”
He did not sound surprised.
“You gave my daughter a key.”
Silence.
Then:
“So she got it to you.”
Marcus swore.
I walked farther down the hallway.
“Why?”
“Because your mother stopped listening.”
I almost laughed.
“That sounds rich coming from you.”
“I know.”
At least he admitted it.
Conrad continued. “She approached me eight months ago. Offered access through the old pool route and partial western control if I helped pressure your captains.”
“Did you agree?”
“Yes.”
Honest.
Ugly.
Useful.
“Why betray her now?”
“Because the deal changed.”
“How?”
“She wanted your daughter used.”
My jaw tightened.
“She said fear would make you negotiate faster.”
I looked toward Amelia’s room.
My voice dropped.
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
I believed half of it.
Maybe less.
Conrad was still a rival.
He had still entered my home through a hidden tunnel.
He continued.
“The brass key opens the old Armstrong hunting cellar.”
I looked at Robert.
He heard enough to go pale.
“What’s there?”
Conrad answered.
“Something your father buried twenty-two years ago.”
Robert stood.
Diane closed her eyes.
Marcus looked between them.
For the first time, neither of my parents looked worried about losing power.
They looked worried about the past.
May you like
And suddenly I knew the conspiracy against me had not begun eight months ago.
It had begun before I was old enough to understand the Armstrong name.
