Chapter 6 - SLOANE'S CONFESSION
Sloane Mercer asked to see her sister.
Vivienne said no.
Sloane asked again.
Vivienne said no again.
Then Detective Ortiz brought a photograph.
Adrian and Sloane entering the same hotel room eleven months earlier.
On the back, Sloane had written three words.
I have proof.
Vivienne agreed.
They met through reinforced glass.
Sloane looked terrible.
No silk robe.
No makeup.
Hair pulled into a careless knot.
Purple shadows beneath her eyes.
Vivienne felt nothing.
That frightened her.
Sloane picked up the phone.
"You're alive."
Vivienne stared.
"Disappointing?"
Sloane's eyes filled.
"I didn't know he was going to remove every injector."
"You watched me suffocate."
"I thought—"
"Be very careful what you say next."
Sloane swallowed.
"I thought he was going to give it back."
Vivienne laughed once.
"You watched him knock me out of my wheelchair."
"I panicked."
"You laughed."
Sloane looked down.
"Because I was terrified."
"That's your defense?"
"No."
"Good."
Sloane pressed her forehead against the glass.
"I deserve whatever happens."
Vivienne almost hung up.
Then Sloane said, "The accident wasn't Adrian's idea."
Vivienne stopped.
"Whose?"
"I don't know."
"Liar."
"I swear."
Sloane explained.
Two years earlier, she had overheard Adrian speaking to Victor Dane after a board dinner.
Victor told Adrian, "The first accident should have solved this problem."
Sloane questioned Adrian later.
He claimed Victor was referring to Charles's death.
She believed him.
Or chose to.
"Why were you sleeping with my husband?"
Sloane looked ashamed.
"Because he knew exactly what I hated about myself."
Vivienne said nothing.
"He told me you looked down on me."
"I paid your debts."
"He said that was why."
"I gave you a job."
"He said you wanted me dependent."
Vivienne stared.
"And you believed him?"
"I wanted to."
That answer hurt more than an excuse.
Sloane reached into a folder provided by her attorney.
"Adrian kept another phone."
"Where?"
"I hid it."
Vivienne narrowed her eyes.
"Why?"
"Because eventually I realized if he could betray you, he could betray me."
There it was.
Not conscience.
Self-preservation.
"Where is it?"
"Safe deposit box."
"Bank?"
Sloane shook her head.
"Private storage facility."
"What is on it?"
"Messages with Victor."
"About the poisoning?"
"About something called Meridian."
Vivienne's pulse quickened.
"And your accident."
Silence.
Sloane continued.
"There's a voice recording."
"Of Adrian?"
"Yes."
"What does he say?"
Sloane looked directly at her sister.
"He says he was the one who changed cars with you that night."
Vivienne felt the room tilt.
"No."
"Your mother said you borrowed her car."
"I did."
"But you were supposed to take your own."
Vivienne remembered Adrian telling her the dealership had called.
Her car wasn't ready.
He offered to pick it up the next morning.
She took Evelyn's old sedan instead.
Sloane's voice shook.
"Adrian knew the sabotaged car was supposed to be yours."
Vivienne stared.
"He knew someone planned to kill me."
"Yes."
"And he did nothing."
Sloane shook her head.
"Worse."
Vivienne's hand tightened around the receiver.
"What is worse?"
Sloane began crying.
"He was paid."
Vivienne didn't speak.
"Victor paid Adrian two million dollars after your accident."
"For what?"
Sloane whispered.
"To make sure you never remembered who you were going to meet."
Vivienne closed her eyes.
Marcus Vale.
Meridian.
The brakes.
The sedatives.
The false prognosis.
Adrian had not merely exploited the aftermath.
He had been part of the plan from the beginning.
Vivienne opened her eyes.
"Give Ortiz the location."
Sloane nodded.
"Vivienne."
She started to hang up.
"Wait."
Vivienne looked at her.
"What?"
"There was another name on the phone."
"Whose?"
"I don't know."
"Then why mention it?"
"Because Adrian was afraid of that person."
Vivienne waited.
Sloane lowered her voice.
May you like
"He called him Shepherd."
And for the first time since returning, Evelyn Hartwell looked more frightened by a name than by Victor Dane.
