Chapter 15 - THE LOWEST POINT
Natalie refused to speak.
Evan underwent surgery.
Ava returned home.
But she changed.
She stopped sleeping alone.
She panicked when Ryan walked toward the front door.
If he left the room without explaining where he was going, she cried.
Ryan canceled every business trip.
He slept beside her bed.
One night Ava whispered—
“Did Mommy know Natalie was bad?”
Ryan swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t Mommy stop her?”
“She tried.”
“Did Natalie make Mommy die?”
Ryan could not lie.
“I think so.”
Ava turned toward the wall.
“I don’t like bad people.”
Ryan touched her hair.
“Neither do I.”
She looked at him.
“Are bad people always bad?”
He thought about Evan.
Margaret.
Natalie.
“No.”
“Sometimes people make bad choices.”
“Natalie?”
Ryan shook his head.
“Natalie made many choices.”
That distinction mattered.
The missing pages remained a problem.
Without them, prosecutors could link Natalie to Daniel’s death and Ava’s abuse.
But Emily’s murder was harder.
The brake-line payment pointed toward Margaret.
Natalie’s text suggested foreknowledge.
No direct order.
Then prosecutors made Ryan aware of something worse.
Natalie’s attorneys planned to argue that the kidnapping had been staged by Evan.
That Natalie had gone to the lighthouse to recover stolen financial records.
Ridiculous.
But enough confusion could complicate some charges.
And Evan was unconscious.
Mark remembered only being attacked from behind.
Ryan felt as though truth kept slipping away.
Then Margaret disappeared.
Her monitoring bracelet was found cut beside the ocean.
A note sat in her bedroom.
I’m sorry I failed both of your wives.
Ryan believed she had killed herself.
For six hours, search teams combed the coastline.
Then Maya received a call.
Margaret was alive.
May you like
She had walked into the district attorney’s office.
And brought the three missing pages.
