Chapter 7 - THE STORAGE FACILITY
The call came from a storage facility near the interstate.
Mark demanded the memory card and the original deed to my grandmother’s apartment building.
He believed I still had both.
Owen refused to let me go alone.
Instead, police placed a tracker in a fake document envelope and fitted me with a wire.
The pregnancy made every step feel more dangerous.
I had spent years believing I was weak.
Now another life depended on my decisions.
The storage facility was nearly empty.
Wind rattled the metal doors.
Unit 114 stood open.
Mark waited inside beside Dr. Price.
The doctor sat tied to a chair with blood running from his temple.
Mark held a handgun with both hands.
His grip shook.
“You brought police.”
“No.”
“You always lie.”
The accusation almost made me laugh.
“You taught me.”
His face tightened.
“Give me the deed.”
“Let Price go.”
Dr. Price looked at me desperately.
“He’ll kill me.”
Mark shoved the gun toward him.
“He made the charts.”
“You paid him.”
“My mother paid him.”
“You helped.”
“She controlled everything.”
“So did you.”
Mark began crying.
I had seen those tears before.
They came whenever consequences reached him.
“I tried to protect you.”
“You watched her attack me.”
“I froze.”
“You hid the needle.”
His eyes flickered.
That was new information.
Owen heard it through the wire.
I kept going.
“You moved the needle under the cabinet because you thought the police were coming.”
“I panicked.”
“You stole the evidence from my dresser.”
“She said you would destroy us.”
“You asked what to do with my body.”
His face collapsed.
“That recording was out of context.”
“What context makes that question innocent?”
Dr. Price shifted in the chair.
Mark spun toward him.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck a metal shelf inches from Price’s head.
Police moved outside.
Mark heard boots.
He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me against his chest.
The gun pressed beneath my jaw.
“Tell them to leave.”
I felt his heart hammering against my back.
For years, I had mistaken his fear for gentleness.
Now I understood fear could be vicious when cornered.
“Mark,” I said calmly, “Diane never planned to save you.”
“Shut up.”
“She already blamed everything on you.”
He froze.
It was a lie.
But believable.
“She said the basement was your idea. She said you attacked Rebecca and Laura.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“She kept you useful. That’s all.”
His grip loosened.
Dr. Price laughed weakly.
“She told me the same thing.”
Mark looked toward him.
That half-second was enough.
I drove my heel into Mark’s foot and dropped.
Owen and two officers rushed inside.
Mark fired once.
The bullet struck Dr. Price in the chest.
Police tackled Mark.
I crawled behind a stack of boxes.
Owen reached me first.
“You okay?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
Dr. Price was still alive.
As paramedics worked on him, he grabbed Owen’s sleeve.
“The bodies,” he gasped.
“What bodies?”
May you like
Price looked toward Mark.
“Diane buried them beneath Natalie’s lake cabin.”
