Chapter 9 - The Trap at the Lake
My mother stepped into the dim light of the storage unit, her soft lavender perfume instantly overpowering the smell of dust and old paper. She wasn't wearing her floral blouse anymore; she wore a dark trench coat, and her hands were tucked deep into her pockets.
For a terrifying second, I didn't see the grandmother who had baked cookies with my sons or helped me through my darkest grief. I saw a stranger—calculated, ruthless, and entirely devoid of remorse.
"Mom," I breathed, scrambling backward until my back hit the metal wall of the unit. "How... how did you find me?"
"You're not nearly as clever as you think you are, sweetheart," Mom replied smoothly, taking a slow step forward. Her eyes flicked down to the open box and the journal in my lap. "I put a GPS tracker in the lining of your handbag six months ago, just in case you ever started asking questions about hospital billing codes."
The betrayal hit harder than a physical blow. "You sold my baby," I whispered, my voice trembling with a fury so hot it burned my throat. "You took my newborn son and sold him to cover your own debts, and you let me mourn him for eighteen years!"
"I saved him!" Mom snapped back, her polished composure cracking just enough to reveal a flash of vicious pride. "The clinic director's wife was hysterical, her baby was gone, and your third boy was failing fast in the NICU. It was a clean transaction. It kept our family name out of a messy malpractice scandal, and it gave that child a home with a wealthy family who could afford his medical care."
"And then you put him in a foster home when they died years later!" I screamed, lunging to my feet. "I read the journal, Mom! He grew up in the system because you abandoned him twice!"
May you like
Mom didn't flinch. She pulled her right hand out of her trench coat pocket, and the heavy metal barrel of a small, snub-nosed revolver caught the dim light of the storage unit.
"He was always a loose end," Mom said quietly, leveling the gun right at my chest. "Just like you're becoming right now. Step away from the box, Nora. We're going to the lake."
