CHAPTER 11 The Choice
By midnight, there were arrest warrants for Richard Vale and Jason Mercer.
By twelve thirty, neither man could be found.
At one, police confirmed Richard’s Seattle apartment was empty.
At one fifteen, Jason’s last known vehicle was discovered abandoned near the interstate.
At one twenty-two, Mason stopped pretending he was calm.
The corporate apartment Derek had offered us was twenty floors above downtown Seattle, furnished in expensive gray furniture apparently chosen by someone who hated personality.
Detective Kim had two officers outside the building.
Another was stationed downstairs.
Claire was safe with her sister.
Noah had refused to leave.
Derek had stopped pretending anyone could make him.
And Mason had spent almost an hour walking from one side of the living room to the other.
Back.
Forth.
Back.
Forth.
I watched from the couch.
Finally, I said, “If you keep doing that, you’re going to wear through the floor.”
“I’m thinking.”
“You pace when you’re thinking.”
“Yes.”
“You also pace when you’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“And scared.”
He stopped.
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
There.
Honesty.
It shouldn’t have felt like progress anymore.
But it did.
Noah sat at the dining table with a laptop open in front of him.
Derek stood near the window, speaking quietly with someone on his phone.
Nobody was sleeping.
Nobody was even pretending.
Detective Kim had taken the dashboard video and Lily’s USB to headquarters.
Richard Vale was now officially a suspect in Lily’s death.
The man who had guided Mason’s career.
Negotiated contracts.
Protected his image.
Helped him after the assault case.
A man Mason once trusted almost like family.
I understood why Mason couldn’t sit still.
“What did Richard say when you stopped working with him?” I asked.
Mason stared toward the window.
“Not much.”
“When was that?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why did you leave?”
His jaw tightened.
“I thought he was too controlling.”
Derek looked over.
“That’s because he was.”
Mason ignored him.
“What kind of controlling?” I asked.
“Career stuff.”
“That sounds vague.”
Mason exhaled.
“He wanted approval over everything.”
“Interviews?”
“Yes.”
“Endorsements?”
“Yes.”
“Relationships?”
I saw the answer before he gave it.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“He told you who you could date?”
“He told me serious relationships were bad for my brand.”
Noah laughed bitterly from the table.
“Of course he did.”
Mason looked at him.
“What?”
Noah closed the laptop.
“He told me the opposite.”
Silence.
“What?” Mason asked.
“Richard came to my agency after Lily died.”
Mason went completely still.
“Why?”
“He said you were unstable.”
Derek muttered something under his breath.
Noah continued.
“He told my agent it would be better for both our careers if we were kept apart.”
Mason stared.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Noah laughed without humor.
“We weren’t exactly exchanging Christmas cards.”
Mason looked away.
That made sense.
Still painful.
“So he encouraged the rivalry,” I said.
Noah nodded slowly.
“Maybe.”
Mason’s expression darkened.
“More than maybe.”
We all looked at him.
He walked toward the table.
“Whenever things between Noah and me cooled down, Richard would bring up Lily.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Little comments.”
He looked at Noah.
“Remember what Bennett did.”
Noah’s jaw clenched.
“What else?”
“Don’t let him make you soft.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“Every game against Seattle, he’d remind me what happened.”
Noah stood.
“My old agent did the same thing.”
Silence.
I felt cold.
“What did he say?”
Noah looked at Mason.
“That Cole blamed me.”
Mason’s expression changed.
“He told me you blamed me.”
“Richard didn’t represent you.”
“No.”
“Who was your agent?”
“Thomas Grant.”
Derek stopped speaking into his phone.
He lowered it.
“Grant and Vale were partners.”
The room went still.
Noah frowned.
“What?”
“Early in their careers,” Derek said. “Sports management firm in Vancouver.”
Mason stared.
“You knew that?”
“Everyone in that circle knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were eighteen.”
That excuse sounded terrible now.
I stood.
“So Richard and Thomas kept Mason and Noah angry at each other.”
“Potentially,” Derek said.
“Why?”
Noah looked toward Lily’s letter, sealed inside an evidence bag that police had left photographed copies of.
“To stop us comparing stories.”
Exactly.
If Mason and Noah had actually spoken honestly after Lily’s death, they might have discovered inconsistencies.
The private apartment.
The gambling debts.
The black sedan.
The third passenger.
Richard’s involvement.
Instead, they had spent four years punching each other in front of crowds.
Convenient.
Mason stared at Noah.
“Did Grant know about the box?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“I never told him.”
“Did anyone?”
Noah thought.
“My father knew Lily left something with me.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed.
“Your father?”
“He saw me carrying it into the house.”
“And?”
“I told him it was Lily’s.”
Noah looked uneasy.
“He never asked again.”
Derek’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Derek looked at Mason.
“My guy found Jason’s financial records.”
“And?”
“He received payments from a company linked to Richard.”
Noah stepped closer.
“For how long?”
“Four years.”
Silence.
There it was.
Not family loyalty.
Money.
Richard had paid Jason after Lily died.
“Cover-up,” I whispered.
“Looks like it,” Derek said.
Mason’s face hardened.
“For murder.”
Derek nodded.
“Yes.”
Mason turned away.
His hands clenched.
I watched him fight himself.
That was what this entire night had become.
Not finding Richard.
Not waiting for police.
Watching Mason stand on the edge of the person he used to be.
I walked toward him.
He felt me coming.
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m handling it.”
“Barely.”
His eyes snapped toward mine.
I held them.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
“Rules.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Jesus, Emma.”
“Rules.”
Silence.
Then Mason said, “I want five minutes alone with him.”
Nobody moved.
“I want to ask him why.”
His voice grew quieter.
“And if I don’t like the answer, I want to hurt him.”
Noah’s jaw tightened.
Derek looked away.
I stayed.
Mason continued.
“I want him to feel afraid.”
I reached for his hands.
“They’re already looking for him.”
“I know.”
“Police will get him.”
“Maybe.”
“Mason.”
“What if they don’t?”
“That isn’t your decision.”
“Then whose is it?”
“The law.”
He laughed sharply.
“The law told me Lily died in an accident.”
“That doesn’t mean you become judge and executioner.”
His face hardened.
“You didn’t watch that car go over the barrier.”
“No.”
“You didn’t spend four years thinking you caused it.”
“No.”
“You didn’t—”
“I love you.”
Silence.
Absolute.
The words left my mouth before I had time to be afraid of them.
Mason stopped.
Noah stopped.
Derek actually turned.
I heard my own heartbeat.
Mason stared at me.
“What?”
There was no taking it back.
Maybe I didn’t want to.
“I love you.”
His face changed.
Everything inside him seemed to break and rebuild in the same second.
“Emma.”
“I know the timing is terrible.”
Noah made a quiet sound that might have been disbelief.
I ignored him.
“I know we haven’t known each other long enough for this to make any logical sense.”
Mason couldn’t look away.
“But I do.”
My voice shook now.
“I love the man at the rink.”
His breathing changed.
“The man who remembers how I take my coffee.”
I tightened my grip on his hands.
“The man who asks me what I want before touching me.”
His eyes shone.
“The man who came back from Montana and decided he wasn’t going to disappear.”
I stepped closer.
“So don’t disappear now.”
Mason’s jaw trembled.
Very slightly.
“I don’t know how to answer that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
He pulled one hand free and touched my face.
“I love you too.”
My breath caught.
No joke.
No hesitation.
“I think I started somewhere between you nearly falling in the snow and you insulting my protein bars.”
A laugh escaped me through tears.
“That is incredibly romantic.”
“I’m struggling.”
“You’re doing okay.”
His thumb brushed beneath my eye.
Then he rested his forehead against mine.
“I love you.”
This time he said it like he was testing whether he was allowed.
I smiled.
“I know.”
“Arrogant.”
“You taught me.”
He kissed me.
Soft.
Brief.
Nothing private about it.
No secret left.
Noah cleared his throat.
We separated.
I looked at him.
He seemed physically uncomfortable.
“I’m happy for you,” he said.
I stared.
Mason stared.
Noah grimaced.
“I hate this.”
I laughed.
Mason actually smiled.
Then Derek’s phone rang.
The moment disappeared.
He answered.
“Yeah?”
We watched.
His face changed.
“Where?”
Mason immediately stepped forward.
Derek held up one hand.
“When?”
Pause.
“You sure?”
He ended the call.
“What?” Mason demanded.
“They found Richard’s car.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where?” Noah asked.
“Near the old rink.”
Mason froze.
“What old rink?”
Derek looked at him.
“The one your dad used to take you to.”
Silence.
Mason went pale.
“Why would he go there?”
Derek’s expression hardened.
“To get your attention.”
My skin turned cold.
Then my phone buzzed.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
Mason grabbed it before I could.
“Don’t.”
“Give it back.”
“No.”
“Mason.”
He read the message.
His face changed.
“What does it say?”
He didn’t answer.
I took the phone from him.
One line.
**Come alone, Mason. Or Emma gets the rest of Lily’s story from the police after they find your body.**
Below it was a location pin.
The rink.
Mason immediately reached for his jacket.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This is different.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“Which is exactly why you don’t go.”
“If I don’t—”
“What? He sends another text?”
“He could have evidence.”
“Then the police collect it.”
“He could destroy it.”
Noah stepped between Mason and the door.
“She’s right.”
Mason stared.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Bennett.”
“Cole.”
For a second, four years of rivalry flashed between them.
Then Noah said something I never expected.
“You go alone, you’re dead.”
Mason’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know traps.”
Derek nodded.
“So do I.”
Mason looked between them.
“What are you suggesting?”