Chapter 2 - THE WATCH IN THE KITCHEN
“Is he going to live?”
Evelyn Vale looked at Lily for several seconds before answering.
“Yes,” she said softly. “The doctors believe he will.”
Lily lowered her eyes to the cloth doll beneath her arm.
“Good.”
Hannah finally let out the breath she had been holding.
Evelyn noticed something then.
Lily was not crying anymore.
She was staring at Evelyn’s left wrist.
“You have his watch,” Lily said.
Evelyn glanced down.
An old silver watch rested beneath the sleeve of her black dress.
“My husband gave it to Mason when he was seventeen.”
Lily frowned.
“I saw that watch before.”
Hannah stiffened.
“Lily.”
“No, Mama. I did.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“Where?”
“In the kitchen.”
The word seemed to change the temperature of the corridor.
Evelyn slowly stood.
“Tell me exactly what you saw.”
Lily squeezed her doll.
“The old man had a watch like yours.”
Evelyn's face became still.
“What old man?”
“The one who put the powder on Mr. Mason’s food.”
Hannah looked frightened.
“Lily, you already told them.”
“I know.”
“But maybe you were mistaken.”
Lily shook her head.
“He touched the plate with his left hand.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Lily continued.
“He had the watch on his right wrist.”
That detail bothered Evelyn.
Not because it was proof.
Because the watch she wore had a small scratch near the twelve.
The watch Mason's father had given his son had the same scratch.
There had only ever been two identical watches in the family.
One was on Evelyn's wrist.
The other had disappeared twenty years earlier.
Evelyn looked toward the locked doors of the hospital wing.
“Where is Daniel?”
Hannah swallowed.
“He went with Mr. Vale.”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice hardened.
“Daniel came back from the operating room twenty minutes ago.”
She turned toward the security corridor.
“I want him here.”
Ten minutes later, Daniel Cross entered.
His black suit was immaculate.
His expression was controlled.
“Mrs. Vale.”
“Where were you?”
“With Mason.”
“You were not.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly.
“I'm sorry?”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Lily says the man who poisoned my son wore an old Vale watch.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
For the first time that night, his composure cracked.
Only for a second.
But Evelyn saw it.
So did Hannah.
Lily hugged her doll.
“He looked at me,” she whispered.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“What did he do?”
“He put one finger over his mouth.”
Daniel's face changed.
“What else?”
“He said, ‘Don't tell.’”
Evelyn watched him carefully.
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Did he say your name?”
Lily nodded.
“He said, ‘Lily Reed.’”
Hannah's face went white.
“How would he know her name?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel took one step backward.
Then Lily pointed at his wrist.
“You have the same watch.”
Daniel froze.
The silver watch was partially visible beneath his cuff.
Evelyn stared at it.
Daniel slowly covered it with his sleeve.
“That is not the same watch.”
Lily shook her head.
“It is.”
Before anyone could speak, a nurse rushed into the corridor.
“Mrs. Vale?”
Evelyn turned.
“Mason's awake.”
She followed the nurse immediately.
Hannah remained behind with Lily.
Daniel did not move.
For several seconds, he watched the child.
Then he quietly said, “You shouldn't have seen that.”
Hannah stepped between him and her daughter.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at Hannah.
His expression was not threatening.
It was exhausted.
“It means you should take your daughter and leave this family before you learn something you cannot unlearn.”
Then he walked away.
Hannah stared after him.
Inside the hospital room, Mason lay pale beneath the white sheets.
His throat burned.
His chest felt as though someone had placed a weight upon it.
But when Evelyn entered, his first question was not about himself.
“Lily?”
“Safe.”
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
Evelyn pulled a chair beside him.
“Mason, we have a problem.”
“We already had one.”
“No.”
She placed something on the blanket.
His father's old photograph.
Mason opened his eyes.
The photograph showed a younger version of his father standing outside the Vale warehouse beside three men.
One was Evelyn.
One was Daniel's father.
The third man's face had been cut away from the photograph years ago.
Mason stared.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because Lily described the man who poisoned you.”
“And?”
“He was wearing your father's watch.”
Mason's breathing changed.
“That watch disappeared.”
“Twenty years ago.”
He looked toward the door.
“Who else knows?”
“Daniel.”
Mason's eyes hardened.
“Bring him here.”
Before Evelyn could answer, the door opened.
Daniel stood there.
But he was not alone.
Claire Whitmore stood behind him.
Her face was pale.
“Mason,” she whispered.
He stared at her.
“What are you doing here?”
Claire stepped inside.
“I came because I need to tell you something.”
Mason waited.
Claire removed the diamond necklace from her throat.
She placed it beside the photograph.
“This belonged to your grandmother.”
Mason looked at it.
“I know.”
Claire's hands trembled.
“There is something inside it.”
She pressed a tiny hidden clasp.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
Mason stared at the handwriting.
He recognized it immediately.
His father's.
Three words were written across the paper.
TRUST NO ONE.
Then Mason looked at Claire.
“Who gave you this?”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
Evelyn went completely still.
Mason turned toward her.
“Mom?”
Evelyn did not answer.
May you like
And that silence was more frightening than any confession.
Because for the first time in his life, Mason Vale realized that the person who had been protecting him might also have been hiding the reason someone wanted him dead.
