Chapter 9 - MASON’S PHONEMason called me for the first time since dinner.
I almost ignored him.
Then answered.
“What?”
“Can we talk?”
“You can.”
“I didn’t know Andrew would hit you.”
“Everyone leads with that.”
“Because it matters.”
“What do you want?”
Pause.
“Daniel contacted me about invoices.”
My stomach tightened.
“What invoices?”
“Mercer Build & Repair.”
Mason’s contracting company.
Of course.
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You own the company.”
“I mean from your account.”
“How much did you bill us?”
Silence.
“Mason.”
“Maybe thirty.”
“Thirty what?”
“Thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
“For what work?”
“Some was real.”
That answer tells you everything before numbers do.
“What wasn’t?”
“Bonnie said you wanted us to route family support through businesses for tax reasons.”
I laughed.
“Bonnie gave tax advice?”
“Andrew said it too.”
“What did you invoice?”
“Repairs. Consulting. Storage.”
“Did you do those things?”
“Some.”
Again.
“Send Daniel everything.”
“Cadence—”
“Everything.”
He whispered:
“I will.”
Then:
“I recorded part of dinner.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“I was on my phone when Andrew hit you.”
“Why?”
“I was filming Bonnie.”
“Why?”
Long silence.
“Because I thought the fifteen-thousand demand was insane.”
That video became evidence in the assault case.
It also showed something I had missed.
Seconds before Andrew slapped me, Bonnie looked at him and nodded.
May you like
Not proof she ordered him to hit me.
But a small gesture I would never stop remembering.
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