Page 147 of This is Why We Lied

“It wasn’t just the lodge,” Faith said. “Chuck was selling to strip clubs in Atlanta, too.”

Christopher looked caught out. He had finally realized that Faith knew a hell of a lot more than she was letting on.

She asked, “Did your parents know?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Drew and Keisha did, though.”

“I—” He shook his head. “I didn’t know that. What did they say?”

“You’re not asking the questions,” Faith told him. “Let’s go back to Mercy. How did she feel about being left off the money train?”

“I didn’t leave her off. She’s my sister. I created a trust for Jon. I put the money in an account. He’ll be able to draw from it when he’s twenty-one.”

“Why not give the money to Mercy?”

“Because Dave would get his greedy hands on it. Mercy can’t—she couldn’t—say no to Dave. He needled everything out of her. There was nothing he wouldn’t take from her. And you’re telling me she was pregnant? She would’ve been stuck with him for the rest of her life.” Christopher suddenly looked sad. “I guess she was, right? Mercy died before she could get away from him.”

Faith gave him a few seconds to catch his breath. “Did Mercy know about the trust fund you created for Jon?”

“No, I didn’t even tell Chuck.” He leaned forward, straining against the zip ties. “You’re not listening to me, lady. I’m telling you how this works. Mercy would’ve eventually told Dave, and Dave would’ve hounded Jon into the ground until the trust was empty. There’s only two things he cares about: money, and Mercy. In that order. He’ll do anything to control both of them.”

Faith regrouped. “Tell me how it worked. How did you launder the money?”

He sat back. Looked down at his hands. “Through the lodge. Mercy’s really good at bookkeeping. She opened an online account, set up payroll. She made sure that we paid taxes on everything. All of the records are in the office safe.”

“You said that Mercy was good with money, but she didn’t have a dime to her name.”

“That was her choice,” Christopher said. “I gave her whatever she wanted, but she knew if she had money in the bank, or a credit card, or debit card, Dave would find out about it. She depended on me for everything in her life.”

Faith felt a crushing sense of claustrophobia thinking about how helpless Mercy had truly been.

“That’s what we were really talking about before dinner.” Christopher was looking at Will again. “Mercy was pushing me to turn down the investors. She told me that she had nothing to lose. I told her that I could take away the rest of her life. Maybe I did. Maybe I should’ve just cleaned out my accounts and handed everything to her. She might’ve left Dave before it was too late, right?”

He had asked Faith the question. She couldn’t answer him. She only knew the statistics, and they were soul crushing. It took an abused woman an average of seven tries to leave her abuser, and that was if he didn’t kill her first.

She asked Christopher, “What about Chuck?”

“I told you, he doesn’t know about Jon’s trust. He’s more afraid of Dave than I am.”

“No, what about Chuck meaning, why did you murder Chuck?”

There was no reaction this time, just a blank stare. “What?”

“Chuck is dead, Christopher. But you knew that. You’re the one who spiked his water jug with the eye drops.”

Christopher looked at Faith, then at Will, then back at Faith again. “You’re lying.”

“I’ll take you to him right now,” Faith offered. “We had to store his body in the freezer outside the kitchen. He’s hanging there like a side of beef.”

Christopher stared at Faith like he was waiting for her to laugh, to say it was all a joke. When Faith didn’t, he gulped air into his mouth. His head dropped to his chest as he started to sob. He was more torn up about Chuck than he’d ever been about Mercy.

She gave him a moment to cry. Faith had played the bully. Now, she played the mother. She leaned forward, rubbing Christopher’s back to soothe him. “Why did you kill Chuck?”

“No.” Christopher shook his head. “I didn’t.”

“You wanted out of the liquor business. He was trying to force you to stay in.”

---