Chapter 6
Detective Reyes wanted Lena brought in by officers.
Lena refused.
She changed motel rooms twice in four hours.
She called from prepaid phones.
She sounded like someone who believed every passing car belonged to Daniel.
In the end, Reyes arranged something safer.
Lena would meet us in the interview room of a small police station outside the city.
No public parking lot.
No motel.
No private meeting.
I wasn't allowed inside for the first part.
I sat behind one-way glass with Rachel and watched Lena enter.
She looked nothing like the woman who had stood over my screaming son.
Her hair was unwashed.
Her face was pale.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes.
She clutched a grocery bag against her chest.
I hated her.
I also needed what she knew.
Reyes sat across from her.
"Start at the beginning."
Lena swallowed.
"Daniel hired me eighteen months ago."
"Mrs. Bennett believed she hired you."
"She interviewed me. Daniel had already chosen me."
My stomach tightened.
I remembered the agency sending three candidates.
Daniel had strongly preferred Lena.
He said Jacob responded to her.
I believed him.
"Why you?" Reyes asked.
Lena stared at her hands.
"Because I had debt."
"What kind?"
"Medical. My mother was sick."
"So he offered money?"
"At first."
"To hurt Jacob?"
Lena looked horrified.
"No."
I almost laughed at the hypocrisy.
She continued.
"He said Sarah was unstable. He said she had violent mood swings and he was afraid she'd lose control around Jacob."
I stared through the glass.
"He showed me videos."
My skin crawled.
"Videos of Sarah?" Reyes asked.
"Yes."
"He told me he needed documentation to protect his son. He asked me to keep notes."
"Then what?"
"I started recording things."
"What things?"
"Sarah being tired. Forgetting appointments. Getting angry."
"Did you ever create those situations?"
Lena began crying.
"Later."
Reyes didn't soften.
"How?"
"Daniel would tell me not to remind Sarah about something, then he'd record that she'd forgotten. Or he'd move things and tell her she misplaced them."
Rachel whispered beside me.
"Gaslighting."
I couldn't answer.
Lena wiped her cheeks.
"Then he started giving her something at night."
"What?"
She opened the grocery bag.
Inside was a prescription bottle.
Reyes put on gloves.
The label was for an anti-anxiety medication.
The patient's name wasn't mine.
It was Daniel's mother.
"I found that in his desk," Lena said.
"He crushed the tablets?"
"Sometimes."
"Did you personally see him put medication into Sarah's drinks?"
"Yes."
"How often?"
"Maybe twice a week. Sometimes more."
My stomach turned.
"What was the purpose?"
"He said she needed to sleep deeply so he could move things around. Access her phone. Send emails from her account."
I put my hand over my mouth.
Reyes leaned forward.
"Did you ever administer medication to Sarah?"
Lena nodded.
Once.
Very small.
But enough.
"Yes."
Rachel cursed under her breath.
I stared at Lena.
She had drugged me.
She had hurt Jacob.
Fear didn't erase responsibility.
"What changed?" Reyes asked.
Lena's voice shook.
"Jacob started noticing."
There it was.
"He saw Daniel crush something into Sarah's tea. He asked me why Daddy put chalk in Mommy's drink."
My eyes filled with tears.
"He wouldn't stop asking questions. Daniel panicked."
"So Daniel told you to punish him?"
"At first, just take away toys."
"Then?"
"Closet time."
"Then?"
Lena looked toward the mirror.
I knew she couldn't see me.
But it felt like she was looking directly into my eyes.
"He wanted Jacob scared enough to stop talking."
Reyes's expression hardened.
"Did Daniel tell you to strike him?"
"He said I needed to be firmer."
"That's not what I asked."
Lena cried harder.
"Yes."
My hands curled into fists.
"Did he instruct you to burn Jacob with soup?"
"No."
She answered quickly.
"No. That was me."
The room inside me went still.
At least she didn't lie.
"He was refusing to eat. He called me a liar. He said he was going to tell his mother everything. I lost control."
I stood.
Rachel grabbed me.
"Sarah."
I wanted to go through the glass.
I wanted Lena to see the scars she'd put on my child.
But I stayed.
Reyes asked, "Why were you afraid when Sarah threatened to call police?"
"Because Daniel said if anything went wrong, he'd blame everything on me."
"Did you believe him?"
Lena laughed bitterly.
"He already had."
She opened the grocery bag again.
A phone.
Two memory cards.
A small notebook.
And a flash drive.
Not Jacob's.
Another one.
"I copied files from Daniel's computer."
Reyes stared at it.
"What files?"
"Emails. Videos. Financial records."
"Why?"
"Because I realized he was going to destroy me too."
"When?"
"Two months ago."
"Why didn't you go to police?"
"He had videos of me hurting Jacob."
Reyes's tone became cold.
"You mean evidence of crimes you committed."
Lena looked down.
"Yes."
"That isn't blackmail if it's evidence."
"He also had recordings of private things."
Rachel and I looked at each other.
Reyes asked, "Were you and Daniel in a sexual relationship?"
Lena closed her eyes.
"Yes."
My reaction surprised me.
I felt almost nothing.
Maybe there are levels of betrayal beyond which an affair becomes ordinary.
He had drugged me.
Terrorized our son.
Forged documents.
An affair was just another file in the cabinet.
"How long?" Reyes asked.
"About eight months."
"Did Sarah know?"
"No."
"Was the relationship consensual?"
"At first."
Lena's answer became quieter.
"Then I tried to stop. Daniel said he'd send the videos to police and make sure I never saw my mother again because I'd be in prison."
"Did he threaten physical harm?"
"He said accidents happen to desperate people."
Reyes paused.
"Do you believe he meant you?"
"Yes."
The flash drive contained what Lena promised.
Forensic specialists began copying it immediately.
I wasn't allowed access to everything.
But Reyes showed me one email because it directly affected my safety.
From Daniel to a private investigator.
Subject:
OCTOBER WINDOW.
The message discussed completing "incapacity documentation" before October 14.
Another email referred to "emergency custody preparation."
Another mentioned transferring liquid assets before "Sarah regains control."
Then there was a voice recording.
Daniel's voice.
Calm.
Clear.
"Once she looks unstable enough, the court will do the rest."
A second voice belonged to Lena.
"What about Jacob?"
"He'll adjust."
"And Sarah?"
A pause.
Then Daniel laughed.
"Sarah believes whatever I tell her if I repeat it long enough."
I stopped the recording.
I couldn't hear more.
Reyes touched my shoulder.
"We have enough to move aggressively now."
"Arrest him."
"We're working on it."
"He's walking around free."
"Not for long."
My phone rang.
Martin Ellis.
I answered.
"Sarah, I found something."
"What?"
"Daniel filed a petition yesterday."
My heart dropped.
"For custody?"
"More than custody."
"What does that mean?"
"He filed for an emergency temporary guardianship over you."
I couldn't speak.
"He alleges you're experiencing a psychiatric crisis and are unable to manage your affairs."
"He did that yesterday?"
"Before Lena hurt Jacob."
"Yes."
The realization hit everyone in the room.
Daniel hadn't reacted to what happened.
Because his plan was already moving.
The soup incident wasn't the beginning.
It was a complication.
"What happens now?" I asked.
"We fight it."
"When?"
"The emergency hearing is tomorrow morning."
I stared at the wall.
Tomorrow.
Daniel was going to walk into court and argue that I was crazy.
That my memories couldn't be trusted.
That my emotions made me dangerous.
He had videos.
Documents.
Years of preparation.
I had the truth.
For the first time in my life, I understood those were not automatically the same thing in a courtroom.
Reyes's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her face changed.
"What?"
Rachel asked.
Reyes looked at me.
"Officers found Daniel's car."
"Where?"
"Near the airport."
My heart jumped.
"Did he leave?"
"We don't know."
"The backpack?"
"Not in the vehicle."
Then Reyes listened again.
Her expression became grim.
"There's more."
"What?"
"Daniel wasn't at the airport."
"Then where is he?"
She ended the call.
"Security footage shows him getting into another car."
"Whose?"
"We're identifying it."
My phone buzzed.
One new message.
From Daniel.
A photograph loaded.
It showed the inside of the confidential rental where Rachel and I had spent the previous night.
My blood froze.
The photograph had been taken from the hallway.
While we were there.
Under it, Daniel had written:
You still think the police can protect you?
May you like
Then another message appeared.
See you in court.
