Chapter 6
Detective Shaw told me not to go.
I went anyway.
She threatened to have a state trooper stop me.
I told her she could try.
My father wanted to come.
I refused.
“You stay with Lily.”
“Daniel—”
“Dad.”
He stared at me.
Then looked at the portable crib.
He hated it.
So did I.
But Lily needed someone calm.
Someone safe.
And I did not know what I was driving toward.
My mother took my face in both hands before I left.
“Do not become stupid because you are angry.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re driving three hours toward your brother after learning he put a camera in your bedroom.”
“That sounds stupid when you say it like that.”
“It is stupid.”
“I’m meeting the police there.”
That part was true.
Detective Shaw had contacted New Hampshire authorities.
Two troopers were heading toward the cabin.
I was supposed to wait.
I did not.
The highway stretched ahead of me beneath a gray morning sky.
Every mile gave me more time to think.
I remembered Jason at ten years old, jumping from the roof of our garage because I dared him.
Jason at seventeen, taking my car without permission.
Jason at twenty-two, crying in my dorm room after our grandfather died.
Jason standing beside me at my wedding.
Jason holding Lily for the first time.
“You’re somebody’s dad,” he had whispered, smiling.
I had laughed.
“So are you, Uncle Jason.”
Now I wondered whether any memory could survive the truth.
Halfway to New Hampshire, Claire called from the hospital.
This time, a nurse introduced the call and confirmed where she was.
I pulled onto the shoulder.
“Claire.”
“Are you with Lily?”
“My parents are.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes.”
Claire started crying quietly.
“I want to see her.”
“I know.”
“I know I can’t.”
I said nothing.
“I remember what I did.”
My grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“I remember watching her move toward the edge.”
“Why?”
“I keep asking myself that.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“I was angry.”
“At a seven-month-old baby?”
“At everything.”
Her voice shook.
“At myself. At you. At my mother. At Jason. At the house. At the crying.”
She inhaled sharply.
“And then she wouldn’t stop reaching for Maria.”
I closed my eyes.
“What?”
“She wanted Maria.”
“She’s a baby.”
“I know.”
“No, Claire. I need you to hear this. She did not reject you. She is seven months old.”
“I know.”
“But you were jealous.”
“Yes.”
The admission came so softly I almost missed it.
“I hated Maria because Lily relaxed when Maria held her.”
“That isn’t Maria’s fault.”
“I know.”
“And it isn’t Lily’s.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“I know.”
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, “What did Jason do?”
Claire became quiet.
“He came over after Lily was born.”
“When?”
“February.”
I felt sick.
That early.
“You never told me.”
“He said you asked him to check on me.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“What did he say?”
“At first, nothing bad.”
She sniffed.
“He brought coffee. He listened. He told me I was doing a good job.”
I gripped the wheel.
The exact things I should have done more often.
“He told me you were worried about me.”
“I was.”
“He said you were keeping notes.”
I stared through the windshield.
“Notes?”
“About days I cried. Days I forgot things. Days I asked Maria for help.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I know.”
“How did he convince you?”
“Because he knew details.”
“What details?”
“Things we had only said in our bedroom.”
My eyes dropped to the hidden camera sitting in an evidence bag on the passenger seat.
“He planted it that early.”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t understand at first.”
“When did you understand?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“What happened?”
“He asked me to sign something.”
My heart accelerated.
“What?”
“A document.”
“What document?”
“He said it would protect me financially if you filed for divorce.”
“Did you sign it?”
“No.”
Relief washed through me.
Then Claire said, “Not that one.”
My relief vanished.
“What did you sign?”
Silence.
“Claire.”
“He brought papers before that.”
“What papers?”
“He said they were forms for the family trust.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did you read them?”
“No.”
My anger surged.
“Claire!”
“I know!”
Her voice cracked.
“I know how stupid that sounds.”
“What did you sign?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many papers?”
“Three or four.”
“When?”
“About six weeks ago.”
“What did Jason say they were for?”
“To make sure Lily would be protected if something happened to us.”
I pressed my hand against my forehead.
“Where did you sign them?”
“At home.”
“Was anyone there?”
“No.”
“Did he notarize them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone witness?”
“No.”
She started crying harder.
“I was barely sleeping. He kept telling me you already had lawyers working against me.”
“Claire, why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I stopped trusting you.”
That hurt.
But I forced myself to stay focused.
“What changed three weeks ago?”
“I saw a message on his phone.”
“What message?”
“He left it on the kitchen counter.”
Her breathing slowed.
“Someone texted him, asking whether ‘the wife was ready yet.’”
My skin turned cold.
“What did Jason say?”
“I asked him who it was.”
“And?”
“He got angry.”
“How angry?”
“He grabbed my wrist.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. Not really.”
“Claire.”
“He scared me.”
“Then what?”
“He said I had misunderstood.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“So why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“That night.”
I searched my memory.
Three weeks ago.
A Thursday.
I had come home after ten.
Claire had been sitting at the kitchen table.
She had said, Can we talk?
I had kissed her forehead and said, Tomorrow? I’m dead.
The shame was immediate.
“Oh God.”
“You remember.”
“Yes.”
“You went upstairs.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“No, I should have—”
“Daniel.”
Her voice became firm.
“You should have listened.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“But you did not make me put Lily on that table.”
I closed my eyes.
“You don’t get to carry that for me.”
I could barely speak.
“Why are you saying this now?”
“Because Jason taught me something terrible.”
“What?”
“If you make people feel guilty enough, they stop looking at what you did and start looking at themselves.”
I stared ahead.
“He used my resentment against you.”
Her voice dropped.
“And I used your guilt against you.”
The honesty hurt more than denial.
“I blamed you every time I lost control.”
“Claire.”
“That has to stop.”
I breathed slowly.
“Tell the doctors everything.”
“I am.”
“Even if it hurts you legally.”
“I know.”
“Even if it means you can’t come home.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then she whispered, “I don’t think I should come home.”
I looked down.
The woman I married was finally telling the truth.
And it was breaking both of us.
“Why is Jason going to the cabin?”
She inhaled sharply.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“He asked about it.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
“What did he ask?”
“Whether your father still kept documents there.”
My stomach tightened.
“What else?”
“He asked whether the security system worked.”
My pulse quickened.
“It barely does.”
“I told him that.”
“Anything else?”
She went quiet.
“Claire?”
“He asked whether your father still kept the old safe.”
I gripped the steering wheel.
The old safe.
Built into the study wall.
I had forgotten about it.
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know.”
Neither did I.
But my father would.
I called him immediately.
He answered on the first ring.
“Dad. The safe.”
“What safe?”
“At the cabin.”
Silence.
Then my father said, “Turn around.”
“What’s in it?”
“Daniel.”
“What’s in it?”
“Old client records. Family files.”
“What family files?”
“Trust documents.”
“Current?”
“Some.”
“What else?”
He hesitated.
“Bearer bonds.”
I nearly drove off the shoulder.
“What?”
“They belonged to your grandfather.”
“How much?”
“Not an enormous amount.”
“How much?”
“Approximately three hundred thousand dollars.”
“Dad!”
“They’re old.”
“They’re money.”
“Yes.”
“And Jason knows?”
“He might.”
I hit the steering wheel.
“He is forty minutes ahead of me.”
“Police are going.”
“So am I.”
“Daniel, the documents matter less than you do.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I did not answer.
My father continued.
“There is something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Years ago, I kept blank signed trust forms in that safe.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Administrative convenience. It was poor practice. I stopped.”
“When?”
“After Jason worked with me.”
I closed my eyes.
“So he knows.”
“Yes.”
“Could he use Claire’s signatures with those forms?”
“Not legally.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
My father was silent.
“Could he create something that looked legitimate?”
“Yes.”
I pressed harder on the accelerator.
Two hours later, snow began falling in the mountains.
Not much.
Just enough to make the road slick.
Detective Shaw called again.
“State police are ten minutes from the property.”
“I’m fifteen.”
“Wait at the general store in town.”
“No.”
“Mr. Bennett.”
“He has access to documents involving my daughter.”
“And he may be dangerous.”
“He’s my brother.”
“That does not make him less dangerous.”
I wanted to argue.
Then I remembered the hidden camera.
The lies.
The access code.
Maria’s warning.
Loyal people are always the easiest ones to blame.
I pulled into the general store parking lot.
I hated every second of waiting.
Seven minutes later, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Jason.
“Where are you?”
His voice sounded amused.
“You really came.”
I looked around.
“How do you know?”
“Because you always come when you think you can fix something.”
I scanned the trees.
“Are you watching me?”
“Maybe.”
My skin crawled.
“Jason, stop.”
“You still sound like Dad.”
“Police are coming.”
“I know.”
“What are you doing?”
“Correcting a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You.”
I went still.
Jason laughed softly.
“Not killing you, Danny. Relax.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“You were always the plan.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were always the responsible one.”
His voice hardened.
“I was always the problem.”
“This is about Dad?”
“This is about all of you.”
“You manipulated Claire because Dad liked me more?”
“You really think that’s what this is?”
“Then tell me.”
“I spent my entire life being compared to you.”
“You’re thirty-four years old.”
“And you still don’t hear it.”
“Jason.”
“You got the company introduction from Dad. You got Grandpa’s investment account. You got the house because Mom knew the seller. You got everything.”
“You had the same opportunities.”
He laughed bitterly.
“That’s exactly what people say when they win.”
“None of this explains Claire.”
“She was supposed to leave you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She was supposed to take Lily and leave you.”
“Why?”
“Because you would panic.”
“For what?”
“You would pay.”
I understood.
Slowly.
“You wanted me to give Claire money in a private settlement.”
“She would have needed money.”
“And you would have controlled her.”
“She trusted me.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“You were stealing from both of us.”
“I was taking what this family owed me.”
“You used a woman who was struggling after childbirth.”
“She used me too.”
“Did she?”
Silence.
I continued.
“She didn’t sign the last document.”
Jason’s breathing changed.
So that mattered.
“What was it?”
He didn’t answer.
“What did you want her to sign?”
“You’ll find out.”
Then he hung up.
A police cruiser flew past the store entrance.
I followed.
Against instructions.
Five miles up the mountain, we turned onto the cabin road.
Jason’s car was parked outside.
Driver’s door open.
The front door of the cabin was also open.
A state trooper drew his weapon.
“Stay in your vehicle!”
I did.
For perhaps twelve seconds.
Then I saw smoke coming from a side window.
“Fire!”
The trooper looked.
Gray smoke curled from the study.
I jumped out.
“Stay back!”
“That room has documents!”
“I said stay back!”
Another cruiser arrived.
Then Detective Shaw’s SUV.
She got out furious.
“You were told to wait.”
“The house is burning.”
Fire had not spread far yet.
One trooper entered with an extinguisher.
Another circled behind the cabin.
I stared at the open door.
“Where’s Jason?”
Nobody knew.
Thirty seconds later, shouting came from the rear.
A trooper appeared.
“Suspect running east!”
Detective Shaw took off toward the trees.
I stayed near the road.
For once, I listened.
Then I heard something inside the cabin.
A phone ringing.
My phone.
No.
A different phone.
From the study.
I stepped toward the porch.
“Daniel!” Shaw shouted from the tree line.
But I could see flames licking beneath the study door.
If the fire reached the safe—
I ran inside.
Smoke burned my eyes.
The study door was open.
A pile of papers was burning in the fireplace.
Another pile burned on the floor.
I grabbed the extinguisher and sprayed.
White powder filled the room.
The flames died.
Then I saw the wall safe.
Open.
Empty.
Almost.
One document remained on the floor.
I picked it up.
The top line read:
PETITION FOR TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP.
Lily Bennett.
Below it was Claire’s signature.
And beneath Claire’s signature was a blank line for mine.
I stared at it.
Jason had wanted both of us to sign.
Why?
Then I saw the proposed guardian’s name.
May you like
My entire body went cold.
Jason Bennett.
