Chapter 6
Melissa pulled the curtains closed.
I grabbed Ethan and moved him away from the window.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many times have you seen him?”
Ethan was breathing fast.
“Lots.”
“Inside the house?”
He nodded.
“When?”
“When Rachel said we had to stay upstairs.”
I picked up my phone.
Detective Harris was still on the line.
“There’s a dark SUV outside Melissa’s apartment.”
“I’m sending units.”
“Ethan says the driver came to our house.”
“Do not approach him.”
“I’m not.”
Melissa locked the deadbolt.
I carried Lily away from the windows.
The SUV remained parked across the street.
Then its headlights turned on.
“Dad,” Ethan whispered.
“It’s okay.”
The SUV pulled away.
I tried reading the plate.
There wasn’t one.
At least not visible.
Police arrived three minutes later.
Too late.
Officer Monroe took Ethan’s statement.
“What did the man look like?”
Ethan struggled.
“Big.”
“Hair?”
“Brown.”
“Beard?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did he talk to you?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Did Rachel say his name?”
He frowned.
Then nodded.
“Cal.”
My blood turned cold.
The temporary worker from the construction site.
The man involved in the beam accident.
Officer Monroe looked at me.
“You’re sure that’s what you heard?”
Ethan nodded.
“Rachel said, ‘Cal is here.’”
I called Mike.
He answered immediately.
“I’ve been going through the subcontractor records.”
“Was there a Cal?”
“Calvin Reeves.”
“Address?”
“Temporary agency has one.”
“Send it to Detective Harris, not me.”
“Already did.”
“Any security footage from the beam incident?”
“Yeah.”
My pulse jumped.
“You watched it?”
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“There’s something strange.”
“Tell me.”
“The rigging cable didn’t fail.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone tampered with the securing pin.”
“Can you see who?”
“Not clearly. Camera angle’s bad.”
“Was Cal nearby?”
“He was the last person on that platform.”
I closed my eyes.
This was no longer about discipline gone too far.
Rachel had been building a life without me.
And maybe she intended to make sure I never lived long enough to discover it.
Harris arrived at Melissa’s apartment thirty minutes later.
He had a photograph.
A DMV image.
He placed it in front of Ethan.
“Have you seen this man?”
Ethan looked once.
Then grabbed my arm.
“That’s him.”
Calvin Reeves.
Thirty-eight.
Former mechanic.
Multiple arrests.
No major convictions.
Harris asked Ethan if Cal ever touched him.
“No.”
“Lily?”
“No.”
“What did he do at your house?”
“Talked to Rachel.”
“About what?”
“She made us go upstairs.”
“Did you ever listen?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Once.”
“What did they say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything you remember?”
Ethan thought.
“He said something about money.”
Harris waited.
“And Rachel said after Daddy was gone, they’d have enough.”
The room became silent.
Melissa whispered something under her breath.
I felt pressure building behind my eyes.
“What else?”
Ethan shook his head.
“That’s okay,” Harris said.
He stopped the interview.
I appreciated that.
Ethan had already carried too much.
Later, after police left, I sat with him on the couch.
“You did good.”
“I’m tired.”
“Then sleep.”
“Is that man going to hurt you?”
I looked at him.
“I have people helping me.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Seven years old.
And already calling me out when I avoided answers.
“I don’t know what he wants.”
Ethan looked down.
“Rachel said you were worth more dead.”
The words barely sounded real.
“When did she say that?”
“She was talking to him.”
“You heard it?”
He nodded.
“I was at the stairs.”
My throat tightened.
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“I forgot.”
“That’s okay.”
“I don’t want you to die.”
I pulled him into my chest.
“I’m not planning to.”
He hugged me.
For a moment, I wished I could make the world as simple as that sentence.
The next morning, police searched Cal’s listed address.
Empty apartment.
No clothes.
No vehicle.
No Cal.
But they found photographs.
My worksite.
My truck.
The route I drove home.
The children’s school.
Melissa’s apartment building.
The last one had been taken two months earlier.
Before any of this happened.
Rachel and Cal had planned for possibilities.
Harris called around ten.
“We found another message chain.”
“Between them?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“The prepaid phones used coded language, but it’s not exactly sophisticated.”
“What kind of codes?”
“‘Project’ appears to mean you.”
I almost laughed again.
“What does it say?”
“Rachel: Project still active.”
“Meaning I’m alive.”
“That’s our interpretation.”
“Go on.”
“Cal: Need extra five if you want site option.”
“Five thousand.”
“Probably.”
“And she had eighteen thousand cash.”
“Yes.”
I stared at Melissa’s kitchen wall.
“How much did she already pay him?”
“We don’t know.”
“What else?”
“Rachel wrote: Child issue must be handled first.”
I felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“We’re investigating.”
“No. What does it mean?”
Harris sighed.
“I don’t know.”
I thought about Lily being denied food.
Ethan being threatened.
Rachel recording everything.
Maybe she had wanted the children scared.
Quiet.
Easy to control.
Maybe the abuse was not separate from the larger plan.
Maybe it was part of it.
“Do you think she wanted to hurt them too?”
“I don’t speculate.”
I shut my eyes.
“Right.”
“We do have better news.”
“What?”
“Your employment records confirm you were at work during several times Rachel claimed you assaulted her.”
My eyes opened.
“When?”
“She submitted photographs supposedly showing injuries after incidents on dates when your timecard and worksite video place you miles away.”
Relief washed over me.
“So she lied.”
“Clearly.”
“And her mother?”
“Carol now says Rachel may have exaggerated some things.”
“May have?”
“People become flexible when confronted with evidence.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“Has Rachel contacted her?”
“Carol says no.”
“Do you believe her?”
“Not fully.”
Before hanging up, Harris warned me again not to go home alone.
The police had finished processing the house.
But until locks and security were changed, it remained vulnerable.
Mike arranged for a locksmith I trusted.
I drove there with Officer Monroe.
The neighborhood looked completely normal.
Lawns.
Kids riding bicycles.
A delivery van.
A woman walking her dog.
My house looked normal too.
That disturbed me most.
Evil should look different.
It shouldn’t have family photos on the walls.
I entered.
The silence felt heavy.
The locksmith changed every exterior lock.
A security technician disconnected Rachel’s system completely.
I packed more clothes.
Then I entered Ethan’s room.
On his desk sat a school project.
MY FAMILY.
He had drawn himself.
Lily.
Me.
And Rachel.
Except Rachel was standing far away.
I hadn’t noticed before.
Under my picture, Ethan had written SAFE.
I sat on his bed.
I cried for the first time.
Quietly.
Not long.
Then I heard a sound downstairs.
A thump.
I wiped my face.
“Officer Monroe?”
No answer.
I stepped into the hallway.
Another thump.
Then a voice.
“Daniel?”
Rachel.
I froze.
Her voice came from downstairs.
Soft.
“Daniel, please.”
I backed toward Ethan’s room.
Officer Monroe had stepped outside to speak with the locksmith.
I pulled out my phone.
Called 911.
“I’m inside my house. My wife is here.”
The dispatcher told me to stay upstairs.
Rachel called again.
“I know you’re up there.”
I locked Ethan’s bedroom door.
“Police are coming.”
Rachel laughed.
“That’s all you do now?”
I didn’t respond.
Footsteps moved up the stairs.
Slowly.
“Daniel, I just want to talk.”
“Stay back.”
“We can fix this.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand what happened.”
“I understand enough.”
Her footsteps stopped outside the door.
“I love you.”
I almost couldn’t process the words.
“You abused my children.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You tried to frame me.”
Silence.
“Rachel?”
“I was scared.”
“You planted a gun.”
“You can explain that.”
“You were planning to have me killed.”
Her breathing changed.
Only slightly.
“That’s crazy.”
“We found the messages.”
Silence.
Longer this time.
Then her voice became different.
Flat.
“Where are the kids?”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Safe.”
“With Melissa?”
I said nothing.
Rachel touched the doorknob.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
Police sirens sounded outside.
She moved away.
Fast.
I unlocked the door only after Officer Monroe shouted from the hallway.
“Daniel! Stay where you are!”
I stepped out.
The back door stood open.
Rachel was gone.
Police searched the yard.
The alley.
The surrounding streets.
Nothing.
Then Officer Monroe called me downstairs.
The lock on the back door had not been forced.
“How did she get in?” I asked.
The locksmith had already changed it.
He inspected the door.
Then frowned.
“She didn’t use the lock.”
He pointed toward a small hidden device inside the frame.
Electronic release.
Wired separately.
Someone had installed a way to open the back door remotely.
I stared at it.
Rachel had created a secret entrance into our house.
Maybe months ago.
Maybe longer.
Then my phone rang.
Melissa.
I answered immediately.
“Are the kids okay?”
She was crying.
My knees weakened.
“Melissa?”
“I’m okay.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel…”
“Where are Ethan and Lily?”
“They’re here.”
I could breathe again.
“Then what?”
“Someone broke into my apartment while I took them downstairs to get the mail.”
I gripped the counter.
“What did they take?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“They left something.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
She sent me a photograph.
On Ethan’s pillow lay Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
But Lily had the real rabbit with her.
I stared at the picture.
It was another one.
Identical.
A note was tied around its neck.
I enlarged the image.
May you like
Three words.
I CAN REACH THEM.
