Chapter 6
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Even Rachel stopped crying.
I stared at Daniel.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
We had met six and a half years ago.
My stomach twisted.
“How?”
Daniel looked toward the police officers.
“I don’t want to do this here.”
“That stopped mattering hours ago.”
“Sarah.”
“How did your first wife die?”
He swallowed.
“Car accident.”
Michael stepped closer.
“What kind?”
“Her car went off a bridge.”
Rachel whispered, “Jesus.”
Vanessa asked the question I was suddenly afraid to ask.
“Were you married when she died?”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“How long after she died did you meet me?”
Daniel looked at me.
“About five months.”
Five months.
He told me he had never been married.
He told me he had never lived with anyone.
He told me I was his first serious adult relationship.
All lies.
Vanessa typed Claire’s name into her phone.
“Last name?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Daniel.”
“Carter.”
Vanessa searched.
Her expression changed quickly.
She handed me the phone.
A local news article.
Seven years old.
WOMAN KILLED AFTER VEHICLE LEAVES RURAL BRIDGE.
Claire Carter, 28.
Survived by husband, Daniel Carter.
I stared at her photo.
She had blonde hair.
A warm smile.
She looked alive.
Normal.
Someone who had bought groceries and complained about traffic and probably had plans for the next weekend.
Then I saw another article.
POLICE INVESTIGATE FATAL CRASH.
The story said there were questions about the vehicle’s brake system.
I looked at Daniel.
“The brakes?”
“It was an old car.”
Vanessa scrolled.
A third article.
HUSBAND QUESTIONED IN WIFE’S DEATH; NO CHARGES FILED.
My mouth went dry.
“You were questioned.”
“Everyone gets questioned.”
“No.”
Vanessa looked up.
“Not like this.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“I didn’t kill Claire.”
Emma looked toward us from Michael’s car.
I immediately lowered my voice.
“Why did police suspect you?”
“They didn’t suspect me.”
Vanessa showed him the article.
“It says investigators executed a search warrant on your home.”
Daniel glared at her.
“Nothing came from it.”
“What were they looking for?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not believable.”
“Then don’t believe me.”
I stepped closer.
“There was life insurance, wasn’t there?”
His eyes changed.
That was enough.
“How much?”
“Sarah.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Michael whispered, “Of course.”
Daniel snapped, “I didn’t know she had changed the policy.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“You were the beneficiary?”
“Yes.”
“And you received it?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
My skin crawled.
“Where is that money?”
“Gone.”
“How?”
“Debts.”
“What debts?”
“My father owed people money.”
“Which father?”
He stopped.
Rebecca was his biological mother.
Patricia raised him.
The man he called his father had died before I met him.
I realized I didn’t even know which parts of that story were true.
Vanessa asked, “Did Claire know Patricia?”
Daniel looked away.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“She was my mother.”
“No,” Vanessa said. “She raised you. I’m asking how well Claire knew Patricia.”
“They didn’t get along.”
My heart sank.
Of course they didn’t.
“Why?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Claire thought Patricia interfered too much.”
Rachel let out a broken laugh.
“Imagine that.”
Daniel glared at her.
Vanessa continued searching.
Then she stopped.
“I found something.”
We gathered around her phone.
A court record.
Claire had filed for divorce eleven days before her death.
I looked at Daniel.
His face was blank.
“You didn’t mention that.”
“It wasn’t final.”
“She was leaving you.”
“We were working things out.”
“The filing says irreconcilable differences.”
“That’s standard.”
Vanessa scrolled.
Then her expression changed again.
“There was also a request for protective order.”
Michael stepped toward Daniel.
I grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“That was dropped.”
“Because she died?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“It was based on lies.”
“What did she accuse you of?”
He said nothing.
Vanessa read quietly.
“Financial control. Threatening behavior. Unauthorized use of credit. Interference from family member.”
My stomach dropped.
Unauthorized use of credit.
The same thing happening to me.
I looked at Daniel.
He saw the connection on my face.
“No.”
“You did this before.”
“No.”
“You stole her identity too.”
“I never stole anything.”
“Then why does this sound exactly like my life?”
He moved toward me.
Michael immediately stepped between us.
Daniel stopped.
Vanessa said, “Sarah, don’t argue with him.”
But I couldn’t stop.
I was looking at a possible version of my future.
Claire had discovered financial abuse.
Claire had tried to leave.
Claire had died.
And Daniel had received half a million dollars.
I felt cold from head to toe.
“Did Patricia know Claire filed for divorce?”
Daniel said nothing.
“DID SHE?”
“Yes.”
The police officer approached us.
“We located Patricia’s Lexus.”
Rachel ran toward him.
“Where?”
“Security camera picked it up heading east on Highway 70 twenty-three minutes ago.”
“Where is she going?”
“We don’t know.”
I did.
The farmhouse.
I looked at Vanessa.
“The farmhouse.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward me.
“No.”
That reaction confirmed it.
I pointed toward him.
“She’s going to Rebecca’s farmhouse.”
The officer asked for the address.
Vanessa gave it from the property record.
Within minutes, police units were heading there.
Rachel wanted to go.
The officers told her to stay.
She refused.
I understood.
If someone had Emma, nobody could keep me away.
Michael told me to take Emma to his house.
I shook my head.
“Not without knowing Lily is safe.”
“You have to protect Emma.”
“I am.”
We compromised.
Michael took Emma to his house.
I stayed with Vanessa and Rachel.
Before they left, Emma hugged me.
“Mommy, why is everybody sad?”
I brushed her hair from her face.
“Because some grown-ups made bad choices.”
“Is the other little girl okay?”
My throat tightened.
“You heard us?”
She nodded.
“Is she my sister?”
I froze.
Five years old.
And she had put the pieces together.
I didn’t know what to say.
Technically, yes.
Half-sister.
Same father.
Same age.
Born only two months apart.
I hugged her.
“Yes.”
Emma thought for a moment.
“Then we have to find her.”
I closed my eyes.
“Yes, baby.”
“We can share my toys.”
That nearly broke me.
I kissed her forehead.
Michael drove away.
I watched until his SUV disappeared.
Then I turned around.
Daniel was gone.
“Where is Daniel?”
Rachel looked toward the road.
“He left.”
My blood ran cold.
Vanessa shouted to the nearest officer.
Daniel’s car was already pulling out of the lot.
He ignored the officer waving him down.
He sped away.
Toward the highway.
Toward the farmhouse.
Rachel stared.
“He knows Patricia is there.”
I grabbed my phone and called Daniel.
He rejected it.
Again.
Rejected.
Then a text arrived.
STAY OUT OF THIS.
I showed Vanessa.
She cursed under her breath.
Police were notified.
We drove behind them.
Not chasing.
Following.
My mind replayed everything.
Claire.
The loans.
The forged signatures.
Patricia.
Marcus.
The threatened school pickup.
I didn’t know what connected to what anymore.
But I knew one thing.
Whatever secret Daniel was protecting at that farmhouse mattered enough for him to run toward it even with police involved.
Forty minutes later, we reached the rural road.
Police vehicles lined the shoulder.
The farmhouse sat at the end of a long gravel driveway.
White siding.
Wraparound porch.
Exactly like the photo.
Daniel’s car was parked crooked near the barn.
Patricia’s Lexus was beside it.
Rachel tried to run forward.
An officer stopped her.
“My daughter is inside!”
“We’re checking.”
“CHECK FASTER!”
Then the front door opened.
Daniel stepped onto the porch.
His hands were raised.
An officer shouted instructions.
Daniel came down slowly.
Patricia appeared behind him.
She was holding Lily.
Rachel screamed.
“LILY!”
The little girl turned.
“Mommy!”
Rachel collapsed into tears.
Patricia looked calm.
Too calm.
She carried Lily down the steps.
Then stopped.
“I didn’t hurt her.”
Rachel screamed, “YOU TOOK HER!”
“She came willingly.”
“She is FIVE!”
Police moved forward.
Patricia handed Lily to an officer.
Rachel ran to her daughter.
She dropped to her knees and held her.
I watched them.
And for one second, everything else disappeared.
Lily was safe.
That was all that mattered.
Then Patricia looked directly at me.
Her expression changed.
“You.”
I walked closer but stayed behind the police line.
“You tried to add Marcus to Emma’s pickup list.”
Patricia frowned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Daniel looked confused too.
For the first time, I believed their confusion.
If Patricia didn’t make that call…
Then who did?
An officer placed Patricia in handcuffs.
She started arguing.
Rachel shouted that she wanted charges.
Daniel kept asking to speak privately with Patricia.
Nobody allowed it.
Then an officer came out of the house carrying a cardboard box.
Another carried a laptop.
Another came out with a small lockbox.
Vanessa watched carefully.
“What are they searching for?”
I asked.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
One officer approached Daniel.
“Mr. Carter, we found documents in the upstairs office with Sarah Carter’s personal identifiers.”
Daniel froze.
So did I.
“What documents?”
The officer looked at me.
“Loan applications. Copies of tax returns. Identification records.”
Patricia shouted from beside the patrol car.
“Those are bookkeeping records!”
The officer continued.
“We also found documents belonging to someone named Claire Carter.”
The world went quiet.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked at Patricia.
Patricia stopped shouting.
Vanessa stepped closer to me.
The officer said, “There’s something else.”
He held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was an old flip phone.
“A device recovered from a locked desk drawer.”
Daniel stared at it.
Patricia’s face went white.
The officer looked at both of them.
“It appears to contain messages from around the time of Claire Carter’s death.”
Patricia started yelling.
“That phone is mine!”
The officer ignored her.
Then another policeman came through the front door carrying a second evidence bag.
Inside was a handwritten notebook.
He showed it to the first officer.
The cover had one name written in black ink.
CLAIRE.
Daniel took one step backward.
And for the first time since I had met him, I saw him look genuinely terrified of Patricia.
May you like
He whispered,
“What did you keep?”
