Chapter 8
“Call 911.”
Rachel was already dialing.
I stared at the security-camera feed.
Diane stood at the edge of the porch.
The man with the gasoline can moved toward the side gate.
Then the video froze.
“Why did it stop?”
Rachel tapped the screen.
“No connection.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Did they cut the internet?”
“I don’t know.”
Eric appeared behind us.
“What happened?”
I turned the phone toward him.
The second he saw his mother, all color left his face.
“Jesus.”
“Who is the man?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look again.”
He grabbed the phone.
The image was grainy.
The man wore a cap low over his face.
Eric stared for several seconds.
Then whispered, “I know him.”
“Who?”
“Gavin Pike.”
“Who is that?”
“My mother’s former driver.”
Rachel was still talking to emergency dispatch.
I grabbed Eric’s arm.
“Why does your mother’s former driver have gasoline at my sister’s house?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
His terror looked real.
The dispatcher told Rachel officers were being sent.
We stayed where we were.
Nobody drove back.
I wanted to.
Every instinct screamed to protect our things, documents, Lily’s rabbit collection, photographs.
But Lily was with us.
Things didn’t matter.
People did.
Eight minutes later, Rachel’s phone reconnected.
The camera showed an empty porch.
No Diane.
No Gavin.
Then smoke drifted across the corner of the frame.
Rachel gasped.
“Oh my God.”
I grabbed the phone.
The smoke was coming from the side yard.
Then a police officer ran into view.
Another followed.
A fire truck arrived minutes later.
Rachel’s wooden trash enclosure had been set on fire.
The flames damaged part of the fence but didn’t reach the house.
The gasoline can was found nearby.
Diane was gone.
Gavin was gone.
But the camera had captured enough.
Officer Ramirez called me less than an hour later.
“We’re looking for both of them.”
“She violated the order.”
“Yes.”
“She tried to burn the house.”
“We can’t establish intent yet.”
“He brought gasoline.”
“We understand.”
I hated legal caution again.
“Is Lily safe?”
“She’s with me.”
“Stay somewhere else tonight.”
Rachel looked at me.
“Where?”
Ramirez recommended a confidential hotel arrangement coordinated through victim services.
We agreed.
By evening, Diane’s attorney issued a statement claiming Diane had gone to Rachel’s house only to “attempt a peaceful family reconciliation.”
The gasoline had supposedly belonged to Gavin, who had been helping someone with lawn equipment earlier.
I read the statement twice.
Then I threw my phone onto the hotel bed.
“She thinks everyone is stupid.”
Natalie shook her head.
“She doesn’t need everyone to believe her. She only needs to create doubt.”
Lily was watching cartoons in the adjoining room.
I lowered my voice.
“Can they arrest her?”
“They’re trying to locate her.”
“She’s hiding.”
“Possibly.”
Eric had called fourteen times.
I finally answered with Natalie present.
“Where is your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m terrified too.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You helped create her.”
Silence.
Then he said quietly, “I know.”
That took some of the anger out of me.
Not because I forgave him.
Because he didn’t defend himself.
“Who is Gavin?”
“He worked for Mom for ten years.”
“What kind of work?”
“Driver. Security. Personal errands.”
“Illegal errands?”
Eric hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“I used to hear things.”
“What things?”
“That Mom paid him cash to scare people.”
I stared at Natalie.
“Who?”
“Former employees. Vendors. Anyone who threatened the company.”
“Did he hurt them?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never asked.”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Eric’s voice cracked.
“Claire, I know how this sounds.”
“You’re finally hearing it?”
“Yes.”
I sat on the edge of the bed.
“Why did you marry me?”
He went silent.
The question surprised both of us.
“Because I loved you.”
“Did you?”
“I still do.”
“No. People don’t let someone hurt the people they love just to preserve money.”
“My whole life I thought keeping Mom calm was how I protected everyone.”
“And when she hurt Lily?”
“I told myself it wasn’t as bad as what she did to me.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The ugliest truth yet.
His standard for protecting our daughter had not been whether she was safe.
It had been whether she suffered less than he had.
“That is not protection.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“I watched the police videos.”
My eyes opened.
“They showed them to you?”
“My attorney received portions as evidence.”
“And?”
“I threw up.”
I said nothing.
“I saw Lily’s face,” he whispered. “I had never watched her face before.”
My anger returned instantly.
“How could you not?”
“Because I spent my whole childhood not looking.”
Silence stretched between us.
For one second I saw the frightened boy Robert had described.
Then I remembered the grown man who closed the bedroom door.
Both could be true.
His childhood explained him.
It did not absolve him.
“Where would Diane go?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Think faster.”
“She owns properties.”
“Which ones?”
“Most are known.”
“What isn’t known?”
He hesitated.
“A lake house.”
Natalie leaned closer.
“Where?”
“Near Cedar Creek Reservoir.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know the exact number.”
“Eric.”
“I went once when I was fifteen. It’s held under another company.”
“What company?”
“Pike Recreational Holdings.”
I froze.
“Pike?”
“Gavin.”
Natalie was already typing.
I called Ramirez.
Law enforcement checked the property.
Diane wasn’t there.
But Gavin’s truck was.
And inside the lake house they found company documents.
Cash.
Two prepaid phones.
One gun registered to Diane.
And photographs.
Dozens of photographs.
Of me.
Lily.
Rachel.
Lily’s school.
My workplace.
Our grocery store.
The family-services center.
Someone had been tracking us.
When Ramirez told me, I had to sit down.
“For how long?”
“Some photographs appear several months old.”
Months.
Before I found Lily in the closet.
Before I called police.
Before the custody fight.
“What does that mean?”
“We’re investigating.”
“Why would Diane have someone follow me before any of this happened?”
“I don’t know.”
I did.
Or I thought I did.
The trust.
Lily’s seventh birthday.
Diane had been planning something before I knew there was a war.
That night I couldn’t sleep.
At 2:14 a.m., Lily climbed into my bed.
“Bad dream?”
She nodded.
I pulled her close.
“Grandma found us.”
“She didn’t.”
“She will.”
“No.”
I said it firmly, even though I wasn’t sure.
“We’re going to keep you safe.”
Lily curled against me.
After a minute she whispered, “Grandma said you would disappear.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
She was half asleep.
“She said when I turn seven, I might not need you anymore.”
I switched on the lamp.
“Lily.”
She blinked.
“When did Grandma say that?”
“A long time ago.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Lily rubbed her eyes.
“She said Daddy would have everything when you were gone.”
My heartbeat roared in my ears.
“Gone where?”
“I asked.”
“And what did she say?”
Lily looked scared now.
“She said accidents happen.”
I called Officer Ramirez before Lily finished the sentence.
He came to the hotel personally.
A child specialist spoke with her.
Again.
I hated every second of it.
Afterward Ramirez pulled me aside.
“We need to revisit some things.”
“What things?”
“Your activities over the last several months.”
“Why?”
“If Diane was having you followed and making statements like that, we need to identify anything unusual.”
I thought.
Then remembered.
“My brakes.”
Ramirez’s expression changed.
“What about them?”
“Three months ago my brake warning light came on.”
“What happened?”
“The mechanic said a line was leaking.”
“Do you have records?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
I thought harder.
“A tire blowout.”
“When?”
“About six weeks ago.”
“Highway?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
My mouth went dry.
A gas smell in the garage.
A loose railing on our staircase.
Things I had dismissed.
Coincidences.
Ordinary household problems.
Suddenly none of them felt ordinary.
Ramirez took notes.
Then he asked, “Did you have life insurance?”
I stared at him.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand, I think.”
“Who is beneficiary?”
“Eric.”
He nodded.
“And does Diane have any financial benefit if you’re no longer Lily’s guardian?”
My skin went cold.
“Yes.”
The trust.
If I disappeared and Eric obtained sole custody, he could control Lily’s shares.
I stood.
“She wasn’t just abusing Lily.”
Ramirez didn’t answer.
“She was trying to remove me.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
He looked at me carefully.
“We’re investigating it.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Ramirez gestured for me to answer on speaker.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice whispered, “Mrs. Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Gavin Pike.”
Everyone in the room froze.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Ramirez was already signaling another officer.
Gavin continued.
“I didn’t set that fire.”
“Then why were you holding gasoline?”
“Because Diane told me to scare your sister.”
I closed my eyes.
“So you admit you were there.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Diane?”
“She turned on me.”
“What does that mean?”
“She thinks I kept copies.”
“Copies of what?”
Silence.
Then Gavin said, “Records.”
“What records?”
“Payments.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“For what?”
“Jobs.”
I swallowed.
“What kind of jobs?”
He hesitated.
May you like
Then said the words that changed everything.
“Your accidents weren’t accidents.”
